Activity 1 - Are biased sources useful?
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The Franks lack a warm sense of humour; their bodies are large, their character is coarse, their customs rude, their minds dull and their tongues heavy. Their skin colour is of such an extreme white that they appear blue. Their skin is thin and their flesh rough. Their eyes are blue. Their hair is smooth and reddish due to the damp fog. Their religious beliefs are unreliable, which can be traced to the type of coldness and lack of warmth. The further north they reside, the dumber, more vile and primitive they are. |
ABOVE: Moroccan Muslim geographer Al-Idrīsī's world map created in 1154 - do you notice anything different about this map?
Activity 2 - How do we summarise sources?
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How can you slumber in the shade of comfort and safety where life is as soft as orchard flowers? How can your eyes sleep while your Muslim brothers in Syria have no dwelling place, other than the saddles of camels and the bellies of vultures? Must the foreigners feed on our shame! Beautiful young girls have been shamed and now hide their sweet faces in their hands! White swords’ points are red with blood, and the iron of brown lances is stained with gore! This is war, and the infidel’s sword is naked in his hand, ready to be sheathed in men’s necks and skulls. For fear of death, the Muslims are evading the fire of battle. |
ABOVE: King Baldwin I of Jerusalem (1060-1118) receiving the homage of the Armenians in Edessa.
Activity 3 - Can sources imply things?
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I entered a church. Inside were ten old monks, their bare heads as white as combed cotton. They wore crosses on their chests. They offered hospitality to all who needed it. The sight of their piety touched my heart, but it also saddened me for I had never seen such devotion amongst the Muslims. But later, nearby, I saw about a hundred prayer mats, and on each one was a Sufi Muslim, his face expressing serenity and devotion. I thanked Almighty God that there were among the Muslims men of even more devotion than those Christian priests. |
Franks who have mixed with Muslims over many years are much better than the ones who have recently arrived. But they are the exception. For example, I went to the home of a Frankish knight who served me with extraordinary clean and delicious food. Later, as I was in the marketplace, a Frankish women grabbed my clothes and began to mutter words in their language. I was immediately surrounded by a large crowd of Franks. I was convinced that death was at hand. Then, that same knight approached. He said to the women, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This Muslim has killed my brother”. The knight shouted at her, saying, “This is a merchant who neither fights nor attends a fight.” He also yelled at the crowd and they all dispersed. A Frankish knight who had become my close friend said to me: “My brother, I am leaving for my homeland and I want you to send with me your 14-year-old son. He will come to our country where he can learn wisdom and chivalry. When he returns, he will be a wise man”. These words would never come out of the head of a sensible man. For even if my son were to be taken captive in war, it could not bring him a worse misfortune than carrying him into the lands of the Franks. |
ABOVE: A possible portrait of Saladin (1137-1193), found in a work by Ismail al-Jazari, circa 1185
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ABOVE: Genghis Khan (1162-1227) as portrayed in a 14th-century Yuan era album
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ABOVE: The Mamluk general Baybars (1223-1277), Sultan of Egypt
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Activity 4 - What can source 'tone' tell us?
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Activity Tasks
God who gave you Antioch has taken it away again. If you had been there, you would have seen your knights prostrate beneath horses’ hooves, your houses stormed by pillagers and ransacked by looters, your women sold for a coin of your own money! You would have seen the crosses in your churches smashed, the pages of your false Testaments scattered, and tombs overturned. You would have seen fire running through your palaces, your dead burned in this world before going down to the fires of the next. Then you would have said: “Would that I were dust, and that no letter had ever brought me such tidings!” Your soul would have left your body for sadness. |
Glory to God who has bestowed this victory upon Islam and who has returned this city to the fold after a century of perdition! Honour to this army; which He has chosen to complete the re-conquest! And may salvation be upon you, Salah al-Din Yusuf, you who have restored the lost dignity of this nation! The events I am about the describe are so horrible that for years I refused to speak of them. It is not easy to announce the death-blow of Islam. O, would that my mother had not born me or that I had died and become a forgotten thing before this happened! History does not contain anything like it. Nay, it is unlikely that mankind will see the like of this calamity until the world comes to an end. This catastrophe passed over the lands like clouds driven by the wind. For these were a people that had emerged from the confines of China, taking possession, destroying, slaying and plundering. They slew all who withstood them. We ask God to grant victory to Islam and the Muslims, for there is none other to aid, help or defend the True Faith. But if God intends evil to any people, naught can avert it, nor have they any ruler, save Him. |
ABOVE: Map showing the major routes of the Crusades and areas of religious influence
Activity 5 - How can we choose quotations?
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ABOVE: Saladin’s forces recapture Jerusalem from the crusaders, 1187 CE
Activity 6 - How can we remember skills?
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