Nicetas – unaware of what Peter’s army had done to his mercenaries in Hungary -- received them well and so had the locals. He opened the markets to the crusaders, trusting that they would purchase everything they needed and then move on. Unfortunately, that was not the case. As the crusaders set out east, a... Continue Reading →
The battle of Tours in 732 A.D. was the most significant battle in western history because the future of Christianity in Europe depended entirely on the outcome of this battle. In order to fully understand why this battle was so significant and why it was a tipping point in western history, one must understand the... Continue Reading →
News of al-Hakim's ruthless persecution of Christians wasn't the sole event that triggered hatred in the west. The Byzantine Empire in the eleventh century was on the brink of destruction. In the 1040s, Turkish warriors migrated from the steppes of central Asia and conquered Persia, then invaded Armenia and Iraq, and conquered Baghdad in the... Continue Reading →
My passion for the History of the Crusades was ignited in late fall of 2005 when I first saw the film, Kingdom of Heaven in one of UNBC’s few spacious theatre-type classrooms. I enjoyed that movie so much, I put it at the top of my Christmas wish-list. Much to my delight, I held a... Continue Reading →
Today, the whole point of warfare is to kill the enemy as quickly as possible using methods and weapons that inflict as little pain as possible. In the Middle Ages, however, the goal in warfare was to terrify the enemy into submission and retreat. Weapons were built and used in order to create as much... Continue Reading →
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