02/04/07 The real history of the Crusades?
02/04/06 Jesus = Divus Julius?
02/04/07 The real history of the Crusades?
02/04/06 Jesus = Divus Julius?
How does a man love according to divine precept his neighbor as himself when, knowing that his Christian brothers in faith and in name are held by the perfidious Muslims in strict confinement and weighed down by the yoke of heaviest servitude, he does not devote himself to the task of freeing them? ...Is it by chance that you do not know that many thousands of Christians are bound in slavery and imprisoned by the Muslims, tortured with innumerable torments? These words of Pope Innocentius III are used by the author of The Real History of the Crusades to support his claim that the Crusades were defensive wars. Frankly, to me it makes them sound more like holy wars, inspired by the same kind of rhetoric that inspires modern-day terrorists.
Thomas F.Madden: The Real History of the Crusades
Metafilter discussion
More about the Crusades.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies
Google Directory - The Crusades
From the odd stuff department: "War Jesus Ceasar?" (Was Jesus Ceasar?) by Francesco Carotta. The reasoning seems to be as follows: Julius Ceasar was declared a god after his death; around this new god a body of myth and miracle tales emerged; eventually the historical figure behind these stories was forgotten and mutated into a fictional Jesus, who shared several important life events with the original Julius. Mmmmm.
Was Jesus Ceasar? Summary
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