Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Crusades: When Christendom Pushed Back
New American ^ | SELWYN DUKE

Posted on 02/20/2010 6:35:24 PM PST by ventanax5

he year is 732 A.D., and Europe is under assault. Islam, born a mere 110 years earlier, is already in its adolescence, and the Muslim Moors are on the march.

Growing in leaps and bounds, the Caliphate, as the Islamic realm is known, has thus far subdued much of Christendom, conquering the old Christian lands of the Mideast and North Africa in short order. Syria and Iraq fell in 636; Palestine in 638; and Egypt, which was not even an Arab land, fell in 642. North Africa, also not Arab, was under Muslim control by 709. Then came the year 711 and the Moors’ invasion of Europe, as they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered Visigothic Iberia (now Spain and Portugal). And the new continent brought new successes to Islam. Conquering the Iberian Peninsula by 718, the Muslims crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into Gaul (now France) and worked their way northward. And now, in 732, they are approaching Tours, a mere 126 miles from Paris.

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: christendom; crusades; europe; godsgravesglyphs; history; islam; jerusalem; jihad; middleages; religion; wot
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-38 last
To: 353FMG
faith in your fellowmen

That I have very little of. I have a lot of faith in Christianity. It wins every time it is tried.

21 posted on 02/20/2010 9:14:57 PM PST by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: TalBlack
The article persuasively points out that the road to financial success wasn't likely to be found by mortgaging your lands and traveling 1500 miles to fight war hardened soldiers in an effort to steal their stuff.

Two points, firstly, people often act irrationally and believe it makes sense at the time. Secondly, I wouldn't suggest most decisions are made on a single impulse but a complex interaction of a mix of motivators. What I mean is, to one degree or another some or many of the leaders of some of the crusades were motivated by reports and/or desires of great wealth...but that wouldn't be in a vacuum, they were also concerned about reports of pilgrims being killed on the way to the holy land, and some perhaps as a retribution of incursions of muslims in previous centuries...and some for those reasons and the chance of glory in battle. We don't have the same worldview that was common to those times, so the reasons that motivated the crusades wouldn't necessarily make full sense to us in our day.

22 posted on 02/20/2010 9:51:53 PM PST by highlander_UW (Obama has lost or not saved over 4 million jobs!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: 353FMG
"Christendom pushed back because it was still united. This was long before the Reformation."

And dimmacrats.

23 posted on 02/20/2010 10:42:44 PM PST by matthew fuller (Has the goracle seen his shadow yet?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: combat_boots
The EDL are not the "racist, facist" thugs the Liberal media wants to pigeon-hole them as.


24 posted on 02/20/2010 10:57:27 PM PST by DTogo (High time to bring back the Sons of Liberty !!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

Good Post Salvation, this one goes into my Mil-History file along with this: Two Battles That Saved the West: Lepanto 1571 and Vienna 1683, http://www.aei.org/speech/29108


25 posted on 02/21/2010 3:02:18 AM PST by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

Good Post Salvation, this one goes into my Mil-History file along with this: Two Battles That Saved the West: Lepanto 1571 and Vienna 1683, http://www.aei.org/speech/29108


26 posted on 02/21/2010 3:07:13 AM PST by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: James C. Bennett
What many people tend to forget, is that much of what is now the Middle East, was Christian land, and the ancestors of today’s Muslims, once Christian themselves.

That's amazing to think about.

27 posted on 02/21/2010 3:09:38 AM PST by Screaming_Gerbil (Luke 22:36 "Then said he unto them...he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: 353FMG

Personally I believe most who claim to adhere to the Muslim faith do so out of fear, since to turn away from it can bring death to the door. No one can seriously argue the Muslim faith is not one which embraces violence as a way to further it’s cause.

Most, I believe would prefer to not be part of a faith which offers death as a consequence of non compliance.


28 posted on 02/21/2010 3:19:58 AM PST by 101voodoo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: rmlew
"eventually sacked Constantinople"

Led by the Venetians who sacked the place and literally made off with some of the actual buildings of Constantinople.

29 posted on 02/21/2010 5:08:11 AM PST by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Jimmy Valentine

“How do you make a Venetian blind?”

“Like this!” *poke*


30 posted on 02/21/2010 5:16:04 AM PST by B Knotts (Calvin Coolidge Republican)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: B Knotts

Every body’s a wise guy! ;^)


31 posted on 02/21/2010 5:26:53 AM PST by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: highlander_UW
“I wouldn't suggest most decisions are made on a single impulse but a complex interaction of a mix of motivators.”

I would more or less look at it like that. The catalytic motivation was, I believe, genuine.

32 posted on 02/21/2010 6:26:38 AM PST by TalBlack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: iopscusa

A lot of people don’t realize the impact these pray-ers and prayers had. It is a stunning acoount!


33 posted on 02/21/2010 8:34:44 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: ventanax5; All

And .. I have always believed the Crusades had the right idea .. there was no “cooperation” - THERE WAS ONLY DEATH to Islam’s followers.

We are much too spineless to do that again. We are so “sensitive” to the plight of others, we cannot bear to be called names by the NYT for being willing to destroy our enemies.

The very reason we won WWII was because we destroyed the enemy. While we did take a lot of prisoners, we killed a lot more - more of those who would have tried to raise the Hitler model again. As a result of our resolve, we rid the planet of that horrible group of people.


34 posted on 02/21/2010 10:07:27 AM PST by CyberAnt (Our RIGHTS are given to us by GOD; not Congress or the President)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: James C. Bennett

Yes it was once mostly Christian land, and the secret was that the Muslims began having more and more children who were indoctrinated into Islam. Thus, the world is reaping millions of Islamists, while the western world IS ABORTING THEIR CHILDREN. In Mark Steyn’s book, “America Alone”, he points out that it’s America alone who is still having more children - even if abortion is legal.

What is the count now of abortions ..??: 40 million ..??

But .. the backside of the story goes way back to Biblical times. Sarah and Abraham could not have children, and though God promised them a child, after 25 years of waiting, they gave up too soon and Sarah agreed to allow her husband to take one of her handmaidens - and thus Ishmael was born.

According to Jewish law, the first born SON inherits everything from the father. Thus, Ishmael grew up believing he was the heir of all that belonged to Abraham (especially the land). Ishmael was not Jewish - he was Muslim.

However, Sarah gave birth to a child also, Isaac, and because Isaac was born under the law of marriage, Isaac was considered by God to be the sole heir.

So began the march by Ishmael’s ancestors to take over the lands of the Middle East - they believed they were entitled to the lands because of Ishmael being the “first born”.

It’s seems almost unreal to me that this whole conflict in the Middle East is between half-brothers who are fighting over the land that God gave to their father, Abraham. This is why they hate Israel so much - because Israel inhabits land which the Muslims believe belongs to them.

I know there were a lot of political things that went on also in this area, but the goal remained the same: Ishmael’s ancestors were determined to gain all the lands that were promised to Abraham by God.

And .. much has been made of the treatment of women by the believers of Islam. I have a theory regarding that: Remember that Ismael hated his mother because she was too cowardly to demand that Abraham confer upon her son the status of heir. Ismael was always hateful toward Isaac, so much so that Sarah finally demanded of Abraham that Ismael and his mother be put out of the camp. It would not be unreasonable to believe that Ishmael hated Sarah for doing this. I see a pattern here of hatred of women by Ismael - his mother for being weak, and Sarah for bullying Abraham into denying the inheritance to Ismael.

Is it any wonder then that Islam treats its women with such distain ..?? They have become baby factories - that’s all.

Sorry to be so wordy, but a lot of people do not know this information.


35 posted on 02/21/2010 10:56:21 AM PST by CyberAnt (Our RIGHTS are given to us by GOD; not Congress or the President)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: ventanax5

I remember that when one of the Christian Kings of Spain was asked to participate in a Crusade, he made a statement to the effect: “Why should I journey to the Holy Land when we have plenty of Moors to kill in my own country?”


36 posted on 02/21/2010 12:02:21 PM PST by pawdoggie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

The Crusades: When Christendom Pushed Back
The New American | 2/5/10 | Selwyn Duke
Posted on 02/06/2010 6:37:51 AM PST by Paladins Prayer
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2445698/posts


37 posted on 02/22/2010 7:02:49 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Happy New Year! Freedom is Priceless.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

·Dogpile · Archaeologica · LiveScience · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google ·
· The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


38 posted on 02/22/2010 7:03:18 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Happy New Year! Freedom is Priceless.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-38 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson