The Arabs Strike Back

> >OK, the first thing I would like to say for the day is-- it's too bad that the Christians and Muslims didn't get along. Because the Muslims were centuries ahead of the Europeans. >

>They were very civilized and cultured. They were scholars, and students and philosophers. The Arabs took baths regularly, had a postal service, hospitals, a water supply, sewage systems and banks. >

>They knew about cancer, epilepsy and other diseases. They knew how important good hygiene was and why you should sterilize surgical tools. They had calculated the exact distance from the Earth to the moon, could perform eye surgery and one Arab scientist even speculated that if you could split an atom, it would release enough energy to destroy a city. >

>Meanwhile, the Europeans, who had just conquered this area, are still trapped in the Dark Ages. They're illiterate and believe that the Earth is the center of the Universe and the sun revolves around IT. >

>So, what's the deal? There's only a few thousand Christians in the Holy Lands, yet millions of Muslims-- why don't they just wipe them out? Are they afraid of them or something?

>The answer is YES! In fact, the Christian Knights scared the living daylights out of them. With all of that armor and those helmets and swords, shields, spurs and everything else-- they are a pretty intimidating sight. >

>Aside from that, the Crusaders are unwashed, ill-mannered and just down right uncivilized. The Muslims have witnessed them doing unspeakable things (roasting bodies, catapulting heads....). >

>But, it's only a matter of time before the Muslims wake up and begin to retaliate against the Western invaders. All they need is one good victory. >

>Alright, so now it is 20 years later and the Christians have been holding their territory in the Holy Lands, and everyone is doing pretty well for themselves. Now, remember Tancred. He's the guy who found all the wood while he was taking a dump.

Well, Tancred had ended up as the ruler of Antioch. But now, Tancred is getting ready to die, so he leaves his Kingdom, Antioch, to this guy named Roger (Roger was like his cousin or something). And now that Roger is in power, he is bound and determined to expand his Kingdom-- he wants more land.

> >So, he happens to hear about this Turkish Army that's passing nearby. It just so happens that the Turkish Army is being led by this guy named Ilghazi. Now, Ilghazi is a really important guy who owns a lot of land. So, Roger figures, "Hey, if I defeat Ilghazi, I'll get all of his land too." >

>So, he needs to send word out to the King of Jerusalem about his plans. ( The King of Jerusalem is Baldwin II.). So, he sends these messengers out to tell the King he's going to attack Ilghazi. Big mistake. The guys he sends out, are Arabs. So, guess what they do. They don't go tell King Baldwin, they go tell Ilghazi. >

>So, Roger sets out with 2700 Soldiers to go attack a Turkish Army of 40,000- that knows he is coming. The end result is predictable. Not only did Roger get defeated, he got humiliated. It was a massacre. In less than an hour, all of Rogers men were killed. >

>The Turks literally surrounded them and rode around them in a giant circle, shooting arrows at them-- like something out of an old western. After it was over, some of the horses had so many arrows in them, it made them look like porcupines. >

>This was the first victory ANYONE had had over the Christians. To celebrate, Ilghazi threw a big party-- and got really, really drunk. And I don't just mean one night, the celebration went on for several MONTHS. Ilghazi eventually drank himself into a stupor and choked to death on his own vomit.

> >But, this one victory has sparked a flame within the Muslim nations that won't be put out. A new hero takes Ilghazi's place-- Balak (probably pronounced Bay-lock), known as the Raging Dragon. >

>Balak is Ilghazi's nephew, but unlike his uncle, Balak is sober. His sole focus is to rid the Muslim world of the Christian Knights. >

>Balak makes his first big waves when he captures King Baldwin's cousin and throws him in a dungeon. Baldwin makes fun of his cousin for allowing a Turk to capture him. But, two years later, Baldwin was on a hunting expedition when he suddenly found himself surrounded by Balak's men. They threw him in the same dungeon with his cousin. >

>So, in two years, Balak-- the Raging Dragon-- has managed to imprison the King of Jerusalem (and his cousin), and the Arab world is rejoicing. But, then, one day as Balak is surveying his troops, he is shot in the chest by an arrow. He pulled the arrow out of his chest and says, "This blow will be fatal for all Muslims." Then he falls down, dead. >

>He was killed by an Assassin. The Assassins were a secret society of Muslims who were collaborating with the Christians (note to reader: The Assassins were Shiite Muslims, and their goal was to get rid of all the Sunni leaders. But, I didn't really want to get into the whole Sunni vs. Shiite thing, this deal is long enough as it is). >

>Upon Balak's death, the Christian army regains control of lost territory, Baldwin II is released from prison and the Crusaders are back in control. >

>Not long after that, the Christians attack again, conquering the city of Beruit. They massacred all the Muslims in Beruit, and news of the slaughter spreads everywhere. >

>Now, for sometime, Arabs have been gathering in Baghdad-- and now they were demanding a Muslim army be raised to rid the Muslim world of these invaders. The Muslim Army finds its leader in Imad ed-Din Zengi. From here on known only as Zengi. >

>Zengi was a Turk, not an Arab, so it's kind of odd that now all of these Arabs will be looking to him for leadership. But, Zengi is a simple soldier who sleeps on straw and had been a slave at one time in his life. He's also a hard drinker, a charismatic preacher and he inspires fear in everyone he meets. >

>Zengi wins a couple of huge victories over the Christians, including capturing the city of Edessa, where he killed a whole bunch of people in the process. >

>The Christian nobles couldn't believe the Muslims had conquered a Christian city. The news makes it all the way back to Europe, and the Pope immediately sends out a call for a Second Crusade. >

>But, trying to gain support for a Second Crusade isn't easy. This is 50 years later, the Europeans have grown fat and lazy. The idea of going off and killing Muslims no longer appeals to anyone. >

>That is, until Bernard of Clairvaux (Clair-vo) comes along. He was an incredible preacher who began touring Europe spreading the idea of the Crusade.

> >And as Bernard spoke, crusade fever spread across France and England. Eventually, he builds the largest Christian Army ever assembled with over 300,000 men. Entire cities are left deserted as more people joined the effort. >

>News of the approaching army struck fear into the hearts of Muslims-- although I'm not sure why. This group is even less organized than the last group. They have all sorts of problems. >

>First off, their two leaders couldn't stand each other-- one was French King, Louis VII and the other was a German, Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III. > >(aside from that, both men were complete idiots). >

>They got ambushed by the Turks several times, which killed a whole bunch of them. At one point, they were waiting for 200 ships to take them across the Mediterranean to Antioch. Well, they didn't get 200 ships, they got five. >

>So, the Nobles did a very noble thing. They loaded up on the five ships, and left everyone else behind. Now, they did make a deal with a nearby town to take care of those left behind. But, as soon as the ships left, the Governor of the town kicked the people out, and locked the gates. >

>The remaining army then tried to continue to Antioch on foot-- they were never heard from again. >
v >Now, as for the group that went to Antioch by boat, they didn't have much better luck. >

>They get to Antioch, and after several seeks of arguing, they decide on the dumbest strategy possible. They are going to attack the one Muslim city that is actually allied with them-- Damascus. >

>Now, Damascus had four sides, as all cities did. Three of these sides were very approachable and easy to attack. The fourth side had a huge orchard of trees-- in other words, a very dense forest that was nearly impossible to walk through. >

>So, Louis and Conrad decide to attack through the forest. And it was miserable. They had arrows shot at them the whole time. When they finally got to the walls, they discovered there were small holes in the wall. They were looking at these holes, wondering what they were-- when the people on the other side of the wall started stabbing them with spears-- through the holes. >

>It was a bloodbath. But, eventually, the Germans managed to rally behind Conrad, and begin a savage attack. The German attack causes a panic in Damascus, and the people in the city are actually ready to surrender. Then, all of a sudden, the Crusaders retreat. >

>Apparantly, the three leaders of this army, Louis VII, Conrad and Baldwin III (current King of Jerusalem) are having an argument about which one of them is going to get to enter the city first. And for this, they stopped the entire assault. Not just for a few minutes, or a few hours, or even days-- but WEEKS. >

>And then, everyone just packs up and leaves. They head back to Jerusalem. They quit. They loaded up on the ships and headed back to Europe. >

>To this day, no one really knows why they quit. There has been a lot of speculation-- like perhaps the tension between the three leaders was just too much. Or some think that they were paid off by the ruler of Damascus. >

>But, as a final humiliation for this bumbling group, as they are trying to make it back to Europe, their ships are attacked by the Byzantine Navy. And that's how the Second Crusade comes to an end. >

>And, as for Zengi, the Muslims leader-- Well, he had truly achieved greatness. He had led the Muslims to great victories over the Christians and he had united the Arab people. He was being hailed as "The Deliverer." But, he was also an alcoholic. And, after one night of heavy drinking, he wakes up to find one of his servants stealing a drink of wine.

He mumbles something to the servant and then passes out. The servant realizes that Zengi may have him put to death for stealing. So, in fear of his own life, the servant pulls out a dagger and stabs Zengi repeatedly. Thus ending all dreams of a united Muslim people. >

>Extra Facts: >

>-- When the Christians attacked Beirut, they carried the petrified arm of St. George into battle with them. >

>--Bernard of Clairvaux, who assembled the 2nd Crusade Army, he was later named a St. Which would make him St. Bernard. >

>--When the 2nd Crusade Army was assembled, there was actually an army made up exclusively of women. Very rare or that time period. >

>--The most bizarre story to come out of the Second Crusade involved Prince Raymond, the ruler of Antioch, and Louis VII's wife, Elanor of Aquataine. >

>Raymond was 49, and he was married to a nine year old girl. Elanor is 28 and her husband Louis was taken a vow of abstinence until Crusades are over. >

>Well, needless to say, Raymond and Elanor start having an affair. In fact, when Louis was ready to leave Antioch, Elanor refused to go with him. Louis eventually kidnapped her and she complained all the way to Jerusalem. >

>Oh, by the way, I should mention that Raymond was also Elanor's Uncle. >

>--During the attack on Damascus, Conrad III swung his sword at an approaching soldier-- and in one blow, cut off the mans head, neck and left shoulder, with the arm attached. Everyone who saw it said they had never seen anything like it before. >