Why did the medieval Church bless the invasion of Duke William of Normandy into Christian England in 1066 and give its blessings for the cultural genocide that took place in Provence? How was it possible for a Western Christian army to loot to the point of destruction of Constantinople in 1204? Why did thousands of ordinary men and women, also guided by knights and noblewomen, kings and queens, board ships filled with zeal and set sail for the Holy Land in a campaign of destruction against the world of Islam?
People of that time did not call the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 the "First Crusade," nor the heroic confrontation between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, the famous Salah ad-Din, the "Third Crusade"; that word had not yet been invented. However, the idea of a war for faith had long since taken root. Why did the Crusades begin, and what truth lies behind them, are just two of the significant questions this book examines.
Many saw the Crusades as a kind of pilgrimage. Many mistakenly believed that this was the will of God, and even more participated for the spoils and the festivities of plunder. The author, examining aspects of history that remain unexplored until now, sheds light on religious factions and demonstrates how the shaping of modern Europe, as well as the relations that have developed to this day between the Christian and Muslim worlds, are due to the Crusades.
[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]
