1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: I'm editor Candice Gibson, joined by staff writer Jane mcgran pay. Candice, 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: So you don't, Daren Watson. Um. You know, it's funny. 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: There's a lot of words in our language that pack 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: a whole lot of meaning, and sometimes you can say 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: one of these words and start a riot without even 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: meaning to. One of the ones I'm thinking of, is crusade. 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: Sure that that's a hot button word for sure. If 10 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: you look at like even President Bush, he mentions it, 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: then a lot of uproar begins because he gets attacked 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: for thinking that that this war on terrorism is suddenly 13 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: a holy war about religion, right, And that's the trouble 14 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: with using crusade even casually, Like if if you're on 15 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: a crusade for restocking the office fridge with diet coke, 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: you don't want to say that necessarily because the word 17 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: invokes a lot of bloodshed and political strife too, and 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: a lot of corruption. Really, if you look up at 19 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: the crusades was all about, and it's hard to pinpoint 20 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: what exactly that was because there were many, many Crusades, 21 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: not just one. It was a whole series that spanned 22 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: a couple of generations, began around and they started definitely 23 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: centered around religion, but even in their earliest stages there 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: were some political wheeling and dealing going on, that's true, 25 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: And if you look at how the pope got mixed 26 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: in with it, it was actually the empire, the emperor 27 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: of the Byzantine Empire that went to the Pope and asked, hey, 28 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: can you help us out because these these Muslims, these 29 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: Celdru Muslims in particular, sorry to take over my um 30 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: empire and my lands, and so can you come over 31 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: here and help us? And the Pope saw this as 32 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: both like political and religious because he was hoping to 33 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: unite the East and West churches, which had separated actually 34 00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: a few decades before then, right in the Great Schism 35 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: of and fifty four. And you know, it's funny because 36 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: the emperor knew that if he allied with the Pope, 37 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: he could get the manpower he needed to get his 38 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: empire back, because he didn't have the forces to accomplish 39 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: that goal. But back in Europe, there were nights from 40 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: the funeral system who were just very listless, they were 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: getting bored, they were causing trouble at home, and the 42 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: Pope thought, while we've been trying to restore peace on 43 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: the home front from these you know, boyish and and 44 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: tumbling around nights, So if we can give them something 45 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: constructive to do, like reclaim the Holy Land, while the 46 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: win win for everyone. That's true, that's true, And they 47 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: got more than they bargained for. Actually, um, the the 48 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: speech at the Pope gave to instigate knights to to 49 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: take up arms in March to the Holy and actually 50 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: ended up spurring on even peasants who were very ill 51 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: equipped to go and fight the sophisticated um Muslim warriors, 52 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: you know. And that's something really important to mention. Two. 53 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,519 Speaker 1: Europe at this time was actually somewhat backward compared to 54 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: the force is in the countries that they were about 55 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: to go up again. They were sophisticated, they were more intelligent, 56 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: they had better warfare, and Europe was you know, it 57 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: was real, even in a dark time, and it actually 58 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: cost a lot of money to go off and be 59 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: a crusader. I think that knights had to mortgage their 60 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: homes and liquefy their assets and then walk like three 61 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: thousand miles to get over to, you know, where all 62 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:23,239 Speaker 1: the fighting was occurring. That's sure. I'm sure it wasn't 63 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: an easy decision for them. It wasn't. And so when 64 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: these peasants got inspired, especially into the charismatic guidance of 65 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: Peter the Hermit, a disaster and so what I mean 66 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: they were up against an enemy that had methods of 67 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: warfare that no one was prepared for, you know, let 68 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: alone the peasants, but even the nights then in training 69 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: to be soldiers. And when they arrived at least where 70 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: the Businestine numberor was, he he knew that the peasants 71 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: weren't weren't equipped, and he kept on saying, like, no 72 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: hold up until we can bring like real reinforcements to 73 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: and they just marched on. And the Turkish leaders loved it. 74 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: They had to stock at this situation like, this is 75 00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: how easy the crusades are gonna be. We don't have 76 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: anything to worry about. That that gave him a certain 77 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: confidence of him, it did, and it would be shattered later. 78 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: But just to reinforce the point, the reason that so 79 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: many people were inspired to go is that the pope 80 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: told them a couple of things about the Crusades, one 81 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: being that going to the Holy Land and reclaiming Jerusalem 82 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: for Christianity would substitute for a journey of penance. And 83 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: the other thing was that if you went and you 84 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: accomplished this goal, you'd be absolved of all your sin 85 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: and you'd have guaranteed entry to have And so basically, 86 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: if you went and died on the battlefield, you know, 87 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: you wouldn't be so bad off if you ended up 88 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: getting eternal life as a result. Exactly said, people thought, 89 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: well what do I have to lars? And also if 90 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: you look at what was instigating their motivations, at least 91 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: the peasants who they were hearing stories about how the 92 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: Muslims were performing atrocities on these pilgrims who just wanted 93 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: to peacefully go to their to their holy lands. And 94 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: it wasn't just um the control, the Muslim control of 95 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: the Holy Lands that instigated this, because the Muslims had 96 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: control over it for for decades before that. Um. What 97 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: happened was that the cell Muslim Muslims actually came in 98 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: and and the stories started coming out, whether true or not, 99 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: that that they started abusing, violently, abusing the Pilgrims that came. Uh, 100 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: this is what instigated at least peasants in Europe to 101 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: say this is wrong and we need and that You 102 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: can imagine how they can use that as a motivation 103 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: to go to the Holy Land, right right. So they 104 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: thought they were doing a very righteous deed when in 105 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: fact the pope was scheming alongside his political ally and 106 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: it didn't quite turn out like anyone thought it would 107 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: because it wasn't a cut and dry deal. The Crusades 108 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: stretched on for a really long time. And like we said, 109 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: when the crusading forces most of them were French at 110 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: least during the first Crusade. When they encounter the Muslims, 111 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: they had all these tactics of warfare that no one 112 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: was prepared for um one of which was called Greek fire. 113 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: And essentially what this was is they went on load 114 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: up pottery with fire and then catapulted at the crusaders. Brilliant, yeah, 115 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: it really was, and it would shatter into pieces and 116 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: fire would spread everywhere. Or else. They take rags soaked 117 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: with um I think oil and studded with nails and 118 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: set those ablaze and catapult those over. So the Crusaders 119 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: had these moving wooden reinforcements like towers that they would 120 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: you know, put up his bastion against the offensive forces. 121 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: But then the nails from the fiery rags would just 122 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: stick in burn everything down. And the Crusaders eventually got 123 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: wise to this, and they would hang up animal skin 124 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: soaked in vinegar to help propel the fire. And they 125 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: also realized that there, uh, I guess, their movements on 126 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: the field and their fancy lines and defense mechanisms weren't 127 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: going to cut muster here. And so they got stronger armor, 128 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: they invented the crossbow, and they had to get used 129 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:45,039 Speaker 1: to some of the unconventional warfare tactics like screaming and 130 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: whistling and all these strange noises that the Muslim forces 131 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: would make just to serve as a distraction. You know. 132 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: It was it was a total just mess, I'm sure 133 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: on the battlefield because it wasn't you know, gentlemen fighting. 134 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: It was mayhem, really, that's true. And given how much 135 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: they had to overcome, and surprising that the Crusades were 136 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: able to eventually see Jerusalem and break in with their 137 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: their their catapults and their ladders, and uh, they were 138 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: able once they got in there, they ended up pillaging 139 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: the city in ways that, um, according to our modern sensibilities, 140 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: is pretty horrible, like they actually burned down a synagogue 141 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: full of innocent Jews and uh. And you know, it 142 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: certainly doesn't justify what they were doing, but it was 143 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: seen as is sort of similar to what other other 144 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: armies at the time we're doing, and that doesn't excuse it, 145 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: but um, but people nowadays see it as such like 146 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: one of the things that gets associated with the Crusades 147 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: was how vicious they were, and so this is one 148 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: of the reasons and the stiege of Jerusalem I think 149 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: is one of the most salient events in all of 150 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: the Crusades. And the sort of mantra that they had 151 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: going in the first Crusade and all the other Crusades 152 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: that followed it was that God wills it, and no 153 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: matter what happened, you know, no matter how many people 154 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: died or how bad things got, it was God's will 155 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: that they were going and fighting. And even when the 156 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: Crusaders were stricken with disease or were so hungry that 157 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: they cut open their animal stomachs to drink the blood, 158 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: I know, really gory. Again, God wills it and when 159 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: they see to Jerusalem, they were sober raft I mean, 160 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: they were on death store step. They didn't have anything 161 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: going for them really, And then um, one of the 162 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: crusaders had a vision that they were supposed to march 163 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: barefoot around Jerusalem, surround the city, and then slowly work 164 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: their way inward. And that's exactly what they did. Like 165 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: it worked, it did, and like you were saying, I mean, 166 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: all all heck brokely after that, it was quite a mess. 167 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: But for all the successes, and again when he said 168 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: term loosely, for all the successes at the crusade, there 169 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: were some really awful tragedies to on the crusader's behalf. 170 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: And yeah, that's true. And if you look at one 171 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: of the crusades, at least it's loosely defined as a crusade, 172 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: because the pope certainly didn't um back, it's called the 173 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: children's Crusade. I was actually taught this in my you know, 174 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: Catholic school upbringing, and uh, my teacher would tell us 175 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: of the story where these thousands and thousands of kids 176 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: were loaded on on ships to cross the Mediterranean and 177 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: go towards the Holy Land, um to hopefully um through 178 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: their childish innocence, you know, convert the hearts of the 179 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: Muslims and and win over the land uh for Christian forces. 180 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: When actually, um, the children were basically sent to short 181 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: death and either either shipwreck or sold into slavery. It 182 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: was just a total disaster and all the kids ended 183 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: up either dying or you know. Um. So that's actually 184 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: a legend. But what actually happened is a little bit 185 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: more fuzzy. Historians are not sure it happened at all, 186 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:39,199 Speaker 1: but it dates back to these two different kids who 187 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: actually didn't know each other. Uh, Stephen in France and 188 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: Nicholas in Germany. Both of them claimed separately to get visions, 189 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: divine visions of Christ telling them you need to get 190 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: control of the Holy Land and uh, and you need 191 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 1: to go to the Holy Land and get it for 192 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 1: the Christian forces. And Nicholas actually went to the Mediterranean 193 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: and he believed that it would dry up by the 194 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 1: time he got there. Um. Stephen in France went to 195 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: the King of France saying he had a letter for him, 196 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: and the King of France was less than impressed. He 197 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: he was like, oh, go home, like come back when 198 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: you're older, if you still believe this or whatever um 199 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: and what happened to these kids, and there were probably 200 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: thousands of kids that that were gathered up as a 201 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: as a following for these two different Stephen and Nicholas. 202 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: What happened to them was probably a tragedy. But it's 203 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: important to note that, you know, the Church wasn't behind 204 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: these and so if you call them a crusade, you 205 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: have to take that with a grain of salt. And 206 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: also actually historians even questioned whether these were children at 207 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: all because the word used in in the research was 208 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: actually poo air, which is Latin word for boy, but 209 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: if you um look at the use back then, it 210 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,199 Speaker 1: could have been just a word for like a lower 211 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: standing man. So we're not even sure about anything that happened. 212 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: And that's what's so difficult about interpreting the Crusades and 213 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: recording at for posterity all the events that took place. 214 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: A lot of the tales that we now were handed 215 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: down through oral history or or they were accounts that 216 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,599 Speaker 1: were you know, bias depending on someone's religion or political affiliation. 217 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: And as we mentioned before, as the Crusades went on, 218 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: they got more and more political, and one of the 219 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: major reasons for this was that the land that the 220 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: crusaders want, they weren't quite sure what to do with that, 221 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: and the answer seeing pretty obvious. You know, you get 222 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,599 Speaker 1: back to the Byzantine Empire, that's who the Pope was 223 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: aligned within the first place, you would think, I guess 224 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: people felt that they were entitled to it. I mean, 225 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:36,439 Speaker 1: they endured that much to win it, and so betrayals 226 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 1: behind that as well, like the crusading forces thought that 227 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: the empire, the Byzantine Empire had trade them in some senses, 228 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 1: so that at that point they felt like they were 229 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: entitled the land themselves, and so lots of mix ups happening. Yeah, 230 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: so they became crusader states, but they didn't last very 231 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: long because they didn't have any sort of strong centralized government. 232 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: So they were eventually overtaken again by the Muslim forces. 233 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: This happened over and over again, and eventually, like even 234 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,720 Speaker 1: even the Pope started saying like, if you go and 235 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: fight the so called crusade, you're going to be excommunicated. 236 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: And yet people still went on thinking God wills it, 237 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: God wills it. It's crazy. And if you look at 238 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: different artists renderings of the crusaders coming home. They're usually 239 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: old men with long beards to look very bedraggled, their 240 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: straddling horses that look like they're on their last leg literally, 241 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: And to me, that's the perfect representation of the end 242 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,439 Speaker 1: of the Crusades. You know, we can come home and 243 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,719 Speaker 1: they're like, wait, what were we fighting for? I'm not 244 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: quite sure what happened. And the fact that the beginning 245 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: of the Crusades was based on a political decision and 246 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: you know, somewhat a bit of lies and the first place, 247 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: makes it really hard to figure out how it impacts 248 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: history today. It even does, And that's actually the question 249 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: I was thinking about for you was how does or 250 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: held deeply the Crusades impact history. That's a tough question. 251 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: And you know, I think some people might say that 252 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:00,839 Speaker 1: all the events of the Crusades have impacted relations between 253 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: Europe and the Middle East and you know, power struggles 254 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: between the Church and the state today and and a 255 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 1: lot of historians say that that's fiction, that because the 256 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: Crusades were so twisted politically, and because they took place 257 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: during such a dark time in Europe that really there's 258 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: sort of a blip on the radar. And I certainly 259 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: didn't seem like that at the time. And maybe, you know, 260 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: when we look back and we look today at people 261 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: who are demanding, you know, reparations or at least an 262 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: apology from the church, they seem like quite a big deal. 263 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:31,560 Speaker 1: But I think most historians agree that it's just a 264 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: part of the past. It didn't really influence how things 265 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: are today. It's crazy right now, it really is. But 266 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: there's so much more, obviously, to learn about the Crusades. 267 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: You can read about them on how stuff works dot com. 268 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,439 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, isn't 269 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think. 270 00:13:51,000 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: Send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com.