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At the end of the 11th century,
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a papal call to arms inspired tens
of thousands of Christian warriors
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00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,840
to march across the face of the
known world,
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00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,840
to reclaim the Holy City of
Jerusalem from its Islamic overlords.
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These were the first Crusaders,
and their seemingly miraculous victory
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00:00:30,442 --> 00:00:32,248
ignited two centuries of
religious war,
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as legends,
like Richard the Lionheart
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00:00:36,494 --> 00:00:38,676
and the mighty
Muslim Sultan Saladin,
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00:00:39,606 --> 00:00:41,966
fought for dominion of the
Holy Land.
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00:00:43,296 --> 00:00:45,634
In the 13th century,
this titanic conflict
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00:00:46,230 --> 00:00:48,987
reached a decisive
and shocking conclusion.
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00:00:50,126 --> 00:00:53,338
But for all its drama, this final
chapter of the Crusades
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00:00:54,485 --> 00:00:56,412
has been virtually forgotten.
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00:00:59,767 --> 00:01:02,149
In the end, the fate of
the Holy Land was decided
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00:01:02,966 --> 00:01:05,578
not on the hallowed ground of
Jerusalem,
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but in Egypt.
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00:01:08,917 --> 00:01:10,784
And the ultimate outcome of
the Crusades was dictated
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00:01:11,551 --> 00:01:13,261
not by Christians,
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00:01:13,938 --> 00:01:17,083
but by the Mongol successors to
Genghis Khan,
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and by a Muslim slave,
a fearsome warrior,
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whose story is now all but lost to
Western history.
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By the 13th century,
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after more than a hundred years of
Holy War,
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00:01:45,180 --> 00:01:47,397
and thanks to
Richard the Lionheart's Crusade,
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00:01:48,121 --> 00:01:51,992
Western Christendom retained a
fragile foothold in the East.
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As yet, Jerusalem remained in the
hands of Islam,
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but three Crusader states survived,
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clinging to the coast of
the Holy Land.
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These Christian
outposts
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00:02:08,298 --> 00:02:10,124
were ruled by
bickering warlords,
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00:02:10,785 --> 00:02:13,026
with little or no interest
in waging Holy War.
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Weak, ineffective leaders
incapable of defending themselves
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from any hostile neighbouring powers.
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00:02:22,027 --> 00:02:27,500
As factualism and disunity crippled
the secular powers of the Crusader states,
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the defence of the Holy Land
increasingly fell to others.
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00:02:31,044 --> 00:02:32,760
Above all, the military orders.
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The members of these orders combined
the ideals of knighthood
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00:02:37,507 --> 00:02:38,926
and monasticism.
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00:02:39,807 --> 00:02:41,544
They were, essentially,
Christian warrior monks,
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00:02:42,243 --> 00:02:44,573
the perfection of
the crusading idea.
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00:02:45,796 --> 00:02:47,665
And they would come to play
an ever more vital role
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00:02:48,260 --> 00:02:50,971
in the very survival of the
Crusader states.
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00:02:57,259 --> 00:03:00,211
After the success of the
First Crusade in the 11th century,
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00:03:00,975 --> 00:03:04,411
Christian knights banded together to
form the legendary Military Orders.
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00:03:07,795 --> 00:03:10,413
Today, the most famous of these are
the Knights Templar,
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00:03:11,157 --> 00:03:12,682
but there were others,
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00:03:13,248 --> 00:03:16,168
including the Hospitallers
and the Teutonic Knights.
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00:03:17,999 --> 00:03:19,577
Together, they formed
the elite standing army
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00:03:20,223 --> 00:03:21,703
of the Crusader states,
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00:03:22,551 --> 00:03:25,796
and they built a series of imposing
fortresses across the Holy Land.
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00:03:32,852 --> 00:03:36,402
For the crusaders these castles addressed
a critical weakness,
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a lack of man power.
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00:03:40,049 --> 00:03:42,119
Ever since they'd arrived in the
Holy Land,
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the Christians were short of men,
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and structures like this acted as nails
driven into the fabric of this world
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00:03:49,237 --> 00:03:51,120
to hold the Crusader states together.
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00:03:54,282 --> 00:03:58,321
This stunning fortress at Montfort
stood guard over northern Palestine,
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00:03:59,309 --> 00:04:03,384
protecting the port of Acre, the
capital city of the Crusader East,
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00:04:03,947 --> 00:04:06,761
about a hundred miles north of
Jerusalem.
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00:04:10,388 --> 00:04:13,351
It was here that the Holy Orders
established their headquarters.
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00:04:15,104 --> 00:04:16,624
And in the heart of the city,
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00:04:17,466 --> 00:04:19,224
archaeological excavations
have uncovered the remains
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00:04:19,713 --> 00:04:21,867
of one of their magnificent
command centres,
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00:04:25,010 --> 00:04:28,007
a demonstration of the Holy Orders'
extraordinary wealth,
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which, until recently, lay almost
completely buried underground.
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00:04:38,239 --> 00:04:41,033
This remarkable complex was
built by the Hospitallers,
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00:04:41,729 --> 00:04:43,863
one of the greatest military orders.
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00:04:44,511 --> 00:04:47,132
It's extraordinary to think that
until a few decades ago,
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00:04:47,943 --> 00:04:50,834
much of this compound remained
buried under rubble,
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00:04:51,663 --> 00:04:55,055
and it's only been revealed now by
tireless archaeological excavation.
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00:04:55,715 --> 00:04:59,594
The sheer scale and majesty of this
place revealed the power
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00:05:00,207 --> 00:05:02,014
and wealth of the Hospitallers.
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00:05:02,492 --> 00:05:06,501
This is a monument to rival
anything in the Middle Ages.
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00:05:08,634 --> 00:05:13,713
The Hospitallers began as a charitable order
devoted to caring for the poor and sick.
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00:05:14,463 --> 00:05:16,439
But soon, like their
Templar brethren,
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00:05:17,093 --> 00:05:19,543
they embraced the Crusading ideal.
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Eight hundred years ago,
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these chambers would have been
a frenetic hive
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00:05:27,745 --> 00:05:29,979
of military and logistical
organization.
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00:05:31,210 --> 00:05:35,899
But this complex also stood at the
heart of an international financial institution,
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00:05:37,407 --> 00:05:43,410
because these Christian knights
were not just engaged in the business of Holy War.
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00:05:45,112 --> 00:05:49,000
The Military Orders received lavish
donations from Europe's nobility,
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00:05:49,830 --> 00:05:51,890
and also became heavily involved
in trade,
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00:05:52,469 --> 00:05:54,361
farming, and manufacture.
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00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:56,334
By the end of the 12th century,
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00:05:56,906 --> 00:05:58,618
the Templars had developed
such an elaborate
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00:05:59,190 --> 00:06:01,949
and secure financial system that
they virtually became
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00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,810
the bankers of Europe and of the
Crusading movement.
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00:06:06,853 --> 00:06:09,556
In what was essentially the first
use of a cheque,
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00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,357
it became possible to deposit moneys
in, say, Paris,
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receive a credit note, and then
cash this in the Holy Land.
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00:06:20,731 --> 00:06:22,484
Alongside the affluence of the
Military Orders,
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Acre emerged as a bustling centre of
trade between Islam and Europe,
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00:06:28,672 --> 00:06:32,356
In fact, we now know that the
Crusader states were actually
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minting their own money, so that
even in the midst of holy war,
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00:06:36,425 --> 00:06:39,415
they could trade with their supposed
Muslim enemies.
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The whole economy,
basically, of the Crusader Kingdom,
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was based on this imitation of gold coin,
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00:06:50,490 --> 00:06:53,242
and the coins are Arabic coins,with Arabic script,
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00:06:53,743 --> 00:06:57,073
and they are basically
imitations made of the coins
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that were produced in Egypt.
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Except for these gold coins,
the Crusaders also minted
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00:07:03,878 --> 00:07:07,145
these Western-looking dinars.
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00:07:07,758 --> 00:07:09,542
This was the typical coin
of the West,
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and, besides this one,
we also have...
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I brought an example of a coin
which was minted here in Acre,
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and which was probably a fraction of
this one again.
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00:07:20,045 --> 00:07:22,063
So what you see, basically,
on this table is, more or less,
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the monetary system of the
Crusader Kingdom at that period,
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and these coins are minted
in the millions.
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00:07:33,073 --> 00:07:34,829
The moment the Crusaders set foot in
the East,
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they, of course, understood that they
had to fit in economically.
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00:07:41,595 --> 00:07:44,702
To build a castle, the quantities of
money that were involved,
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we're talking about two million.
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Millions of gold coins,
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00:07:51,557 --> 00:07:53,513
just in the building of a castle over
a two-year period.
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00:07:54,499 --> 00:07:57,877
So the investments, what you see
around you of Crusader Acre,
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00:07:58,622 --> 00:08:03,191
the buildings, the stone,
the masons, the people involved,
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00:08:04,197 --> 00:08:06,867
it must have cost an enormous amount
of money and it shows that societies
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00:08:07,397 --> 00:08:10,829
were at war with each other,
but underneath, trade went on.
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00:08:11,605 --> 00:08:13,833
And it only became bigger and bigger.
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In the midst of this tide of trade
and earthly transgression,
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it seemed the Christians had forgotten
their sacred struggle for Jerusalem.
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At the same time,
the Islamic East had fragmented after Saladin's death.
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00:08:39,262 --> 00:08:40,511
His heirs, the Ayyubids,
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00:08:41,323 --> 00:08:43,162
retained control of Egypt,
Palestine and Syria.
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00:08:46,441 --> 00:08:48,584
Ruled, in theory, by a sultan
in Cairo,
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00:08:49,590 --> 00:08:52,463
this was really little more than
a loose coalition of rivals.
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Given the vast fortunes to be made
through trade,
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by Christians and Muslims alike,
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both sides now had a vested interest
in maintaining the status quo.
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Back in Europe, the crusading
fire still burned.
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But its force was often directed
away from the Holy Land,
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as the papacy launched campaigns
against Southern French heretics,
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00:09:24,803 --> 00:09:27,660
Baltic pagans and
the Moors of Iberia.
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00:09:28,764 --> 00:09:31,907
For 50 years, those few crusades
that did reach the East
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failed to achieve any lasting
conquests.
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00:09:38,145 --> 00:09:40,082
The Crusade movement was
now in crisis,
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00:09:41,084 --> 00:09:44,742
and Jerusalem's recapture seemed
like an impossible dream.
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00:09:45,656 --> 00:09:47,844
What was needed was the leadership
of a great European monarch,
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another Richard the Lionheart,
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who could spearhead a new campaign
and galvanise support.
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The only likely candidate was
King Louis IX of France.
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Around 30 years of age, tall,
pale skinned and slight of frame
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00:10:03,377 --> 00:10:05,388
he was not quite
the storybook crusade hero.
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But Louis was born of a line
of kings who had waged a holy war
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and his royal blood was infused with
the crusading impulse.
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Louis was a fanatically
devoted Christian,
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obsessed with the life of
Jesus Christ.
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00:10:38,708 --> 00:10:41,191
In 1238, he obtained what was thought to be
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the actual Crown of Thorns
worn by Jesus on the cross.
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The young king spent a fortune
building this magnificent chapel
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in the heart of Paris
to house his sacred relic.
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Even in his youth, the King
was renowned for his intense spirituality.
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But at the age of 30, a grave
personal crisis stirred in him
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a profound commitment to
the Crusading cause.
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In 1244, Louis IX contracted
a severe fever
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that brought him close to death.
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00:11:21,718 --> 00:11:23,102
In the grip of this dire illness,
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Louis declared his unswerving
determination to lead a crusade.
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00:11:29,723 --> 00:11:32,291
Not since Richard the Lionheart,
70 years earlier,
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had a major monarch launched
a crusade on this scale,
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with this degree of determination
and devotion.
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In the months that followed,
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virtually all the great nobles of Northern
France enlisted in the coming Holy War.
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One of the Crusade's most important
recruits was a young knight
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named John of Joinville,
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a gifted writer, who became one of
Louis' closest confidantes.
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As a participant in
the coming crusade,
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John of Joinville came to know
King Louis well,
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and witnessed the Holy War
firsthand.
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Years later, he wrote a vivid account of his
experiences on campaign,
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albeit one that portrayed
Louis in a heroic and almost saintly light.
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"The epidemic in the camp
began to grow worse.
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"Our men had so much dead flesh
"on their gums
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"that the barbers had to remove it
to enable them to chew food and swallow.
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00:12:32,811 --> 00:12:35,076
"It was most pitiful to hear
the moans of men,
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00:12:35,783 --> 00:12:38,400
"from whom the dead flesh was being
cut away,
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00:12:39,608 --> 00:12:42,895
"for they moaned just like women
in the pains of child birth."
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00:12:49,691 --> 00:12:52,398
John of Joinville's King and hero,
Louis IX,
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set out to perfect the art of
crusading warfare.
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His campaign was driven by the same
spiritual zeal that empowered
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the first Crusaders
150 years earlier,
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yet was underpinned by the most
meticulous planning.
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00:13:13,055 --> 00:13:16,226
This fortified town of Aigues-Mortes
in Southern France
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became the European base of
operations for Louis' crusade,
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00:13:20,963 --> 00:13:23,243
and it was here that much of the
logistical preparation
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00:13:23,944 --> 00:13:26,196
for the expedition took place.
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00:13:27,143 --> 00:13:29,882
To finance his campaign,
Louis amassed a huge war chest.
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00:13:30,501 --> 00:13:35,214
Royal accounts shows that in two years,
he spent two million livres tournois,
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00:13:35,686 --> 00:13:37,367
much of it on paying for
his knights.
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00:13:37,974 --> 00:13:42,332
Given that royal income was around
250,000 livres tournois per annum,
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this was a vast commitment.
194
00:13:45,013 --> 00:13:47,687
Louis effectively mortgaged France
to pay for his crusade.
195
00:13:54,577 --> 00:13:57,913
In late August 1248,
hundreds of ships set sail,
196
00:13:58,696 --> 00:14:00,511
carrying Louis' troops to war,
197
00:14:01,770 --> 00:14:04,841
a formidable Christian army,
determined to defeat Islam,
198
00:14:05,594 --> 00:14:07,663
and recapture
the Holy City of Jerusalem.
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00:14:14,355 --> 00:14:15,318
"As far as your eye could behold,
200
00:14:15,905 --> 00:14:19,928
"the whole sea seemed to be covered
by the canvas of the ships' sails,
201
00:14:20,602 --> 00:14:25,672
"whose number, large and small, was
given as 1,800 vessels."
202
00:14:27,544 --> 00:14:28,829
King Louis stood at the head
203
00:14:29,579 --> 00:14:33,492
of the most perfectly prepared
Crusader army ever to depart Europe,
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25,000 well-equipped,
professional troops.
205
00:14:40,939 --> 00:14:42,753
But unlike the great Crusades of the past,
206
00:14:43,308 --> 00:14:45,435
their destination wasn't Palestine.....
207
00:14:47,257 --> 00:14:48,904
but Egypt.
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00:14:50,953 --> 00:14:54,124
At first glance, the decision to
launch a Crusader invasion of Egypt,
209
00:14:54,830 --> 00:14:57,094
rather than target Palestine
and Jerusalem directly,
210
00:14:57,724 --> 00:14:59,127
might seem questionable.
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00:14:59,804 --> 00:15:02,916
But Louis' actions actually made
perfect strategic sense.
212
00:15:03,727 --> 00:15:06,387
Even if some desperate attempt to
take the Holy City succeeded,
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00:15:07,422 --> 00:15:11,315
Jerusalem could never be held,
given its isolated position.
214
00:15:12,377 --> 00:15:13,748
But by attacking Egypt,
215
00:15:14,275 --> 00:15:15,919
the heartland of Islam's economic
and military strength,
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00:15:16,570 --> 00:15:18,530
Louis hoped to deliver a telling and
deathly blow
217
00:15:19,135 --> 00:15:20,733
to his enemy's power base.
218
00:15:21,361 --> 00:15:25,431
From now on, the war for the Holy Land would be
waged here, in Egypt.
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00:15:26,925 --> 00:15:29,922
Louis' target was Cairo,
capital of the Ayyubids,
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the fragmented dynasty
221
00:15:32,629 --> 00:15:35,109
whose grip on the Muslim Middle East
was faltering.
222
00:15:37,098 --> 00:15:39,710
The French King reasoned that
victory here, in North Africa,
223
00:15:40,380 --> 00:15:42,766
would undermine Islam's hold
over the Near East,
224
00:15:44,619 --> 00:15:49,715
ushering in a new age of strength
and security for the Crusader states,
225
00:15:50,315 --> 00:15:52,957
and opening the road to
Jerusalem's recapture.
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00:15:55,845 --> 00:16:01,522
On 5th June 1249, the Christian army
arrived at the mouth of the River Nile,
227
00:16:02,724 --> 00:16:05,855
where they found the armies
of Islam waiting for them.
228
00:16:08,428 --> 00:16:12,541
The full array of the Sultan's
forces was drawn up along the shore.
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00:16:14,312 --> 00:16:15,801
It was a sight to enchant the eye,
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00:16:16,807 --> 00:16:18,715
for the Sultan's standards
were all of gold,
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00:16:19,357 --> 00:16:22,731
and where the sun caught them,
they shone resplendent.
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00:16:28,231 --> 00:16:30,213
This would be Louis'D-Day,
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00:16:31,102 --> 00:16:33,625
a daring beach landing
here at Damietta.
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00:16:34,879 --> 00:16:40,028
The King was gambling the fate of
his entire expedition on this one moment.
235
00:16:42,053 --> 00:16:44,789
Failure would end the Holy War
even before it had begun.
236
00:16:48,497 --> 00:16:50,203
As the first Crusaders
began to land,
237
00:16:50,904 --> 00:16:54,077
fierce fighting broke out
up and down the coastline.
238
00:16:55,693 --> 00:16:58,595
The Muslims launched withering
volleys of arrows and spears
239
00:16:59,295 --> 00:17:01,188
onto the Christian landing craft,
240
00:17:02,043 --> 00:17:04,531
and a desperate struggle
for the beach commenced.
241
00:17:06,583 --> 00:17:08,370
Many boats couldn't get close enough
to land
242
00:17:09,023 --> 00:17:10,691
and, with the possibility of the
attack collapsing,
243
00:17:11,528 --> 00:17:14,983
urgent orders went out for
the Crusaders to wade ashore.
244
00:17:15,825 --> 00:17:17,323
When Louis, watching
from his landing craft,
245
00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,541
saw his Royal Standard, the
Oriflame, planted into the sands of Egypt,
246
00:17:23,586 --> 00:17:26,596
he leapt over board into
chest-high water.
247
00:17:27,556 --> 00:17:30,533
Once ashore, with his blood up, the
King had to be physically restrained
248
00:17:31,268 --> 00:17:34,125
to stop him charging
headlong into combat.
249
00:17:44,377 --> 00:17:48,241
In the beach assault, the Muslims
were said to have lost some 500 men,
250
00:17:48,966 --> 00:17:51,619
while the Crusaders suffered
minimal casualties.
251
00:17:52,325 --> 00:17:54,826
For the Christians, the entire
landing had been a startling,
252
00:17:55,539 --> 00:17:57,398
almost miraculous, success.
253
00:17:57,939 --> 00:17:59,448
A beach head had been established
254
00:17:59,946 --> 00:18:03,516
and many believed that they'd been
lifted to victory by the hand of God.
255
00:18:04,190 --> 00:18:07,641
It was the most stunning opening foray
of any crusade,
256
00:18:08,216 --> 00:18:12,058
and overall victory now seemed
all but assured.
257
00:18:21,214 --> 00:18:23,641
Louis' army now marched south along
the Nile.
258
00:18:24,316 --> 00:18:29,314
Some argued for an attack on the
strategically vital port of Alexandria.
259
00:18:29,936 --> 00:18:33,551
But the King decided to risk
an advance on Cairo itself,
260
00:18:34,637 --> 00:18:37,233
another huge gamble, one that
would strike at the beating heart
261
00:18:38,275 --> 00:18:40,477
of Ayyubid power in the Middle East.
262
00:18:43,812 --> 00:18:47,005
But to reach Cairo, Louis would first
have to defeat a mighty Muslim army
263
00:18:47,898 --> 00:18:51,202
that had now gathered here, on the
banks of the Nile, at Mansourah.
264
00:18:55,761 --> 00:18:57,403
On the 21st December 1249,
265
00:18:58,037 --> 00:19:01,741
Louis' expedition reached the River
Tanis, a tributary of the Nile.
266
00:19:02,766 --> 00:19:05,783
Thousands of Muslim troops were
camped on the opposite shore,
267
00:19:06,667 --> 00:19:09,853
and beyond them stood the fortified
town of Mansourah.
268
00:19:14,500 --> 00:19:17,524
The water separating the Christians
and Muslims was too deep
269
00:19:18,070 --> 00:19:19,816
and fast flowing to cross.
270
00:19:21,164 --> 00:19:22,600
But just as stalemate seemed
inevitable,
271
00:19:23,164 --> 00:19:26,782
Louis made contact with an Egyptian
traitor willing to betray his people,
272
00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:30,148
an informant who led the Christians
273
00:19:30,715 --> 00:19:33,811
to a secret crossing of the Tanis
further downstream.
274
00:19:35,197 --> 00:19:36,683
On the 8th of February, King Louis
275
00:19:37,214 --> 00:19:41,529
and a select band of his troops
began to ford the deep river.
276
00:19:42,130 --> 00:19:45,567
The vanguard was led by his brother,
Robert of Artois,
277
00:19:46,306 --> 00:19:48,146
alongside a party of
Templar Knights.
278
00:19:48,779 --> 00:19:52,952
As dawn broke, the impetuous Robert
decided to launch an immediate assault,
279
00:19:53,559 --> 00:19:56,657
directly contradicting
Louis' explicit orders.
280
00:19:57,354 --> 00:19:59,607
The Muslim camp was caught
completely unawares,
281
00:20:00,256 --> 00:20:02,691
and a mass indiscriminate
slaughter began.
282
00:20:03,259 --> 00:20:07,300
The Muslim General, Fakhr al-Din,
was set upon by a party of Templars
283
00:20:07,884 --> 00:20:10,955
and cut down by two mighty
sword blows.
284
00:20:13,099 --> 00:20:15,593
As they rampaged through
the Muslim camp,
285
00:20:16,209 --> 00:20:18,722
it seemed the Crusaders would be
victorious.
286
00:20:19,335 --> 00:20:20,785
But in the heat of battle,
287
00:20:21,451 --> 00:20:23,772
the King's brother made a
catastrophic error of judgement,
288
00:20:24,323 --> 00:20:26,867
urging his troops on to attack
Mansourah itself.
289
00:20:27,574 --> 00:20:30,748
Once inside, the town's gates were
closed behind the Crusaders,
290
00:20:31,528 --> 00:20:36,676
and trapped within, Robert and his
men were butchered almost to a man.
291
00:20:43,070 --> 00:20:47,888
Amidst the chaos, Louis tried to rally
his remaining men back at the Tanis.
292
00:20:51,979 --> 00:20:56,744
The King stubbornly refused to retreat,
and for two dreadful winter months,
293
00:20:57,469 --> 00:21:00,254
his Crusaders endured near-daily
Muslim assaults,
294
00:21:00,929 --> 00:21:03,023
sustaining crippling casualties.
295
00:21:04,362 --> 00:21:08,046
The Christians were ravaged by
disease and starvation.
296
00:21:08,623 --> 00:21:11,583
Even the King was struck down
by illness.
297
00:21:13,216 --> 00:21:14,661
When he finally did try to
pull back,
298
00:21:15,170 --> 00:21:20,105
marching north towards Damietta,
Louis' bedraggled army was routed.
299
00:21:22,923 --> 00:21:25,935
At nightfall
on the 4th of April 1250,
300
00:21:26,686 --> 00:21:29,882
Muslim troops eagerly fell upon
the fleeing Christians.
301
00:21:30,834 --> 00:21:34,929
The Crusader King's audacious gamble
had failed.
302
00:21:46,310 --> 00:21:48,636
Louis IX's Crusade had collapsed
in confusion.
303
00:21:49,197 --> 00:21:53,446
Reluctant to abandon his men,
but debilitated by disease,
304
00:21:53,991 --> 00:21:57,399
the King was persuaded
to take flight.
305
00:22:00,460 --> 00:22:01,986
Louis, so stricken with dysentery
306
00:22:02,511 --> 00:22:04,363
that he had to have a hole cut in
his breeches,
307
00:22:04,956 --> 00:22:07,102
was spirited away by
a loyal group of lieutenants.
308
00:22:07,549 --> 00:22:10,578
He was eventually forced to
take refuge in a small village,
309
00:22:11,156 --> 00:22:13,901
and there, cowering,
half dead in a squalid hut,
310
00:22:14,577 --> 00:22:17,322
the mighty King of France
was taken captive.
311
00:22:18,215 --> 00:22:19,727
His dream of conquering Egypt
312
00:22:20,178 --> 00:22:23,133
had ended in abject failure
and personal humiliation.
313
00:22:31,476 --> 00:22:34,873
This cataclysm on the Nile stunned
and bewildered Christian Europe.
314
00:22:36,382 --> 00:22:39,947
Never before had a Western King
been taken captive during a Crusade.
315
00:22:42,193 --> 00:22:45,899
Louis was eventually freed after
payment of a colossal ransom
316
00:22:46,099 --> 00:22:47,829
and returned home in shame.
317
00:22:49,283 --> 00:22:51,000
If anything, his piety deepened.
318
00:22:51,537 --> 00:22:53,829
Indeed, he was later canonized
as a Saint.
319
00:22:54,904 --> 00:22:58,742
Yet for all his devotion, the
perfect Crusader King died
320
00:22:59,401 --> 00:23:02,118
without seeing Jerusalem
re-conquered.
321
00:23:08,755 --> 00:23:13,233
Louis' defeat in Egypt marked the end
of the Great Crusades in the Near East.
322
00:23:14,202 --> 00:23:17,190
It also spelt disaster for
the surviving Crusader states.
323
00:23:18,188 --> 00:23:19,851
For what no-one in the West
yet realised
324
00:23:20,859 --> 00:23:23,063
was that it had been no ordinary
Muslim army
325
00:23:23,821 --> 00:23:26,407
that shattered the French King's
crusading dream.
326
00:23:43,587 --> 00:23:45,879
One of the reasons for Louis'
defeat at Mansourah
327
00:23:46,628 --> 00:23:49,007
was that he faced a deadly new
adversary.
328
00:23:49,593 --> 00:23:54,882
Spearheading the Muslim assault against him
were elite Mamluks, or slave soldiers.
329
00:23:54,928 --> 00:23:57,393
Taken captive in the Russian Steppes
as boys,
330
00:23:58,411 --> 00:24:02,254
these Mamluks were sold to Islamic
rulers, indoctrinated in the Muslim faith,
331
00:24:02,962 --> 00:24:05,182
and trained in the arts of war.
332
00:24:06,938 --> 00:24:08,441
These fiercely loyal and highly
professional warriors
333
00:24:09,044 --> 00:24:13,191
would come to play a decisive role
in the final chapter of the Crusades.
334
00:24:16,473 --> 00:24:19,167
Above all, these slave soldiers were
consummate horsemen.
335
00:24:20,099 --> 00:24:23,397
Schooled in riding from boyhood,
they trained relentlessly,
336
00:24:24,056 --> 00:24:27,341
using an early form of polo
to hone their skills.
337
00:24:29,903 --> 00:24:32,204
At first, they had served
Saladin's heirs.
338
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,961
But in the aftermath of Louis' defeat,
the Mamluks swept to power in Cairo.
339
00:24:39,521 --> 00:24:42,636
Slaves now became the masters of
the Islamic world.
340
00:24:45,984 --> 00:24:51,017
The advent of these mighty Mamluks
transformed the war for the Holy Land.
341
00:24:52,191 --> 00:24:56,965
But in the Crusades' final chapter,
Islam's main enemy was not the Christians,
342
00:24:58,224 --> 00:25:01,241
but another band of
empire-building warriors.
343
00:25:01,982 --> 00:25:04,957
Nomadic tribesmen from
the vast plains of Asia,
344
00:25:05,638 --> 00:25:08,870
who had united under the leadership
of the legendary Genghis Khan,
345
00:25:09,731 --> 00:25:11,650
they were the Mongols.
346
00:25:12,662 --> 00:25:14,480
And it was their titanic clash with
the Mamluks
347
00:25:15,522 --> 00:25:19,620
that would dictate the fate
of the remaining Crusader states in the East.
348
00:25:23,459 --> 00:25:27,004
The Mongols were a force
unparalleled in the medieval world,
349
00:25:27,964 --> 00:25:29,340
perhaps in all human history,
350
00:25:29,873 --> 00:25:34,836
unrelenting, seemingly unstoppable,
and utterly uncompromising.
351
00:25:35,616 --> 00:25:37,186
Their rise was mercurial.
352
00:25:37,695 --> 00:25:41,388
In the space of just 50 years, they
exploded across the face of the Earth.
353
00:25:43,184 --> 00:25:47,814
By 1260, the vast Mongol empire
stretched from China to Europe,
354
00:25:48,455 --> 00:25:51,891
from the Indian Ocean to the
northern wastes of Siberia.
355
00:25:53,002 --> 00:25:55,241
They had crushed
all who stood in their way,
356
00:25:56,215 --> 00:25:59,367
and now their eyes were fixed on
the Holy Land.
357
00:26:01,241 --> 00:26:04,764
It was Genghis Khan who had put
the Mongol Empire on the map.
358
00:26:06,553 --> 00:26:12,087
By the 1250s, rule had passed to his
successors, who led an invasion of Iraq.
359
00:26:13,383 --> 00:26:18,005
There, in 1258, they crushed
Baghdad, devastating the city,
360
00:26:18,673 --> 00:26:20,949
putting 30,000 Muslims to the sword.
361
00:26:23,301 --> 00:26:26,846
Only the Mamluks in Egypt could now
prevent a Mongol apocalypse,
362
00:26:27,631 --> 00:26:30,081
engulfing the Islamic East.
363
00:26:31,384 --> 00:26:35,307
In the early summer of 1260, envoys
from the Mongol General Hulegu,
364
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,532
grandson to Genghis
Khan, arrived here in Cairo,
365
00:26:39,088 --> 00:26:41,403
demanding the Mamluk surrender.
366
00:26:43,762 --> 00:26:46,875
"Only those who beg our protection
will be safe.
367
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,967
"We will shatter your mosques,
reveal the weakness of your God,
368
00:26:51,992 --> 00:26:55,434
"and then we will kill your children
and your old men together.
369
00:26:56,616 --> 00:27:00,444
"At present, you are the only enemy
against whom we have to march."
370
00:27:03,846 --> 00:27:06,063
The Mamluk Sultan Qutuz responded
371
00:27:06,859 --> 00:27:09,757
by ordering the Mongol envoys'
immediate execution.
372
00:27:11,670 --> 00:27:15,525
Their bodies were cut in half and
their heads hung from this city gate.
373
00:27:17,962 --> 00:27:22,312
With this defiant statement of
intent, the Mamluks went to war.
374
00:27:27,723 --> 00:27:29,279
Sweeping south through Syria,
375
00:27:30,180 --> 00:27:32,237
the Mongols were now just
50 miles from Jerusalem.
376
00:27:33,380 --> 00:27:35,631
For the Mamluks,
the fate of the Holy Land
377
00:27:36,167 --> 00:27:39,238
and the future of Islam itself
was at stake.
378
00:27:41,436 --> 00:27:45,359
And they decided to confront the
Mongol horde head-on in Galilee,
379
00:27:46,935 --> 00:27:49,041
here at Ayn Jalut.
380
00:27:51,396 --> 00:27:54,246
I think, even from the beginning,
it was a far-fetched venture.
381
00:27:55,195 --> 00:27:56,555
The Mongols had a terrible
reputation.
382
00:27:57,217 --> 00:27:59,048
They had already taken most of Syria.
383
00:27:59,835 --> 00:28:01,909
They had behind them, of course,
the entire Mongol empire.
384
00:28:02,869 --> 00:28:04,217
They were virtually undefeated.
385
00:28:04,793 --> 00:28:08,812
Their conquests were accompanied
by destruction, by death, by massacres,
386
00:28:09,803 --> 00:28:13,351
and they're the scourge
of the civilized world.
387
00:28:14,450 --> 00:28:16,253
The Mamluks were good soldiers too,
but they,
388
00:28:16,737 --> 00:28:22,473
since their victories against the Crusaders
and... against Louis in 1249, 1250,
389
00:28:23,447 --> 00:28:25,452
they really hadn't had
any great victories.
390
00:28:26,245 --> 00:28:27,944
So it was a bit of gamble,
and basically,
391
00:28:28,445 --> 00:28:30,216
Qutuz was putting everything into
one pot,
392
00:28:31,201 --> 00:28:33,909
he was betting everything that he had
on this venture.
393
00:28:34,807 --> 00:28:39,348
If I was gambling in Acre, or in
Damascus, or in Cairo, or in Baghdad,
394
00:28:40,369 --> 00:28:44,167
or anywhere else in the area, I would
probably put my money on the Mongols.
395
00:28:45,500 --> 00:28:49,469
The Mamluk vanguard was led by
a fearsome general named Baybars,
396
00:28:50,061 --> 00:28:51,906
a blue-eyed, Caucasian
slave warrior,
397
00:28:52,481 --> 00:28:56,021
who had fought against the Crusaders
at Mansourah a decade earlier.
398
00:28:57,225 --> 00:28:59,666
Contemporary accounts describe how
the Mongols launched
399
00:29:00,035 --> 00:29:04,184
two devastating charges that shook the
Mamluk army to the core.
400
00:29:04,767 --> 00:29:08,985
But teetering on the brink of defeat,
Qutuz managed to rally his troops
401
00:29:09,094 --> 00:29:13,325
and mount a decisive counterattack
that shattered the Mongol lines
402
00:29:13,781 --> 00:29:16,675
and left their commander slain upon
the field.
403
00:29:19,225 --> 00:29:20,571
It's not the first time the Mongols
had been defeated,
404
00:29:21,077 --> 00:29:23,901
but it was the first time in a long
time, in this area, they'd been defeated.
405
00:29:24,399 --> 00:29:26,397
So the Mongols are thrown out
of Syria
406
00:29:27,069 --> 00:29:29,028
and the Mamluks take over Syria
up to the Euphrates River
407
00:29:29,669 --> 00:29:32,783
with the exception, of course,
on the coast where the Crusaders are still found.
408
00:29:38,557 --> 00:29:41,761
Ayn Jalut was an astonishing
triumph for Islam.
409
00:29:42,769 --> 00:29:46,039
Although the Mongols continued to
pose a terrifying threat,
410
00:29:46,777 --> 00:29:48,637
their advance had been halted.
411
00:29:49,372 --> 00:29:52,788
But there was a twist to the tale
of this historic Mamluk victory.
412
00:29:54,911 --> 00:29:59,250
In October 1260, on their victorious
march back south to Cairo,
413
00:29:59,926 --> 00:30:03,616
the Mamluk army stopped
in a remote spot in the desert.
414
00:30:04,533 --> 00:30:06,930
Qutuz wanted to indulge his passion
for hare coursing.
415
00:30:07,728 --> 00:30:10,554
He was joined by a small group of
elite Mamluk commanders,
416
00:30:11,270 --> 00:30:15,360
amongst them Baybars, the man who
had led the vanguard at Ayn Jalut.
417
00:30:17,897 --> 00:30:21,495
A count suggests that Baybars
asked the Sultan a favour,
418
00:30:22,011 --> 00:30:24,869
and when Qutuz agreed, he reached
out to kiss the Sultan's hand.
419
00:30:25,918 --> 00:30:29,969
At this moment, Baybars gripped the
Sultan's arms to stop him drawing a sword
420
00:30:30,993 --> 00:30:34,061
and another conspirator stabbed
Qutuz in the neck.
421
00:30:34,869 --> 00:30:38,364
The Sultan died beneath a furious
torrent of blows.
422
00:30:45,375 --> 00:30:48,800
Before Ayn Jalut, Qutuz and Baybars
had been bitter enemies,
423
00:30:49,536 --> 00:30:53,220
rivals who briefly put aside their
differences to face the Mongols.
424
00:30:56,063 --> 00:31:01,790
Now, with Qutuz's assassination, Baybars
was free to seize the reins of power.
425
00:31:04,190 --> 00:31:07,160
After more than a century and
a half of war in the Holy Land,
426
00:31:07,847 --> 00:31:09,365
it would be this remarkable man
427
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,999
who would determine the outcome of
the Crusades.
428
00:31:29,236 --> 00:31:31,591
Baybars' story is all but forgotten
in the West.
429
00:31:32,808 --> 00:31:34,430
No images of him survive.
430
00:31:35,066 --> 00:31:36,749
Few recognize his name today.
431
00:31:38,267 --> 00:31:42,074
And yet this is the true Islamic
champion of the Crusading age.
432
00:31:43,459 --> 00:31:45,676
The man who turned back
the savage Mongol horde,
433
00:31:46,374 --> 00:31:48,268
who bent the Muslim world
to his will,
434
00:31:49,284 --> 00:31:53,324
and who brought an unparalleled
ferocity to the jihad against Christendom.
435
00:31:57,635 --> 00:31:59,390
Once he had seized power,
436
00:32:00,057 --> 00:32:04,309
Baybars' most urgent concern was the
legitimisation of his own rule
437
00:32:04,811 --> 00:32:07,048
and the consolidation of
Mamluk power in Egypt.
438
00:32:07,433 --> 00:32:10,968
He dedicated the early years of his
reign to reshaping the Muslim East,
439
00:32:11,724 --> 00:32:14,463
forging a potent and authoritarian
regime.
440
00:32:15,173 --> 00:32:17,087
One of his most cunning
political moves
441
00:32:17,743 --> 00:32:20,599
was to re-establish
the Sunni Caliphate here in Cairo
442
00:32:21,275 --> 00:32:23,567
because the Caliph, as a spiritual
figurehead,
443
00:32:24,293 --> 00:32:26,768
could offer him the legitimacy
he desired.
444
00:32:27,813 --> 00:32:29,189
Once he'd selected
a suitable candidate,
445
00:32:29,857 --> 00:32:32,731
Baybars publicly swore allegiance
to his new puppet
446
00:32:33,609 --> 00:32:35,542
and then pledged to uphold and
defend the faith,
447
00:32:36,132 --> 00:32:39,982
to rule justly, and to wage jihad
against the enemies of Islam.
448
00:32:40,552 --> 00:32:44,772
In return, the Caliph appointed him
as Sultan of the entire Muslim East,
449
00:32:45,005 --> 00:32:48,888
giving him free reign to forge an
empire and to crush his enemies.
450
00:32:54,392 --> 00:32:59,327
In early summer 1261, Baybars staged
a spectacular procession
451
00:33:00,095 --> 00:33:03,801
through the streets of Cairo, to
proclaim his new power and authority.
452
00:33:08,844 --> 00:33:12,336
Dressed in his finery, Baybars and
the new Caliph rode in procession
453
00:33:12,895 --> 00:33:14,509
through the heart of Cairo.
454
00:33:15,623 --> 00:33:17,559
Baybars was to be invested as
the Sultan,
455
00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:20,523
the ruler of Egypt
and the Muslim East.
456
00:33:21,353 --> 00:33:23,481
His subjects would come to love
and fear their new master,
457
00:33:24,476 --> 00:33:27,319
Baybars, the blue-eyed former slave.
458
00:33:30,456 --> 00:33:33,466
Transfixed and terrified by the
spectre of another Mongol invasion,
459
00:33:34,208 --> 00:33:37,704
the Muslim Near East willingly
accepted Baybars' tyrannical rule.
460
00:33:38,522 --> 00:33:41,042
And with unrivalled and absolute
power in his hands,
461
00:33:41,742 --> 00:33:44,802
he set about creating
the perfect military state.
462
00:33:51,706 --> 00:33:56,380
The Mamluks dedicated themselves to military training,
striving to achieve perfection as warriors.
463
00:33:57,341 --> 00:33:59,266
They were taught to deliver precise
sword strikes
464
00:34:00,308 --> 00:34:03,017
by repeating the same cut
up to a thousand times a day.
465
00:34:03,961 --> 00:34:07,453
Baybars encouraged his troops to
experiment with new weapons and techniques.
466
00:34:08,541 --> 00:34:10,984
His army became the most highly
trained and disciplined force
467
00:34:11,442 --> 00:34:15,549
of the Crusader era, more than a
match for Mongols and Christians alike.
468
00:34:31,176 --> 00:34:33,097
Baybars' Mamluks were a force
more numerous,
469
00:34:33,586 --> 00:34:39,151
disciplined and ferocious than any yet encountered
in the war for the Holy Land.
470
00:34:40,596 --> 00:34:44,500
And one with no interest in reaching an
accommodation with the Crusader states.
471
00:34:47,332 --> 00:34:53,484
These enfeebled Christian enclaves, now encircled
by the Sultan's mighty Middle Eastern empire
472
00:34:54,007 --> 00:34:55,851
were horrendously vulnerable and exposed.
473
00:34:59,370 --> 00:35:03,957
In the spring of 1265,
Baybars marched out of Egypt.
474
00:35:04,833 --> 00:35:09,119
He'd actually mobilised his troops
to counter an expected Mongol invasion of Syria,
475
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:11,483
but this never materialised.
476
00:35:12,561 --> 00:35:14,234
And ever the ruthlessly efficient
commander,
477
00:35:14,821 --> 00:35:19,144
with his army already in the field, he
turned his gaze on the Crusader states.
478
00:35:20,858 --> 00:35:26,211
Weak as they were, the Christians could still turn
to the elite knights of the Military Orders,
479
00:35:26,978 --> 00:35:29,910
and to the formidable fortresses
that had preserved and protected
480
00:35:30,406 --> 00:35:33,505
their fragile foothold in the
Holy Land for nearly two centuries.
481
00:35:38,404 --> 00:35:43,336
Arsuf, like several other fortresses
throughout the Levant, is a masterpiece.
482
00:35:45,353 --> 00:35:49,026
It is the last word in
military architecture.
483
00:35:50,140 --> 00:35:53,309
The complexity, the
quality of the building here,
484
00:35:54,375 --> 00:35:59,298
the quality of the garrison inside,
it's just a remarkable piece of work.
485
00:36:02,382 --> 00:36:07,085
Capturing the castle at Arsuf would
be a fearsome challenge for any army.
486
00:36:08,737 --> 00:36:10,931
Yet when Baybars arrived here
in March
487
00:36:11,669 --> 00:36:13,952
and deployed the full force of his
Mamluk military machine,
488
00:36:14,848 --> 00:36:19,636
he quickly proved his mastery of
siege warfare, down to the finest detail.
489
00:36:23,099 --> 00:36:26,832
Baybars was an incredibly
well-organised sultan.
490
00:36:27,787 --> 00:36:30,234
His logistics are a masterpiece.
491
00:36:31,313 --> 00:36:33,867
When we go back to the archaeological
finds here,
492
00:36:35,078 --> 00:36:38,950
you can see it, you can see how
careful he was about the planning.
493
00:36:42,422 --> 00:36:43,612
So if you look at all the walls
around you,
494
00:36:44,039 --> 00:36:46,837
you look at the foundations of the
castle, you look at the towers,
495
00:36:48,256 --> 00:36:52,550
it is built out of local stone, it's
a very porous type of beach stone.
496
00:36:53,458 --> 00:36:55,756
You look at the catapult stones,
this is not from here.
497
00:36:56,748 --> 00:37:01,014
The catapult stones are made
out of a very, very dense, hard lime,
498
00:37:02,032 --> 00:37:05,365
that comes from the foot
hills of the Samarian hills.
499
00:37:06,416 --> 00:37:08,681
So when he was planning out
the siege, he says,
500
00:37:09,612 --> 00:37:12,926
"I cannot bombard the castle
with the same stones
501
00:37:13,930 --> 00:37:16,309
"that the castles are built here, "because
there's not going to be any impact."
502
00:37:17,827 --> 00:37:24,223
So he's got somebody, 15 kilometres
away from here, chipping those stones away.
503
00:37:25,223 --> 00:37:27,729
That is a lot of work. I
mean, it will take at least,
504
00:37:28,546 --> 00:37:31,616
I would say a week, maybe ten days,
just to get your ammunition ready.
505
00:37:36,087 --> 00:37:40,058
Baybars knew he had time.
506
00:37:40,983 --> 00:37:44,091
There was no help that was going to
come from outside.
507
00:37:49,286 --> 00:37:52,360
And because they did not have help
coming from anywhere,
508
00:37:53,998 --> 00:37:57,166
they were fighting a lost battle.
509
00:38:03,846 --> 00:38:08,465
After three days of fierce fighting,
Baybars took control of Arsuf.
510
00:38:09,110 --> 00:38:11,872
Those Christians who survived were
taken into slavery,
511
00:38:12,702 --> 00:38:15,425
and then forced to demolish their
own castle.
512
00:38:18,473 --> 00:38:23,008
Baybars was on his way to fight the mongols,
he was not planning a beseige
513
00:38:27,861 --> 00:38:30,163
but he has got the army here,
514
00:38:30,363 --> 00:38:36,895
he has already paid them to arive from Cairo
to the coast, so why not utilize them?
515
00:38:37,095 --> 00:38:38,290
And he done it.
516
00:38:41,435 --> 00:38:47,858
Baybars' policy of devastation meant
that the Crusader states now faced total annihilation.
517
00:38:49,665 --> 00:38:52,191
But the Sultan was not just
a brutal military genius,
518
00:38:53,306 --> 00:38:55,895
he was also a frighteningly
efficient bureaucrat,
519
00:38:57,501 --> 00:39:00,731
who imposed his will
across the Islamic world.
520
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:17,497
So this is a town called Lod.
521
00:39:17,807 --> 00:39:20,010
In the Middle Ages, this place lay
on a key route through Palestine,
522
00:39:21,147 --> 00:39:23,752
and it still holds one of the great
treasures of the Crusading era.
523
00:39:24,833 --> 00:39:26,231
Or be it, a little bit
hard to find.
524
00:39:34,958 --> 00:39:38,694
Far from the usual trail of awesome
Crusader castles and mighty cities,
525
00:39:39,706 --> 00:39:46,500
it's nevertheless a potent reminder of his unique achievements,
an unloved medieval treasure.
526
00:39:59,964 --> 00:40:01,849
This is Baybars' bridge.
527
00:40:02,178 --> 00:40:05,371
Still standing, almost 700 years after it was build.
528
00:40:05,833 --> 00:40:08,996
and, incredible,
it's still got traffic running over the top of it.
529
00:40:09,747 --> 00:40:12,047
We know it was constructed under
Baybars' rule
530
00:40:12,477 --> 00:40:14,236
because it bears his famous
lion emblem.
531
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,878
And symbols like this appeared on
scores of bridges
532
00:40:18,245 --> 00:40:21,405
constructed across the Near East
under his reign.
533
00:40:22,900 --> 00:40:26,388
It may not look that impressive,
but this unassuming bridge was
534
00:40:27,365 --> 00:40:29,313
just as important to Baybars'
military strength and power
535
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:33,227
as any of the magnificent weapons
he could bring to bear in war.
536
00:40:36,947 --> 00:40:40,697
Before Baybars, no-one had been
able to rule the Near East from Egypt
537
00:40:41,425 --> 00:40:44,794
because they were unable to communicate
with the far reaches of their realm.
538
00:40:45,862 --> 00:40:47,756
Baybars understood this truth
539
00:40:48,359 --> 00:40:51,409
and that's why he threw huge amounts
of money at infra-structure,
540
00:40:52,130 --> 00:40:54,170
building bridges like this
and roads,
541
00:40:55,367 --> 00:40:57,341
and with that communication system
in place,
542
00:40:57,965 --> 00:41:01,070
he was able to create what's known
as his Barid.
543
00:41:02,085 --> 00:41:04,146
This was effectively
a postal service,
544
00:41:04,964 --> 00:41:06,786
a system of elite riders and
messengers,
545
00:41:08,095 --> 00:41:09,750
who would go in relay
from point to point,
546
00:41:10,157 --> 00:41:11,906
bringing messages to
the Sultan himself.
547
00:41:13,001 --> 00:41:17,654
Forlorn and forgotten as it might look,
this bridge was actually a key element
548
00:41:18,434 --> 00:41:21,159
in the success of
Baybars' Mamluk state.
549
00:41:26,128 --> 00:41:28,466
When the age of the Crusades began,
200 years earlier,
550
00:41:29,230 --> 00:41:33,614
the Islamic world was in disarray,
divided and disunited.
551
00:41:35,350 --> 00:41:36,652
The First Crusade, and most of the
Holy Wars that followed,
552
00:41:37,482 --> 00:41:41,112
had been waged against an enemy
paralyzed by infighting.
553
00:41:43,576 --> 00:41:47,352
But Baybars' tyrannical rule united
the Muslim world as never before,
554
00:41:48,097 --> 00:41:52,095
finally bringing Islam the power to
prevail in the war for the Holy Land,
555
00:41:52,976 --> 00:41:55,925
spelling disaster for the few
remaining Crusader states.
556
00:42:01,448 --> 00:42:06,151
In May 1268, three years after
defeating the Christians at Arsuf,
557
00:42:06,941 --> 00:42:09,485
the Mamluk army arrived at Antioch,
558
00:42:10,112 --> 00:42:13,574
a city of special significance to
the Crusades.
559
00:42:17,454 --> 00:42:18,960
Two centuries earlier,
560
00:42:19,536 --> 00:42:23,618
this mighty metropolis had been the
Christians' first major conquest in the Holy Land.
561
00:42:23,973 --> 00:42:27,116
Now, it would mark
the beginning of the end.
562
00:42:30,585 --> 00:42:33,506
The first Crusaders had taken eight
months to break into Antioch,
563
00:42:34,417 --> 00:42:39,109
but when the Sultan Baybars turned
the full force of his Mamluk military machine against this city,
564
00:42:39,813 --> 00:42:41,964
it fell within a single day.
565
00:42:42,784 --> 00:42:45,455
As his troops poured through a breach
in the defences ,
566
00:42:46,484 --> 00:42:51,060
Baybars ordered that the city's gates
be barred so that no-one could escape.
567
00:42:51,456 --> 00:42:54,506
He then had tens of thousands of
men, women and children butchered.
568
00:42:55,613 --> 00:42:59,022
The last days of
the Crusader states had begun.
569
00:43:02,668 --> 00:43:05,045
The inexorable obliteration
of the Crusader states
570
00:43:05,779 --> 00:43:08,381
continued after Baybars' death
in 1277.
571
00:43:10,629 --> 00:43:13,461
The Sultan's successors conquered
Tripoli in 1289,
572
00:43:15,915 --> 00:43:19,008
and finally seized Acre itself
in 1291.
573
00:43:21,162 --> 00:43:22,864
After almost 200 years,
574
00:43:23,717 --> 00:43:27,705
the war for the Holy Land ended in
a definitive victory for Islam.
575
00:43:36,594 --> 00:43:42,382
Dark, brutal, and savage as they often were,
the Crusades, nonetheless,
576
00:43:42,582 --> 00:43:46,469
left no permanent mark
upon Islam or the West.
577
00:43:46,965 --> 00:43:52,219
In truth, the war for the Holy Land
had been all but forgotten by the end of the Middle Ages.
578
00:43:53,391 --> 00:43:59,991
So why do these distant wars still seem to exert
a profound influence upon our modern world?
579
00:44:12,278 --> 00:44:17,396
In the 19th century, Europe's fascination
with the Crusades was reawakened.
580
00:44:20,041 --> 00:44:23,951
These medieval wars were now recast
as glorious triumphs
581
00:44:24,699 --> 00:44:27,225
that seemed to affirm the capacity
of great powers,
582
00:44:28,171 --> 00:44:30,406
like England and France
to forge empires,
583
00:44:31,125 --> 00:44:34,161
to colonise the supposedly barbaric
Near East.
584
00:44:36,204 --> 00:44:39,132
The desire to reconnect with the
mediaeval past
585
00:44:39,776 --> 00:44:41,982
found its ultimate expression
here at Versailles.
586
00:44:42,754 --> 00:44:47,328
King Louis Philippe of France
dedicated five rooms -the Salles Des Croisades
587
00:44:47,736 --> 00:44:51,774
- to these monumental,
highly romanticised, paintings of the Crusades.
588
00:44:54,397 --> 00:44:56,923
Here is crusading history
reshaped in art.
589
00:44:58,547 --> 00:45:01,153
The first Crusaders capturing
sacred Jerusalem.
590
00:45:02,206 --> 00:45:04,898
Richard the Lionheart
crushing the Muslims at Arsuf,
591
00:45:07,267 --> 00:45:09,749
and even King Louis of France,
592
00:45:10,597 --> 00:45:12,426
the saintly monarch brought to his
knees in Egypt,
593
00:45:13,226 --> 00:45:16,188
now portrayed as
an all-conquering hero.
594
00:45:22,071 --> 00:45:26,062
This triumphalist propaganda
eventually found its echo in Islam,
595
00:45:27,664 --> 00:45:29,442
not least in the promotion
of Saladin
596
00:45:30,017 --> 00:45:33,248
as a Muslim hero,
second only to Muhammad himself.
597
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:39,016
And the misappropriation of the past
continues to this day.
598
00:45:41,950 --> 00:45:52,888
Five days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11,
the american president, George W Bush referred on the ensuing war of terror as a crusade.
599
00:45:55,582 --> 00:45:57,060
Many commentators were horrified,
600
00:45:57,330 --> 00:46:00,904
while Islamist extremists,
including Osama Bin Laden,
601
00:46:01,539 --> 00:46:03,426
seized upon the President's
statement
602
00:46:03,986 --> 00:46:07,612
as proof that the West was still
waging a holy war in the Middle East.
603
00:46:09,801 --> 00:46:14,080
The idea of a direct and unbroken
line of conflict linking the mediaeval
604
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,687
and the modern eras has helped to
give rise to an almost fatalistic belief
605
00:46:19,625 --> 00:46:23,264
that a clash between Islam
and the West is inevitable.
606
00:46:25,460 --> 00:46:27,832
Yet careful study of
the complex encounter
607
00:46:28,956 --> 00:46:31,072
between Muslims and Christians,
in the age of the Crusades,
608
00:46:31,964 --> 00:46:33,572
reveals that the uneasy mix
609
00:46:34,177 --> 00:46:37,684
of peaceful contact and simmering
conflict was not so dissimilar
610
00:46:38,265 --> 00:46:42,753
to relations between rival powers
anywhere in the Middle Ages.
611
00:46:46,171 --> 00:46:49,176
The Crusades have
things to tell us about our own world,
612
00:46:50,142 --> 00:46:53,652
but most of these lessons are common
to all eras of human history.
613
00:46:55,311 --> 00:46:57,716
How hatred of an alien enemy
can be harnessed,
614
00:46:59,092 --> 00:47:02,034
how trade can transcend
the barriers of conflict,
615
00:47:03,645 --> 00:47:08,884
and how faith can inspire
extraordinary deeds and horrific violence.
616
00:47:12,307 --> 00:47:14,515
The notion that the struggle for
the Holy Land
617
00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:18,946
has a direct bearing upon
the modern world is misguided.
618
00:47:20,085 --> 00:47:23,377
We must examine and seek to
understand these medieval wars,
619
00:47:24,185 --> 00:47:28,571
so that we can counter the
distortion of our collective history.
620
00:47:29,607 --> 00:47:34,671
And, above all, we must place the
Crusades where they belong - in the past.
621
00:49:11,720 --> 00:49:19,600
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