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The Christian Siege of Muslim Nicaea
American Thinker.com ^ | May 14, 2021 | Raymond Ibrahim

Posted on 05/14/2021 4:20:01 AM PDT by Kaslin

Today in history, on May 14, 1097, witnessed the first clash between Western Crusaders and Muslim Turks: the siege of Nicaea.

In the years following the decisive Battle of Manzikert (1071), which saw the Seljuk Turks defeat the Eastern Roman Empire and conquer that ancient bastion of Christianity, Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), mindboggling atrocities followed. Whether an anonymous Georgian chronicler tells of how “holy churches served as stables for their horses,” the “priests were immolated during the Holy Communion itself,” the “virgins defiled, the youths circumcised, and the infants taken away,” or whether Anna Comnena, the princess at Constantinople, tells of how “cities were obliterated, lands were plundered, and the whole of Anatolia was stained with Christian blood” -- the same scandalous tale of woe reached the West.

As a result, what came to be known as the First Crusade was launched. Paraphrasing Pope Urban II’s famous call at Clermont in 1095, Crusades historian Thomas Madden writes, “The message was clear: Christ was crucified again in the persecution of his faithful and the defilement of his sanctuaries.” Both needed rescuing; both offered an opportunity to fulfill one of Christ’s two greatest commandments: “Love God with all your heart,” and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

Christians from all around Europe hearkened to the call and took the cross. By 1097, the major lords and knights had reached Constantinople, whence they were ferried into the lion’s den, Turkic-controlled Asia Minor. By May they reached Nicaea, site of Christendom’s first ecumenical council (325), where the Nicaean Creed, which is still professed by all major Christian denominations, was articulated. Now the capital of the Seljuk sultanate and occupied by the “enemies of the cross,” the Crusaders quickly laid siege to Nicaea, 924 years ago on this date, May 14.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: crusades; nicaea; thecrusades

1 posted on 05/14/2021 4:20:01 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

There are no Muslim lands that were not stolen.

The only reason there are so many ruins in North Africa to be world heritage sites is because as Islam swept west out of Egypt they killed everyone.


2 posted on 05/14/2021 4:58:08 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: Kaslin

.


3 posted on 05/14/2021 5:31:06 AM PDT by sauropod (Chance favors the prepared mind.)
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