The crusades

Nearly every one familiar with western history knows of and is
familiar with the crusades. To many stories of, "The Crusades"
brings an image of knights in shining armor making a long and
arduous trek to rescue the holy city of Jerusalem from the
oppressive rule of the muslims. This glamorous view however does
not reveal the brutal and horrorific nature of the crusades.
Thousands of muslims, christians, jews, warriors, and innocent
people alike were slaughter by crusaders and arabs alike. The
crusaders, franks to the arabs, quickly took over much of the
middle east very quickly. They would control Jerusalem for 88
years, yet they would later refuse to regain it trade it for not
attacking Damascus. Arabs and franks worked together frequently,
there were even battles between armies consisting of both franks
and arabs. Why were the arabs initially so easy to defeat, but
later unstoppable? Why did the arabs aid and fight with the franks
when they were conquering so much of their land, and slaughtering
so many people? Why did the franks work with the arabs they had
come to destroy?
The story told from the arabic view of the crusades and
crusaders can shed light on these and other questions. This paper
discusses the view of the arabs and tries to answer some of these
questions.

Before the First Crusade
Before we can consider the conditions during the crusades, we
must briefly examine what they were like before the crusaders
arrived. For the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, the arabs
built and ruled a vast kingdom in the middle east. The tenth
centuries showed the decline of the unified arab empire as Turks
and Persians invaded and took control.
By 1055 the Seljuk Turks are ruling Baghdad. The turks
decided to keep the arab sultan as a puppet ruller, yet most of the
cities were rulled by them. Baghdad the former seat of arab power,
was a fabulous city at its height. A free hospital, postal
service, international banks, a comprehensive sewage system, and a
paper mill were some of the splendors enjoyed by the citizens.
This however, was destroyed long before the franks entered the
middle east.
In 1071 the turks beat the Byzantine defenses in asia minor at
the battle of Manzikert. By the time of the first crusades former
turkish forces, or their descendants, controlled all of asia minor
to Egypt.
Despite the vast area under muslim control, very little of the
power was unified. Each city in the middle east had its own ruler,
most of which had little power outside the local area. The power
hungry nobles each had their own agenda, and were enemies as much
as allies. Assassinations were quite common. This political
climate aidded the crusaders in their conquest.
The social climate was different than the political. Despite
the fact that non muslim citizens were considered second class
citizens, jews, and christians of various sects were treated better
than they were being treated in europe. Small additional taxes and
the lack of political power were the only price for religious
freedom. Pilgrims were largly free to warship as they felt.
The arabs had little contact with the franks before the
crusades. Pilgrims and a small number of mercenaries were the only
source of information. This changed some, when in about 1076
Alexius Comnenus asked the sultan of asia minor, Suleyman, for help
in stopping a frank who was marching on Constantinople. This
strange request from former foes was answered by the sultan. He
was well rewarded for stopping the would be conquer, but now even
the byzantienes were suspicious of the franks.

The First Crusade
Suleyman's son, Kilij Arslan, would be the first to encounter
the crusading hord. Kilij Arslan had confidants in the guard of
Constantinople some of which were muslum mercenary troops. He was
quickly alerted when thousands of Franks arrived at the city. The
force had a curious make up, for in addition to the knights and
foot-soldiers were thousands of women, children, and elderly folk.
Not knowing what to make of this odd force, which would later be
named "the Peoples Crusade",the sultan had the force watched
closely. Numbering nearly ten thousand, the force claiming to have
come to exterminate the muslims was quickly shuttled to asia minor
by Alexus. Initially they moved down the coast raiding. Even
Greek Othodox churches were pillaged as the went. Eventually they
settled in the city of Civitot, which was close to Kilij Arslan's
city of Nicaea.
When all the neighboring lands had been pillaged, the force
moved toward Nicaea. The force raided all the intervening
villages, taking their harvest, slaughtering all who resisted, even
children, despite the fact that they were most were christian.
Kilij Arslan was initially taken by surprise at this sudden
movement, had a token force of cavalry he sent out which was
decimated. He recovered his wits and managed to manipulate a small group of German knights with the franks into attacking a small unguarded keep nearby. Kilij quickly surrounded the knights inside. The knights had fallen into a trap, for the keep they had baracaded themselfs into had no source for water inside the walls. after a few days they were forced to capitulate. Most were killed, some agreed to fight for Kilij and the leader even willingly converted to islam.
Kilij then had spys infiltrate the frankish camp. The spys were to spread a rumor that the knights had found a keep full of loot and were not going to share. The truth was found out from a survivor from the keep. Enraged the franks moved to attack and avenge the "marters". since this is what Kilij had wanter he was ready this time. The sultan attacked the large unorganized force. Archers had the franks fleeing before his knights finished their first charge. The franks were crushed, only about two thousand managed to reach the coast and flee to safety. Some were sold into slavery but most were killed.
This was a great boon for Kilij Arslan. He was only
seventeen, but had crushed the hugh frankish force. He even had
managed to get a knight by the name of Reynold and his troops to
not only to renounce christianity but join his side. This feeling
of invincibility over the franks led him to ignore reports of a new
frankish hoard approaching Constantinople, the true "first
crusade". He figured he would crush them as he had the first
force. This would be his downfall, and his defeat would have
consequences on the rest of the crusade.

With the first frankish hord out of the way Kilij Arslan
decided to get back to more important business, fighting with his
neighbors. He took his army out to do battle with Danishmend, a
sultan who took a city that had been in Kilij Arslan's fathers
domain. So it came to pass that he was far from home when the
franks arrived.
When Reports of the franks arrival came, Kilij Arslans only
action was to sen a few cavalry units to bolster the cities
defenses. He decided to finish his battle with Danishmend before
he went back to kill this group of franks. However when he learned
the franks had laid siege to his city of Nicaea, he obtained a
truce with Danishmend and went to deal with the impertinent franks.
Kilij Arslan was stunned when he saw the frankish army. It
was a true fighting force. Not only was it much larger than the
first, it had thousands of knights as apposed to hundreds. He
tried to break the siege but quickly decided it was futile against
such a large trained force and retreated to the hills.
The defenders of the city were told to do what they could to
save themselves. Remembering the atrocities of the first frankish
hoard, they decided to surrender the city to the Byzantine. A deal
was made and the byzantine forces were allowed to sneak into the
city under the cover of darkness. This upset the franks but they
did nothing and resumed their march to their goal, the holy land.
Kilij Arslan set about to build up a huge army to counter the
franks. A permanent alliance with Danishmend was even formed.
With their combined forces the sultans felt unstoppable, and set
out to meet the franks. Their spies not only told them the franks
destination, but their exact rout. An ambush was planned and set.
The sultans were joyed when the franks entered the small
valley chosen for the ambush. The force was smaller than reports
had indicated, and the sultans were confident of victory. However,
victory would go to the franks.
The normal tactics of hitting the enemy first with volley of
arrows was ineffective against the franks heavy armor. With the
element of surprise gone and their tactics not working, the sultans
were unsure of what to do. At that time two more frankish forces
equal in size to the first showed up. Now, greatly outnumbered,
the sultans had only one choice. They and their advisors got their
fastest horses and fled leaving everything.
The turkish army was massacred, the few survivors sold into
slavery. This frankish victory sent shockwave of fear throughout
the middle east, and would affect the future battles of the
crusade.
The Next encounter with the franks occurred at Antioch. It
took the franks over three months to reach Antioch, during that
time stores of their victory had spread. Fear of the franks filled
every city, and when the franks were finally seen approaching
antioch the emir, Yaghi-Siyan, ordered the gates closed. Antioch
was a well defended city. A strong well fortified wall surrounded
the city. A river flanked one side of the city, and a steep valley
another, making it impossible to surround the city. The city had
plenty of food reserves, and even had cultivatable land inside the
wall. the only way the city would fall easily was if a traitor
allowed the franks inside the city. The emir thought to stop this
by putting out all the christians, greeks, and others who might
sympathize with the franks.
Yaghi-Siyan had other problems. The closest source of aid
were two cities ruled by his brothers, who were far from being
friendly towards him or each other. He managed to convince one
brother to come to his aid. However as the brother approached he
grew more fearful of the franks. When he encountered a small
foraging party, he could not give the order to attack. The franks
escaped, and he fled for home.
Famine was the biggest problem for the crusaders. They had to
eat their mounts in order to survive. It was the raiding of the
forage parties that convinced the second brother to help
Yaghi-Siyan. He moved his cavalry, several thousand strong,
towards antioch. By this time the franks had less than a thousand
Knights mounted. This brother was also afraid of the franks, he
tried to make sure the franks could not surround his forces.
Unfortunately this forced him to fight in a small valley where his
cavalry could not maneuver. This allowed the Heavily armored
franks to crush the muslims, send the survivors running.
Their was one last offensive taken against the franks of the
first crusade. Yaghi-Siyan pleaded for help from the atabeg of
Monsul, who promised to raise an army to save antioch and stop the
franks. This force was not stopped by fear of the franks, but by
the politicking of the sultans making up the army.
One sultan was afraid that the atabeg was trying to spread his
influence over the region,(which he was). Fearing the franks less,
he convinced some of the others to pull out when the time was
critical. Antioch had fallen to the franks by the time the army
reached the city. A traitor let the franks into the city in return
for gold and land. The citizens had been slaughtered, raped, and
robbed. The franks move against the army, for they could not
afford to sit besieged without supplies.
As the armies engaged a large number of sultans pulled out and
headed for home. This caused a general rout in the muslim forces.
The armies fled with hardly a single blow being struck or arrow
fired. Confused the franks chose not to pursue in case it was a
trap.
This was the last of the muslim forces that would have been
able to oppose the franks. This is however the first occurrence
where the franks were considered to be just another force in the
region as opposed to invaders or conquers. This opinion grows
after the first crusade and through the others.
The crusaders were not seriously opposed after the battle, or
lack of one, at Antioch. Most towns and villages sent the
crusaders gold, supplies, information, and anything else that they
had as tribute in hope of being spared the destruction and mass
killings of prior conquests. This was the case especially after
the slaughter at Ma'arra, where the crusaders not only killed
thousands of people but, because they were out of supplies, ate the
saracens. Only Tripoli was able to hold out against the franks for
some period of time. It too eventually fell to the crusaders.

After the First Crusade
The time period after the first crusade saw a change in the
views of the arabs and franks towards each other. The franks
changed from barbaric invaders and eaters of human flesh to just
one of the regional powers to be treated as such. One of the best
sources of arabic opinion of the franks comes from a Syrian knight
named Usamah Ibn-Munqidh. He was born in 1095 and lived to be 93
years old. He fought against the franks and visited them in peace
time.
Usamah witnessed many things: feasts, trials by combat and
ordeal, medical practices, as well as battles and betrayals. The
Trials by combat and ordeal, and medical practices he found
barbaric. The arabs had a long standing judicial system, and knew
a great deal of medicines, then knew haw to treat conditions the
franks considered demonic possessions.
Not all of his opinions of the franks were bad. He thought
well of the franks that had been their some time and had acclimated
to the eastern lifestyles. A servant of Usamah related this story
to him:
I went along with him and we came to the home of a knight
who belonged to the old category of knights who came with the
early expeditions of the Franks. He had been by that time
stricken off the register and exempted from service, and
possessed in Antioch an estate on the income of which he
lived. The knight presented an excellent table, with food
extraordinarily clean and delicious. Seeing me abstaining
from food, he said,"Eat, be of good cheer! I never eat
Frankish dishes, but I have Egyptian women cooks and never eat
except their cooking. Besides, pork never enters my home."
I ate, but guardedly, and after that we departed. ...

This shows how some of the franks not only learned and
accepted arabic culture but lived by it. These franks are note as
an exception by Usamah, and are referred to in kinder words by him
in his book. This next example, related by Usamah, shows a good
contrast between the newly arrived franks and those that have been
in the mid-east for some time.
Everyone who is a fresh emigrant from the Frankish lands
is ruder in character than those who have become acclimatized
and have held long association with the Moslems. Here is an
illustration of their rude character.
Whenever I visited Jerusalem I always entered the Aqsa
Mosque, beside which stood a small mosque which the Franks had
converted into a church. When I used to enter the Aqsa
Mosque, which was occupied by the Templars [al-dawiyyah], who
were my friends, the Templars would evacuate the little
adjoining mosque so that I might pray in it. One day I
entered this mosque, repeated the first formula,"Allah is
great." and stood up in the act of praying, upon which one of
the Franks rushed on me, got hold of me and turned my face
eastward saying,"This is the way thou shouldst pray!' A group
of Templars hastened to him, seized him and repelled him from
me. I resumed my prayer. The same man, while the others were
otherwise busy, rushed once more on me and turned my face
eastward, saying,"This is the way thou Shouldst pray!" The
Templars again came in to him and expelled him. They
apologized to me, saying, "This is a stranger who has never
seen anyone praying except eastward." There upon I said to my
self,"I have had enough prayer." So I went out and have ever
been surprised at the conduct of this devil of a man, at the
change in the color of his face, his trembling and his
sentiment at the sight of one praying towards the qiblah.

Templars coming to the rescue of a muslim is another example
of how the franks became less invaders on a holy quest and more
just another political force of the realm. After the first
crusade, more examples of muslim and frankish forces working
together, for a common political goal, show up.
The temporary nature of these alliances and their goal were
reminiscent of arabia before the crusades. Politicking and
infighting weakening the realm for the next conquests; of Saladin
the Great, the mongols, and beyond.

Bibliography

Gabrieli, Francesco "Arab Historians of the Crusades". Dorset
Press, New York, 1969 pp 1-204

Holt, P.M. "The Age of th Crusades". Longman, London,
1986 pp 1-107
Ibn-Munqidh, Usamah "An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the
Period of the Crusades". Princeton University Press, New
Jersy, 1987 pp 1-201

Maalouf, Amin "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes". Schocken Books,
New York, 1984 pp 1-261

by Chur Nearly every one familiar with western history knows of and is familiar with the crusades. To many stories of, "The Crusades" brings an image of knights in shining armor making a long and arduous trek to rescue the holy city of Jerusalem from the oppressive rule of the muslims. This glamorous view however does not reveal the brutal and horrorific nature of the crusades. Thousands of muslims, christians, jews, warriors, and innocent people alike were slaughter by crusaders and arabs alike. The crusaders, franks to the arabs, quickly took over much of the middle east very quickly. They would control Jerusalem for 88 years, yet they would later refuse to regain it trade it for not attacking Damascus. Arabs and franks worked together frequently, there were even battles between armies consisting of both franks and arabs. Why were the arabs initially so easy to defeat, but later unstoppable? Why did the arabs aid and fight with the franks when they were conquering so much of their land, and slaughtering so many people? Why did the franks work with the arabs they had come to destroy? The story told from the arabic view of the crusades and crusaders can shed light on these and other questions. This paper discusses the view of the arabs and tries to answer some of these questions. Before the First Crusade Before we can consider the conditions during the crusades, we must briefly examine what they were like before the crusaders arrived. For the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, the arabs built and ruled a vast kingdom in the middle east. The tenth centuries showed the decline of the unified arab empire as Turks and Persians invaded and took control. By 1055 the Seljuk Turks are ruling Baghdad. The turks decided to keep the arab sultan as a puppet ruller, yet most of the cities were rulled by them. Baghdad the former seat of arab power, was a fabulous city at its height. A free hospital, postal service, international banks, a comprehensive sewage system, and a paper mill were some of the splendors enjoyed by the citizens. This however, was destroyed long before the franks entered the middle east. In 1071 the turks beat the Byzantine defenses in asia minor at the battle of Manzikert. By the time of the first crusades former turkish forces, or their descendants, controlled all of asia minor to Egypt. Despite the vast area under muslim control, very little of the power was unified. Each city in the middle east had its own ruler, most of which had little power outside the local area. The power hungry nobles each had their own agenda, and were enemies as much as allies. Assassinations were quite common. This political climate aidded the crusaders in their conquest. The social climate was different than the political. Despite the fact that non muslim citizens were considered second class citizens, jews, and christians of various sects were treated better than they were being treated in europe. Small additional taxes and the lack of political power were the only price for religious freedom. Pilgrims were largly free to warship as they felt. The arabs had little contact with the franks before the crusades. Pilgrims and a small number of mercenaries were the only source of information. This changed some, when in about 1076 Alexius Comnenus asked the sultan of asia minor, Suleyman, for help in stopping a frank who was marching on Constantinople. This strange request from former foes was answered by the sultan. He was well rewarded for stopping the would be conquer, but now even the byzantienes were suspicious of the franks. The First Crusade Suleyman's son, Kilij Arslan, would be the first to encounter the crusading hord. Kilij Arslan had confidants in the guard of Constantinople some of which were muslum mercenary troops. He was quickly alerted when thousands of Franks arrived at the city. The force had a curious make up, for in addition to the knights and foot-soldiers were thousands of women, children, and elderly folk. Not knowing what to make of this odd force, which would later be named "the Peoples Crusade",the sultan had the force watched closely. Numbering nearly ten thousand, the force claiming to have come to exterminate the muslims was quickly shuttled to asia minor by Alexus. Initially they moved down the coast raiding. Even Greek Othodox churches were pillaged as the went. Eventually they settled in the city of Civitot, which was close to Kilij Arslan's city of Nicaea. When all the neighboring lands had been pillaged, the force moved toward Nicaea. The force raided all the intervening villages, taking their harvest, slaughtering all who resisted, even children, despite the fact that they were most were christian. Kilij Arslan was initially taken by surprise at this sudden movement, had a token force of cavalry he sent out which was decimated. He recovered his wits and managed to manipulate a small group of German knights with the franks into attacking a small unguarded keep nearby. Kilij quickly surrounded the knights inside. The knights had fallen into a trap, for the keep they had baracaded themselfs into had no source for water inside the walls. after a few days they were forced to capitulate. Most were killed, some agreed to fight for Kilij and the leader even willingly converted to islam. Kilij then had spys infiltrate the frankish camp. The spys were to spread a rumor that the knights had found a keep full of loot and were not going to share. The truth was found out from a survivor from the keep. Enraged the franks moved to attack and avenge the "marters". since this is what Kilij had wanter he was ready this time. The sultan attacked the large unorganized force. Archers had the franks fleeing before his knights finished their first charge. The franks were crushed, only about two thousand managed to reach the coast and flee to safety. Some were sold into slavery but most were killed. This was a great boon for Kilij Arslan. He was only seventeen, but had crushed the hugh frankish force. He even had managed to get a knight by the name of Reynold and his troops to not only to renounce christianity but join his side. This feeling of invincibility over the franks led him to ignore reports of a new frankish hoard approaching Constantinople, the true "first crusade". He figured he would crush them as he had the first force. This would be his downfall, and his defeat would have consequences on the rest of the crusade. With the first frankish hord out of the way Kilij Arslan decided to get back to more important business, fighting with his neighbors. He took his army out to do battle with Danishmend, a sultan who took a city that had been in Kilij Arslan's fathers domain. So it came to pass that he was far from home when the franks arrived. When Reports of the franks arrival came, Kilij Arslans only action was to sen a few cavalry units to bolster the cities defenses. He decided to finish his battle with Danishmend before he went back to kill this group of franks. However when he learned the franks had laid siege to his city of Nicaea, he obtained a truce with Danishmend and went to deal with the impertinent franks. Kilij Arslan was stunned when he saw the frankish army. It was a true fighting force. Not only was it much larger than the first, it had thousands of knights as apposed to hundreds. He tried to break the siege but quickly decided it was futile against such a large trained force and retreated to the hills. The defenders of the city were told to do what they could to save themselves. Remembering the atrocities of the first frankish hoard, they decided to surrender the city to the Byzantine. A deal was made and the byzantine forces were allowed to sneak into the city under the cover of darkness. This upset the franks but they did nothing and resumed their march to their goal, the holy land. Kilij Arslan set about to build up a huge army to counter the franks. A permanent alliance with Danishmend was even formed. With their combined forces the sultans felt unstoppable, and set out to meet the franks. Their spies not only told them the franks destination, but their exact rout. An ambush was planned and set. The sultans were joyed when the franks entered the small valley chosen for the ambush. The force was smaller than reports had indicated, and the sultans were confident of victory. However, victory would go to the franks. The normal tactics of hitting the enemy first with volley of arrows was ineffective against the franks heavy armor. With the element of surprise gone and their tactics not working, the sultans were unsure of what to do. At that time two more frankish forces equal in size to the first showed up. Now, greatly outnumbered, the sultans had only one choice. They and their advisors got their fastest horses and fled leaving everything. The turkish army was massacred, the few survivors sold into slavery. This frankish victory sent shockwave of fear throughout the middle east, and would affect the future battles of the crusade. The Next encounter with the franks occurred at Antioch. It took the franks over three months to reach Antioch, during that time stores of their victory had spread. Fear of the franks filled every city, and when the franks were finally seen approaching antioch the emir, Yaghi-Siyan, ordered the gates closed. Antioch was a well defended city. A strong well fortified wall surrounded the city. A river flanked one side of the city, and a steep valley another, making it impossible to surround the city. The city had plenty of food reserves, and even had cultivatable land inside the wall. the only way the city would fall easily was if a traitor allowed the franks inside the city. The emir thought to stop this by putting out all the christians, greeks, and others who might sympathize with the franks. Yaghi-Siyan had other problems. The closest source of aid were two cities ruled by his brothers, who were far from being friendly towards him or each other. He managed to convince one brother to come to his aid. However as the brother approached he grew more fearful of the franks. When he encountered a small foraging party, he could not give the order to attack. The franks escaped, and he fled for home. Famine was the biggest problem for the crusaders. They had to eat their mounts in order to survive. It was the raiding of the forage parties that convinced the second brother to help Yaghi-Siyan. He moved his cavalry, several thousand strong, towards antioch. By this time the franks had less than a thousand Knights mounted. This brother was also afraid of the franks, he tried to make sure the franks could not surround his forces. Unfortunately this forced him to fight in a small valley where his cavalry could not maneuver. This allowed the Heavily armored franks to crush the muslims, send the survivors running. Their was one last offensive taken against the franks of the first crusade. Yaghi-Siyan pleaded for help from the atabeg of Monsul, who promised to raise an army to save antioch and stop the franks. This force was not stopped by fear of the franks, but by the politicking of the sultans making up the army. One sultan was afraid that the atabeg was trying to spread his influence over the region,(which he was). Fearing the franks less, he convinced some of the others to pull out when the time was critical. Antioch had fallen to the franks by the time the army reached the city. A traitor let the franks into the city in return for gold and land. The citizens had been slaughtered, raped, and robbed. The franks move against the army, for they could not afford to sit besieged without supplies. As the armies engaged a large number of sultans pulled out and headed for home. This caused a general rout in the muslim forces. The armies fled with hardly a single blow being struck or arrow fired. Confused the franks chose not to pursue in case it was a trap. This was the last of the muslim forces that would have been able to oppose the franks. This is however the first occurrence where the franks were considered to be just another force in the region as opposed to invaders or conquers. This opinion grows after the first crusade and through the others. The crusaders were not seriously opposed after the battle, or lack of one, at Antioch. Most towns and villages sent the crusaders gold, supplies, information, and anything else that they had as tribute in hope of being spared the destruction and mass killings of prior conquests. This was the case especially after the slaughter at Ma'arra, where the crusaders not only killed thousands of people but, because they were out of supplies, ate the saracens. Only Tripoli was able to hold out against the franks for some period of time. It too eventually fell to the crusaders. After the First Crusade The time period after the first crusade saw a change in the views of the arabs and franks towards each other. The franks changed from barbaric invaders and eaters of human flesh to just one of the regional powers to be treated as such. One of the best sources of arabic opinion of the franks comes from a Syrian knight named Usamah Ibn-Munqidh. He was born in 1095 and lived to be 93 years old. He fought against the franks and visited them in peace time. Usamah witnessed many things: feasts, trials by combat and ordeal, medical practices, as well as battles and betrayals. The Trials by combat and ordeal, and medical practices he found barbaric. The arabs had a long standing judicial system, and knew a great deal of medicines, then knew haw to treat conditions the franks considered demonic possessions. Not all of his opinions of the franks were bad. He thought well of the franks that had been their some time and had acclimated to the eastern lifestyles. A servant of Usamah related this story to him: I went along with him and we came to the home of a knight who belonged to the old category of knights who came with the early expeditions of the Franks. He had been by that time stricken off the register and exempted from service, and possessed in Antioch an estate on the income of which he lived. The knight presented an excellent table, with food extraordinarily clean and delicious. Seeing me abstaining from food, he said,"Eat, be of good cheer! I never eat Frankish dishes, but I have Egyptian women cooks and never eat except their cooking. Besides, pork never enters my home." I ate, but guardedly, and after that we departed. ... This shows how some of the franks not only learned and accepted arabic culture but lived by it. These franks are note as an exception by Usamah, and are referred to in kinder words by him in his book. This next example, related by Usamah, shows a good contrast between the newly arrived franks and those that have been in the mid-east for some time. Everyone who is a fresh emigrant from the Frankish lands is ruder in character than those who have become acclimatized and have held long association with the Moslems. Here is an illustration of their rude character. Whenever I visited Jerusalem I always entered the Aqsa Mosque, beside which stood a small mosque which the Franks had converted into a church. When I used to enter the Aqsa Mosque, which was occupied by the Templars [al-dawiyyah], who were my friends, the Templars would evacuate the little adjoining mosque so that I might pray in it. One day I entered this mosque, repeated the first formula,"Allah is great." and stood up in the act of praying, upon which one of the Franks rushed on me, got hold of me and turned my face eastward saying,"This is the way thou shouldst pray!' A group of Templars hastened to him, seized him and repelled him from me. I resumed my prayer. The same man, while the others were otherwise busy, rushed once more on me and turned my face eastward, saying,"This is the way thou Shouldst pray!" The Templars again came in to him and expelled him. They apologized to me, saying, "This is a stranger who has never seen anyone praying except eastward." There upon I said to my self,"I have had enough prayer." So I went out and have ever been surprised at the conduct of this devil of a man, at the change in the color of his face, his trembling and his sentiment at the sight of one praying towards the qiblah. Templars coming to the rescue of a muslim is another example of how the franks became less invaders on a holy quest and more just another political force of the realm. After the first crusade, more examples of muslim and frankish forces working together, for a common political goal, show up. The temporary nature of these alliances and their goal were reminiscent of arabia before the crusades. Politicking and infighting weakening the realm for the next conquests; of Saladin the Great, the mongols, and beyond. Bibliography Gabrieli, Francesco "Arab Historians of the Crusades". Dorset Press, New York, 1969 pp 1-204 Holt, P.M. "The Age of th Crusades". Longman, London, 1986 pp 1-107 Ibn-Munqidh, Usamah "An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades". Princeton University Press, New Jersy, 1987 pp 1-201 Maalouf, Amin "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes". Schocken Books, New York, 1984 pp 1-261

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