[Ditto]

The crusades were NOT something worth defending.

That's a very broad brush you paint with. The Crusades (note the plural) took place over the course of two centuries. And they are not something that needs to be 'defended' anymore than Alexander the Great needs defended. They need to be understood.

[rob777]

"That's a very broad brush you paint with. The Crusades (note the plural) took place over the course of two centuries."



You are right, the early crusades started out as a defensive action and became a mercenary action of loot and conquest. Later battles against the Ottoman Turks were also somewhat of a defensive nature. The point is that the crusades are not the reason for the rise of the west, or the fall of Islam. In fact, as the author points out, the crusades were seen as failure by the west and a victory by Islam in mideval times.