The Complete History Of The Holy Wars Of The Middle Ages | Holy Wars | Chronicle

this channel is part of the history hit Network [Music] [Music] war in the name of God the great world religions preach peace and mercy history even modern history shows that religion and violence are not contradictions in the 16th century there emerges a new Christian denomination Latin Christianity already separated from the Orthodox Church of the East splits once more into Catholics and Protestants and in the Name of Christ they go to war against each other in the bloodiest conflict that Europe has ever known [Music] [Music] foreign Ed in Europe a new image of the world the Renaissance everything is in a state of flux astronomy and other Natural Sciences art and architecture the way in which people see each other and their world is radically transformed the perspective becomes naturalistic realistic courageous seafarers especially the Portuguese venture out into strange unknown worlds with new instruments of navigation new maps in 1522 Magellan's ships proved that the world is round a time of upheavals in matters of belief too the Bible whose Latin was inaccessible to the common people becomes the book of books and a dissatisfied German monk unintentionally changes the world Martin Luther does not want a Reformation he only wishes to reform but that is not how it turns out it is as though his time is ripe for more a new invention the printing press a technical Revolution which makes possible a spiritual one foreign the moral authority of the Church of the popes has reached its Nadia in the company of The Borgias the children of Pope Alexander VI Lucretia and cesare Rule like their father through Intrigue murder and violence when this Pope dies open Jubilation breaks out in the streets of Rome the augustinian friar Martin Luther despairs at the Intolerable situation the corruption of the church he is not a revolutionary only a medieval monk but a stubborn one who wrestles with theological problems in all probability he never nailed up his 95 Theses composed in Latin to the church door in Wittenberg however popular the image after all who would have been able to read them what is true is that he sent them in the form of a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz e his handwritten Theses reached Nuremberg in manuscript forms there they are translated from the original latinum then at the end of 1517 they are printed and copies are distributed in vast numbers throughout the Empire Luther had nothing to do with this and it certainly wasn't what he intended history hit is like Netflix just for history fans with exclusive history documentaries covering some of the most famous people and events in history just for you with familiar faces such as Dan Jones and Dr Eleanor janega we've got hundreds of documentaries covering the greatest figures and events of medieval history we're committed to Bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts that you cannot find anywhere else sign up now for a free trial and Chronicle fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use the code Chronicle at the result is uproar Luther is excommunicated in 1521 after a stage kidnapping the prince elector Frederick III of Saxony hides Luther in vartburg Castle where he translates the New Testament into German his forceful style has a profound influence on the German language one year later his text is printed with far-reaching consequences in the 15th century we already have translations I can't just recall how many into other national languages including German translation his translation of the Bible into German is the one that really takes off really catches fire a fire that Luther has not intended his religious texts are understood as an inspiration to Revolution Thomas munsa debates with Luther and summons up forces that he can no longer can shall die by the sword Matthew 26. initially sympathetic towards the insurgents Luther then calls on the ruling princes to adopt Stern measures in his tract against the thieving and murderous hordes of peasants he does not wish to be associated with the brutalities of the peasants and unlike munsa he does not want a revolution [Music] these presence revolts constitute a tradition going back into the 14th and 15th centuries but what the princes actually do is also not what Luther intended Luther suffers under the Reformation as much as he influences it he has no control over events the Reformation attracts Fanatics revolt against the clergy spreads like wildfire iconoclasts attack churches in Munster for a few bizarre months anabaptist ruler totalitarian state they demand common ownership of property and prohibit marriage when the riots are suppressed the corpses of the ringleaders are displayed in cages the Reformation spreads throughout Europe dividing into ever new factions sphingly in Zuri Calvin in Geneva even Scotland has its own Local Hero in the form of John Knox [Music] and in London Henry VII seizes the opportunity and founds the Anglican Church principally in order to secure himself a divorce Reformation also means a reallocation of power 1546 the Catholic Emperor is at war with Protestant princes the first interdenominational war after the emperor's Victory a process begins which finally leads to a peacemaker's compromise subject citizens must adopt the faith of their ruler thus the religious piece of Augsburg does result in something new in that it strengthens something that already exists I knew namely the status of the Empire as a whole on a level above the warring party a level where the king and the Imperial Estates worked together as Supreme Arbiters or referees responsible for safeguarding peace and the rule of law within the empire foreign peace among Christians a frightful error in 1572 in France the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre actually a royal marriage between the denominations is intended to bring about peace but then betrayal Protestant huguenots gathered for the wedding are slaughtered in tens of thousands by Catholics Christians against Christians the denominations are at War again it's about religion but also about power the new religious faith is an opportune means for ambitious princes to pursue their aims of dominion against the emperor the Kings and the church then in 1618 the Prelude to a European catastrophe the Prague defenestration actually the second Protestants against Catholics that too in fact a long smoldering power struggle the Revolt of the Estates against the emperor is a Bohemian tradition this time they immediately elect a king of their own liking yeah the success of the Prague defenestration can best be understood if we look at the Bohemian Act of Confederation of 1619. here we have a document in which the Bohemian Estates Define what they want in terms that we will later call a state they don't abolish the monarchy they need the king to legitimize their own positions but they reduce his role to such an extent that this Bohemian King in the concept of a corporate State as defined by the Bohemian nobility ends up as nothing more than a Master of Ceremonies in Bohemia the Protestant Union musters its troops alliances are made Maximilian of Bavaria calls on the Catholic lead to fight Vienna Bohemian Protestants refused to recognize the newly elected Emperor War breaks out Decades of conflict now explode Emperor Ferdinand fights for Catholicism [Music] Valenstein a brilliant General and entrepreneur as yet there is no such thing as a national Army Valenstein recruits an army of mercenaries and fights on the side of the Catholic league for money indigo this is it when the emperor asks can you provide me with an army Valenstein sees himself as ideally suited as a private individual a businessman to offer this service foreign the first Catholic victories the Bohemian rival King is defeated the Protestants loses a series of bloody battles in Bohemia Catholic successors are followed by brutal suppression of the new denomination but now the Danes fear for the security of their power in Europe they enter the war against the Catholic hapsborgs The Fortunes of War are fickle but Valenstein is almost always Victorious again the emperor triumphs over the Protestants it's fair to say that in the 1620s the 30 years war is mainly a religious war with powerful political groupings already getting involved mission at the latest from 1630 onwards the 30 Years War becomes a secular conflict a European power struggle in which religion still plays a role albeit no longer a dominant one Dominion a war which perpetuates itself the powers take up their positions no one dominates for long a power which achieves a short-term Advantage is soon brought down by the others and everywhere the armies of mercenaries who take what they need from the civilian population War feeding on War people say soldiers are seen as the brutal scum of the earth who kill for money or the mercenaries only money counts and had these mercenaries were simply playing their trade above all they made sure they were paid on time and if they weren't they changed sides 1630 Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden enters the war his power base the Baltic region is claimed by the Catholics a mistake the Swedish Monarch is now the standard Bearer for the Protestant cause and luck is on his side an irony of Fate Valenstein has just been dismissed by the emperor a concession to the Jesuits the Spaniards and the Estates who hate him foreign 1631 Catholic forces besiege and then storm the city of magdeborg what happens there is without parallel even for the 30 Years War an orgy of brutality the city is raised to the ground the population virtually completely slaughtered Gustavus Adolphus the Protestant from the north is set on Revenge his Victorious troops pushed southwards Elks walk a Protestant stronghold a city where once the peace between the denominations was ratified they're the soldiers of the Swedish King are now greeted like angels of salvation a hysterical hope in a land-laid waste but these men too will only bring death misery and Devastation the Swedish soldiers are also mercenaries war is their trade what the bavarians suffer only a short time later comes close to the accounts of a few survivors of Magda Borg The Mercenaries are all alike [Music] for the first time in the 30 Years War The Peasants resist the mercenaries the soldiers leave behind them a trail of Devastation no matter whether there is fighting or not no matter what cause they serve in this hour of peril the call goes out for Valentine there are many who distrust this Vain and unscrupulous General but he alone is capable of putting a stop to the Swedish Advance desperate times demand Desperate Measures [Music] the two commanders Clash directly in southern Germany a battle of the Titans balenstein against the army of Gustavus Adolphus the result a victory for Sweden but a victory bought at the price of disaster in the Battle of Lutsen Gustavus Adolphus is killed a shock the Messianic leader gone rumors spread he isn't really dead the swedes are now losing battles but they believe they can still secure their influence by negotiation they are deceived at this time nothing is stable balenstein's officers have to swear personal allegiance to him even if this conflicts with orders from the emperor so he says in the case of Valenstein he was always successful in his business ventures but when it came down to it maybe it wasn't the money that mattered after all um rather for instance becoming the Duke of Mecklenburg a promotion in Social rank which put him on a par with the princes of the Holy Roman Empire foreign Valenstein has grown too powerful what are his real aims among other things he is negotiating with the swedes for a peace agreement does the commander want to become something more than a Duke not only the Jesuits would like to be rid of him [Music] the emperor orders him captured dead or alive the Irish Captain who stabs him in eager is only the long arm of the numerous enemies in his own Camp an Inglorious end for this notorious commander of armies [Music] the war continues at the beginning the Habsburg Dynasty had sought War to secure their Dominion by now they are fighting to retain their existence as a power [Music] thank you then in 1635 at the urging of cardinal richlier France enters the wall once again the fighting lays waste to South Germany and Bohemia [Music] not before 1648 do people finally grow tired of the slaughter Sweden and France the remaining great Powers guarantee the end of hostilities the Peace of Westphalia is signed the basis for the religious articles of the document is the piece of Augsburg of 1555 after 30 years of devastating War a bitter truth it's back to square one and yet Everything Has Changed however for the Ordinary People the signing of the treaty did not bring about peace [Music] then Hut and only when the last mercenary has left the country or even the village his peace return for the common people in Saxon and because this doesn't happen on Saxony until 1650. documentary sources there refer to the end of the 32 years war from finally an end to the killing foreign the cost of the war the destruction of a continent the conflict over the right interpretation of Christianity leads to an orgy of Cruelty which takes human beings to the brink of the Abyss the accepted worldview is damaged forever a symbol of this is the gallows tree from which even wounded comrades now useless as soldiers are hanged for the first time there is something resembling War reportage ruthless brutal realistic [Music] dimension is since the middle of the 17th century the 30 Years War has never ceased to be of interest because it confronts us with an unimaginable range and intensity of Cruelty uh um what people experienced at the time was handed down to those who came after in writings and illustrations illustrations which have no inhibitions about depicting cruelty in all its hideous details or the civilian population the presence of the surgery no matter under whose flag they are serving means misery and death plundering mercenaries sees what they need marauding troops lay waste to the land even where there is no fighting there is no mercy no restraint this war is seen as an awful event perhaps something like a natural disaster which devastates a village and against which there is no protection War feeds on War the civilian has a greater chance of dying than the mercenary so men from the starving pestilential ravaged Villages volunteer for military service in order to live a little longer Medical Care is negligible the wounded have little chance of survival but it's still better than starving to death or being slaughtered in your own village a European catastrophe most severely affected is the region which will later become Germany how many deaths has the War cost probably 50 percent in some areas population losses could go as high as 70. 80 judging by the large number of deserted settlements Left Behind after the 30 Years War in other words places where people have been living but which after the war are no longer populated abandoned deserted but from the ruins of the wars of religion emerges the idea of the modern nation-state a mechanism of power a neutral structure standing above denominational conflict Treatise civil order and the rule of law are to bring about peace an idea whose consequences extend into our own present day hell is humankind itself the struggle for religious domination leads to the abyss in the name of the one true Faith man is capable of any imaginable cruelty so reads the lesson of the 30 Years War by Nature man is and always has been greedy selfish and cruel only an all-powerful constraint compels him to keep the peace man is a wolf to man writes the English philosopher Thomas Hobbs the consequence Hobbs concludes that if man is to live in a condition of peaceful coexistence he must be subject to discipline he must be constrained in every aspect of his life by a power that can only be the power of the state to uh to constrain the greed of man Hobbes decrees the totalitarian state an omnipotent monster Leviathan which imposes peace and dictates what may be thought said and believed an idea which will bear fruit absolutism the state ruled over by the French Sun King Louis kators one of the Practical political consequences of the 30 Years War rigid Majestic order the jungle gives way to the Garden the state as a calmly ticking finely oiled and neutral clockwork base instincts and conflicts of belief are held in check by the power on high the new ideal of the age in place of the bands of mercenaries hired when needed we find standing armies valuable instruments of the state to be used sparingly Prussia under Frederick II is the ideal model of enlightened absolutism a sober rational State without an established church attendance is the the trend is quite clear perhaps Frederick the great put it best each man should be blessed as he thinks fit and so religion is shifted firmly into the private sphere the Practical consequences in the late 17th century the huguenots pour into Prussia into Freedom under Frederick II there's a time when every fourth Berliner is a French origin a monarchy on the make in which church and state are strictly separated it's a matter of principle in Prussia Kant pursues the idea to its logical conclusion his essay towards Eternal peace is a blueprint for the United Nations organization law should rule over power in a kind of world Parliament an idea which has found little favor with every superpower to date the separation of church and state is now so taken for granted that the appearance of the pope before the United Nations is a minor sensation in the past popes waged War today the pope has only moral power not battalions a long way which has led from the Crusades of the Middle Ages via the 30 Years War to the present day [Music] war in the name of God the great world religions preach peace and mercy history especially the history of the Middle Ages proves that religion and violence are not contradictions a belief in God often means believing in fighting on behalf of God and in being rewarded in Paradise Islam means peace Christ teaches us to love our enemy but in their names the world wages War thank you [Music] [Music] 12 58. the unique and triumphal expansion of Islam has made it the religion of many peoples from Spain to Indonesia but there is no Islamic empire just as there is no Christian Empire everywhere in the Middle Ages there are Wars among princes and tribes for half a century there have been Crusades to the Holy Land after Islam Christianity too spreads to every corner of the world the center of Islamic civilization is Baghdad [Music] the most magnificent city on earth [Music] not a holy place like Mecca and Medina but a worldly Arabian capital city like this one a metropolis but at the end of the eighth Century Baghdad had become the center of the world no other City could compare with this Splendid Capital the centers of learning the academies hospitals everything was perfect the real threat to the worldly Empire of Allah does not come from Europe or two centuries the Crusaders only threatened the coastal areas the Christians want Jerusalem that is what they are fighting for with little success or the Islamic Empires the Crusaders are a problem only on their borders it is not a clash of civilizations the real threat to Islam comes from the steps of Asia like a natural disaster the Mongols fall upon their enemies merciless annihilating unbeatable they bring no Superior culture with them only brutality in 1258 Baghdad falls into their hands the Mongols were much worse than their predecessors in Baghdad basically they possessed no culture and simply destroyed everything in their path at first there were some religious tolerance but the second phase of the Mongol rule was Dreadful the Mongols mounted Nomads their wealth herds of cattle revenge is their prime mover over the ages the Mongols have lived by perfecting their herding skills Drive the cattle together cut the ones you want out of the herd slaughter them this turns them into perfect soldiers in 1260 at Ein chalute they are defeated by the Arabs for the first time in history they are forced to withdraw the myth is destroyed the really interesting thing about the Mongols is that they come storming over the horizon and conquer the Islamic territories pretty quickly meaning that there's no time to evaluate the threatens um these Mongol rulers adapted relatively quickly to the local population with the result that after only 40 years the first Mongol Empire on Islamic territory the Empire of the ishana has already become Islamic even today Ein chalute is the subject of heroic sagas and legends the end of Mongol rule but the real Triumph is still greater in only two generations the mounted Warriors who almost conquered Islam have themselves become Muslims is mightier than the mongol's perfect military machine up to this point the history of Islam has been a chain of amazing success The Story begins in the Arabian desert in Mecca with an orphan boy [Music] in the year 569 in what is now Saudi Arabia Muhammad is born after losing both parents he grows up with his uncle and becomes a merchant and Caravan leader then signs a Christian monk foretells that Muhammad will become a prophet and more than that he will be the last the ultimate prophet he marries a 40 year old woman unusual for the time it's a good marriage his tribe the courage worship holy trees stones and many gods [Music] when Muhammad is already over 40 the angel Gabriel appears to him for the first time Muhammad who is illiterate receives a revelation from the angel in the form of the Quran According to Islamic belief the words of the Quran have always existed before the beginning of time with God the Quran is Holy and unchangeable through it Arabic the language of a few desert tribes will spread like the wind the words of the Quran are so masterful so forceful that to this day they represent Arabic poetry in its most perfect form it has even been said that the position of the Quran in Islam can really only be compared to the position of Jesus Christ in Christianity insofar as in Christianity God became Man became flesh Incarnation whereas in Islam God became a book so we can speak of an in Liberation is to Muhammad are revealed the five pillars of Islam there is no God but God and Muhammad is his Prophet every day five prayers arms for the poor fasting during Ramadan and the pilgrimage to Mecca Muhammad is the last prophet a perfect man but still only a man there are 28 prophets in the Quran among them Adam and Abram for Muslims Jesus is one of the prophets like Maria he has a rather special place in the Quran is known as the word and breath of Allah and after his death is lifted up to God Muslims do not believe in his crucifixion saying that another was crucified in place of the Prophet Jesus the closely related Christian and Jewish religions were allowed to be practiced in Islamic Empires Christianity was similarly tolerant only in the later Crusader States there was certainly an indirect awareness of certain common elements for instance from the Early Middle Ages onwards that are text which repeatedly point out that of course Muslims too go all the way back to a common progenitor Abraham but that was not always seen as a positive argument or as representing a positive attitude towards Muslims perhaps it wouldn't be going too far to say that the Muslim religion was too similar to Christianity and out of this similarity developed a degree of rivalry if you want a comparison consider that within Christianity the non-conformists the Heretics are often viewed as worse enemies than the proponents of a totally different religious community Minecraft after an initial period of rejection Islam spreads throughout Arabia with increasing rapidity in the year 632 Muhammad dies he has no son a quarrel breaks out about his successor the Khalif shortly afterwards Muslims split up into sunnis who believe that any devout Muslim can become their religious leader and Shiites who only recognize the leadership of direct descendants of Muhammad's family the new faith and with it Arabic the language of the Quran spreads over the next 300 years with immense speed to the distant borders of the known world where for the most part it still dominates today Islam is not a pacifist religion Muhammad was a prophet a successful Merchant and a military leader Muslims May answer violence with violence their young unspent religion makes them into good Warriors but Islam is not a religion of holy war right from the start even in battles There are moderating rules of conduct for example concerning the treatment of women and children the term holy war is adopted by Muslims in the Middle Ages from Christians Jihad means more than fighting the infidels Jihad is a and Jihad is a noun from the verb Jada which means simply to make an effort this is firstly an inner effort an injunction to come to terms with oneself together with the platonic world view that one must strive for self-improvement for the sake of one's religion it's inner but also outer directed and therefore means to fight the fight being directed purely outwards of course that's very early both meanings become current very early on though the Shiites who are very important here particularly emphasize the inner struggle describing it as the first the highest Jihad in other words a Muslim must improve himself in the Early Middle Ages the different Arab tribes and clans are bitter enemies they buy slaves mostly Children of the non-muslim turkic peoples and train them as Elite Islamic Warriors this military enslavement becomes typical for Islam these slave soldiers reached the highest ranks and finally many of them actually come to rule over the dynasties it is often stated that the reason for this law is the Quran which forbids Muslims from fighting against Muslims but this commandment is broken from the very beginning the um the military the military slaves are introduced for the first time in the Abbasid Empire um then later in the mamaluk dynasty which was in fact maintained by these military slaves as was the sultanate of Delhi um this system of slavery is perhaps a reaction to the fact that in the early days of Islam when rulers depended on mounted Nomads who were organized tribally they the rulers had problems with conflicting tribal loyalties whereas if they depended on slaves whom they had raised themselves and given them a career then they could count on absolute loyalty disease foreign the most famous ruler of a military slave Dynasty is the legendary Saladin Saladin is a chord and rules in Egypt from 1171. his Turkish mamaloo Gods mamluk means slave will later defeat the Mongols at eim chalute the system of military slaves continues even after the Middle Ages the Turkish yanasari guards were recruited from 20 000 Russian and African children purchased every year Christians had to surrender every fifth child to the Ottoman Empire 800 A.D the Victorious military expansion of Islam brings with it not only War and the new Faith but also Superior scientific knowledge and an advanced culture the Arabs have become a seafaring Nation they make new discoveries in the fields of mathematics astronomy cartography and navigation Optics chemistry physics and Medicine Muslim Arabs now produce the best scientists of the Middle Ages the instruction in the Quran to pray in the direction of Mecca at certain hours demands a precise knowledge of time and orientation Sailors navigating towards a fixed destination are more interested in Practical theories than in theological correctness the Arabs learn from every culture they encounter their Scholars discover the works of the Greek philosophers the result is a unique flowering of knowledge culture and intellectual freedom Arabic poetry viewed with mistrust by the Quran is a further driving force in this development from this time we have inherited such words as Cipher zero algorithm zenith and our numbers surprisingly the Arabic word for this process is linked to the concept of jihad is simply means to cultivate to make fruitful everything one touches in religion in all disciplines when one thinks of the great theologies that means one must seek to innovate not just to receive knowledge this is shown in science and philosophy they didn't really take from the philosophy of the ancient Greeks Plato and above all Aristotle they contributed to the sum of knowledge they innovated and communicated innovative Avis Cena along with Ava Rose the most important philosopher scientist writes medical textbooks which continue to be studied in Europe well into the 17th century because there is nothing comparable in existence the decline of this cultural and scientific flowering goes hand in hand with the Growing Power of Orthodox theology Aristotle's logic one of the keys to scientific knowledge is forbidden by the clergy philosophers become objects of contempt the designs of Arab ships are copied by the Spaniards and Portuguese Islamic knowledge is adopted around 1450 Europeans venture out into the Atlantic using Arab technology [Music] Islamic and Arabic culture a mighty structure on the foundations of a Holy Scripture the Quran creates masterpieces of architecture technology and art because it understands how to turn Mediterranean culture to its own advantage [Music] foreign centers of ancient science were not in Greece itself at all they were in Alexandria that is in Egypt and partly in Syria these were places where one could draw on Traditions that were still cultivated in the land that created them in Europe it was a little different Germany or France was certainly not centers of learning in Antiquity um Islam has overcome the barriers of Clan and race the Quran is a holy book from West Africa to Indonesia a mighty culture its decline begins with the loss of intellectual freedom in the Middle Ages with theological fossilization [Music] Europe has much to thank Islam for Spain flourished under the omayad dynasty from 755 to 1031 and until the fall of the last Islamic Enclave Granada in 1492. even so shortly after the occupation the Reconquista begins the attempt at reconquest by Christian forces the struggle were last for centuries Islam in Europe for centuries Muslim culture is a dynamic presence in Portugal and Spain there are many unknown influences and features held in common the Arabs bring chess to Europe knowledge about Gardens and agriculture their architecture contributes to the gothic style and Sophie Mystics will later even influence the rules of the Jesuits During the umayyad period under Islam Jews Christians and Muslims lived together in peace foreign [Music] s are permitted to practice their faith Islam respects both the Christian and Jewish religions and in the Far East extends the same tolerance to Buddhism and Hinduism arts and crafts profit from Arabian knowledge Damascus steel is just one example of Arabian skill in the working of metals one of the most remarkable cultural sharings is Knighthood the ideal of chivalry held by Muslims and Christians of the Early Middle Ages is very similar even the notion of romantic Devotion to a distant unreachable lady is probably an invention of early Arabic poetry a culture of the Troubadour from The Poetry to the music has its origins in Baghdad and migrates to France who was himself a knight and used this fact as a basis of understanding in his meetings with the Franks he had a lot of respect for the Franks because they were Brave and because they also represented this ideal of manhood and in this context felt very close to each other he tells of many Knights to whom he felt really close he calls them my brother my friends nevertheless for centuries the struggle is for Domination for the final victory over the enemy Muslim culture is fought and defeated only then is it given due appreciation Cordoba was certainly one of the most Splendid cities of the time for example in the 10th Century a visitor from the Christian North among from Lorraine traveled to Cordoba he was probably an Envoy of King Otto the first and he's impressed by the city's slender its size and also it must be said by the power of the caliph in Cordoba however the processes of cultural exchange are not so marked in the 10th Century during the time of the caliphs it's not until after the Spanish reconquister a reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula which is mostly concluded by the middle of the 13th century that we find a major process of cultural and literary Exchange in Toledo or in Zaragoza but in other cities too works of antiquity which had previously been translated in Syria are now translated back into Latin with the help of Jewish translators and so the whole of Aristotle Finds Its way into the universities which at the start of the 13th century are just beginning to flourish in the Latin West University foreign the Muslim inheritance intermingles with the Christian culture Europe can thank Islam for the return to its ancient roots [Music] but there is another inheritance a terrible one terrorism is invented in the 12th century by a fanatical Islamic splinter group called the Assassins the leader is the legendary old man of the mountains Hassan iban Saba the headquarters of the Assassins lies in the inaccessible Iranian mountains iban Saba is the commander of this radical Shiite group the Assassins have sworn an oath of loyalty unto death to their Imam and are held responsible for several hundred murderous attacks among them murders paid for by Christian Crusaders one shouldn't forget that the sect of the Assassins claims legitimacy from the eldest son of a caliph on the end of the 12th century they fought in support of this college and claimed total power including religious power and before him there were several Fatimid caliphs who declared themselves to be godheads incarnate they were literally worshiped a personality cult for suicide Killers with its headquarters in the Fortress of alamut Marco Polo relates how the Assassins used a trick to recruit young men for their sect the youths were given wine to drink which had been spiked with hashish soon they were in a state of intoxicated rapture then they were taken to the Assassin's Garden at The Fortress of element where they were briefly allowed to enjoy all the Temptations of the Muslim Paradise Moore was promised them as soon as they had carried out a murder for the SEC Tower functions terrorism can be defined as intimidating one's opponent until he does or doesn't do certain things accounts we have about Rasheed Adin sinan for example how he dealt with Saladin a contemporary who was very powerful indicate that Rasheed abdin sinan used a series of carefully calculated actions of this kind to dissuade Saladin from Conquering the ishmaelite territories thank you it is told that saladino woke one morning to find a dagger and a message beside his bed a warning not to go to war against the nizarins the terror raged for 200 years it was finally the Mongols in 1256 who destroyed the Fortress of alamut and killed all the assassins war and Terror in the name of Allah are not the inventions of our present age then as now Terror in the name of Allah is an abuse of Islam foreign [Music] war in the name of God the great world religions preach peace and mercy history especially the history of the Middle Ages proves that religion and violence are not contradictions a belief in God often means believing in fighting on behalf of God and in being rewarded in Paradise Islam means peace Christ teaches us to love our enemy but in their names the world wages War [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign Ty around the year 1100 is marked by a deep sense of piety by the desire of both laity and clergy to lead a holy life and by the holy war against the Heathen the Crusades 200 years seven Crusades of murder and Conquest in the name of the Prince of Peace the church creates an Unholy mixture of faith and military service a problematic Legacy that pursues our civilization to this day the holy war foreign with the Ark of the Covenant the chest for the tablets with the Ten Commandments has magic powers it makes the people of Israel Invincible in war a treasure that the Crusaders are hunting for too during the Crusades military religious orders are founded The Knights Templar the Knights of Saint John and the Teutonic order the combination of Monk and Soldier is one of the most bizarre inventions of the Middle Ages religious orders at war against the heathen but what did this mixture of religion and violence inexplicable to us today mean to people in the Middle Ages talking about the Crusades the tendency is to see the violence in the name of Christianity as a particularly serious crime however one should remember that the Middle Ages and particularly the high Middle Ages were an age of violence so if you see the Crusades in this context and there were perhaps just an extreme expression of what was a mundane and daily feature of medieval life and yet even in the Middle Ages there are some of the faithful who are appalled by the Association of war with the abused Son of God who preached love and peace the East Roman Christians in Byzantium whose monks strive for the ideal of seclusion from the world find the holy nights more than suspect foreign but Byzantium is indirectly responsible for the Crusades the cause is cries for help from Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land the Islamic empires have become a deadly threat to Byzantium Muslim Warriors are attacking the pilgrims the news reaching the Christians gets worse and worse the Byzantine patriarch alexios the first asks Pope or Barn for help Oban sees the possibility of using a campaign to remove the Schism to reunite the Eastern Church and the western church Muslims are desecrating the holy places it is said pilgrims are being murdered rumors spread like wildfire in the year 1095 at the Council of Claremont Pope Orban II makes a speech that will go down in history we know that in this appeal many of the things that people felt moved by probably addressed the rewards of Heaven are promised there is the encouragement to act with a nightly virtue the call to liberate the holy places in Jerusalem again and to make them accessible to pilgrims all this is combined in these four reports and recently there has been speculation as to how the pope invested his words with a full range of symbolic capitalizes he obviously gave a rhetorically brilliant performance which is why the reports say that the whole mass of people Cried Out Deus God Wilson is in 1096 under the command of the monk Peter The Hermit 30 000 enthusiastic Believers set out on the pauper's Crusade thirty thousand in need of food and drink their journey is marked by pillage and plunder only three thousand return after their expedition is annihilated by the Islamic Celtics the same year seized the beginning of the First Crusade many kings take part the Christians are under pressure to extend their Empires have been integrated into Latin Christianity around the year one thousand and then during the 11th century um in the South and Southwest the Muslims in South Italy and the Iberian Peninsula were pushed back to the Latin Christianity expanded there too expanded the First Crusade is a European Enterprise from France Normandy Flanders and Lorraine a stream of knights make their way to Palestine to free the holy lands it will take three years and many battles until they stand before Jerusalem they lay Siege to the holy city for five weeks then the attack begins Victory is followed by a massacre of 65 000 Jews and Muslims women and children that one can only describe as a frenzy of bloodlust a terrible victory the holy land belongs to the Christians or the time being Europe around the year 1100 is undergoing profound changes it is not just contact with foreign cultures the population just like the economy is growing at a great pace trade becomes more important overpopulation becomes a problem who rules over all these people monarchs and the church are locked in power struggles [Music] everywhere there is change and expansion the Crusades are part of this [Music] the Crusades are not a clash of civilizations between Christianity and Islam Christianity is divided Rome and Byzantium in the Early Middle Ages the Byzantine Empire the first Christian Empire was 20 times wealthier than Rome but weakened by constant Wars exhausted by a vast administrative apparatus its power is now slowly draining away Byzantium with its capital Constantinople has called on the Crusaders for assistance but it mistrusts them justifiably as will soon be seen hitherto the Byzantine church has dominated Christian theology but that too will change the Crusaders hire ships to take them to the Holy Land an excellent business that makes many Italian cities rich the Crusaders are becoming the economic factor of the Mediterranean region taking part in The Crusade represented the value of six years labor there has to be a powerful motive to endure the hardships and the risk of death the church has promised the Crusaders He Who falls in battle against the Heathen will be a martyr in the Middle Ages the fear of hell is great the hope of reaching the Kingdom of Heaven small almost everyone believes they are threatened by Eternal damnation but the chance of becoming one was extremely important you only have to think of chapter 20 of the Apocalypse The Book of Revelations where it is prophesied that Martyrs will immediately enjoy eternal life at the Heavenly altar IO this evening While others will have to wait there allotted time before they even have a chance of tasting the joys the greatest propagandist of the Crusades is Bernardo clairvo on the one hand a devout Mystic on the other hand he even promises thieves and murderers eternal life if they join the Crusade and kill heathens his greatest hour comes in the year 1144 the Emir of mosul conquers Odessa a Christian principality since the first crusade in sermons of fire and brimstone Bernard calls for the Second Crusade with resounding success [Music] but it ends in military disaster [Applause] then in 1187 catastrophe the Battle of hatim a whole Crusader Army is annihilated the legendary Saladin defeats the Christians Jerusalem falls foreign voices are heard is Bernard a false prophet why does God want this humiliating defeat but enthusiasm for the Crusades does not weaken many later actions only add up to an Inglorious chapter in the history of the West is now the so-called Fourth Crusade is particularly interesting because it heads not for the holy land but for Constantinople into the Byzantine Empire from 1202 to 1204. Venice had provided a fleet in Byzantium to transport the Crusaders and intended to secure financial support there for the Crusade once in Byzantium however the whole Enterprise gets bogged down Constantinople is stormed and taken a bloody massacre and the result is a Latin Empire that lasts for about 60 years foreign the Crusaders remain for about a century in their territories along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean [Music] war in the name of God and the defeats punishments say the preachers or the many sins of the Crusaders sins such as gambling theft and lust and remarkably there must also be penitence for the killing although it is a holy war Jerusalem has been lost but the Crusaders still have their castles and territories for the nobility was the prospect of new kingdoms not the most tempting feature of the Crusades the many power struggles among the Muslims help the Crusaders to secure the borders of their principalities numerous castles served this purpose the orders of knights however are reluctant to acknowledge a superior command they wish to act independently as if these new rulers didn't exist indeed there isn't a great deal of unity anyway among the Christian Empires the Norms of Antioch are in conflict with the byzantines and some of the Crusaders States also fight against each other sooner or later thank you a confused situation especially within the principalities in desert side this time the crusaders had new problems to deal with in their territories they had created a new Society of course consisting of Muslims Jews a new Christians from the Latin world but also including for example members of other Christian faiths historians or physics and others together together all these different religions and cultures under one room I suppose you could even call it the foundation of something like a Multicultural Society um an optimistic description but not necessarily wrong as an occupying power the Crusaders like the Muslims were quite bearable business as usual is perhaps an accurate description of the mood in the Crusader States the Arabs have to pay taxes but they are not persecuted for their faith in many areas especially technology medicine and crafts the Muslims are far more advanced than the Crusaders the Christians learn more from the Muslims than vice versa [Music] and cultural superiority also informs the way the Muslims see the Crusaders basically the Muslims had a feeling of religious superiority [Music] that the Christian Knights had a religion that was simply inferior to Islam so we find Usama even monkeys beginning his chapter on Frankish Customs by comparing the Franks to animals in that they possess animal virtues such as bravery um he respected their bravery but held them to be culturally inferior because they did not possess the same medical skills or techniques and finally very important they had no sense of Honor or shame and um and this was something that really struck the Muslims the Christian Knights were very liberal with their wives so it was noticed that a Christian Knight was standing on the street with his wife and Along Came another Frank and spoke to the wife without the husband intervening the Crusaders states are dependent on supplies transported by ship the brisk trade over the Mediterranean is managed principally by the Italian city-states of Genoa and Venice the Crusades make them fabulously wealthy the Crusades are the basis for their later ascendancy [Music] the Middle Ages is a period of conflict between church and secular power a time of violence and strife the Crusades transfer the disputes of the European Empires to a new venue the Holy Land Unity among the Christians is weak their quarrels with each other powerful thank you after the Second Crusade Jerusalem the goal of all the Crusades will only twice be made accessible to pilgrims thanks to treaties which Richard the lionheart and Frederick II negotiate with the Muslims [Music] the Coats of Arms of the two princes are amazingly similar although they are not related Richard's life is an example of the constant quarreling among the Christians Richard the lionheart the legendary English king lives in France he has only spent six months of his life in England [Music] his mother Eleanor later queen of France and England takes part in a crusade his father and siblings become enemies all his life Richard is entangled in court intrigues both actively and passively his probably most important opponent Philip II of France is also his ally in the Third Crusade until he quarrels with Richard and returns home to wage war on England but first they Advance together into the holy land and fight for their common cause [Music] they conquer Jaffa and Cyprus the most important base of retreat for all later Crusaders Richard never reaches Jerusalem he is weakened by domestic intrigue but he negotiates with Saladin the legendary commander and Victor of hatin the result is a treaty which gives him tire and Jaffa and pilgrims access to Jerusalem on his return Journey Richard Falls victim to a plot he has made prisoner and taken to Germany to Henry VI but Henry allies himself to Richard and frees him in exchange for a ransom change of scene Frederick II known as the wonder of the world is raised at the court of the Norman King Roger on Sicily Sicily was once occupied by Muslims the young Frederick comes into contact with a superior Islamic culture a formative experience the Castel Del Monte a symbol of Frederick's thirst for knowledge from here he corresponds with Islamic scholars but many of his contemporaries Frederick's admiration goes too far his Castel is octagonal like the Imperial Crown or like the Muslim Dome of the Rock from the Arabs he learns falconry and writes a scholarly treaties about the birds which is unrivaled for centuries under his rule Muslims live in peace on Sicily they have their own part of town even his bodyguards are Islamic very clever their lives depend on him Frederick has taken a vow to lead a crusade but he doesn't go the pope excommunicates him in 1228 The Crusade takes place despite the excommunication there are battles [Music] but above all there are negotiations and a treaty with the sultan al-malik definitely since the seconds treaty is more remarkable than Richard the lionheart firstly because it's valid for the next 10 years and especially of course because the treaty is agreed without any accompanying military action so Frederick II was hardly a military commander in the Holy Land but rather than primarily a negotiated after his death it is even rumored that Frederick was in secret a Muslim that is nonsense but he admires Arab culture and orders himself buried in an oriental row please it is indisputable that the Arabs of that time were more advanced in all matters of science than their European contemporaries how do the Muslim peoples react to the Crusaders who invade their land [Music] the foreign Knights arrive mainly by sea the Christian soldiers have a reputation for bravery they are specialists in Siege technology but militarily this is nothing new for the Arabs who favor sudden attacks raids Like Pirates a constant plague at the time the Crusaders are just one more enemy among many and like Pirates they only appear along the coast the difference is that after attacking the Crusaders do not disappear again but remain as Invaders even so they are not perceived as a threat to Islam the standards of hygiene and Medical Care among the Crusaders both amazes and horrifies the Muslims whether Crusader or Arab short-term power strategies provide fertile ground for Intrigue and shifting alliances which often transcend religious boundaries not so much a clash of civilizations as a skirmish of Warlords or the Arabs the foreign soldiers come from a mysterious dark and cold land where terrible monsters dwell the more distant the Crusaders Homeland the more terrible the monsters Muslims call all nights Franks no matter where they actually come from and yet there is an astonishing cultural Bridge the ideal of Knighthood courage and honor even the European tradition of Troubadours singing of courtly love is probably a borrowing from Arab culture this is the chivalric ideal is certainly something which linked the two cultures in Europe as well at this time there was the notion of an ideal of Knighthood which was inter-religious above religions the Epic poems which basically developed the ideal of Knighthood as a link between religious faiths which goes beyond religion so that a knight could have a Muslim brother all sharing the same ideal of Courage that's the idea of the knights on their quest for the Holy Grail is the community of noble knights and their Quest For Truth as a bridge between mortal enemies religious Warriors in Europe Saladin is still admired for his chivalry and the history of Muslims and Christians still hides many common features waiting to be discovered

Channel: Chronicle - Medieval History Documentaries

Views: 497,603

Keywords: history documentary, medieval history documentary, middle ages, medieval history, the middle ages, history documentary 2022, peoples crusade, first crusade map, pope urban, the crusades, siege of antioch, siege of jerusalem, first crusade extra history

Id: dte1_1ao_6c

Length: 85min 9sec (5109 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 25 2023