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The True Origin of the Crusades: What Historians Get Wrong

Markets of the Past

331,089 views

Most of what you think you know about the Crusades is wrong. The popular narrative tells us that greedy European knights launched an unprovoked war against a peaceful Muslim world. But the real story begins over four hundred years before the First Crusade was ever called — with the rapid military conquest of two-thirds of the Christian world. From the fall of Jerusalem in 638 to the catastrophic Byzantine defeat at Manzikert in 1071, from Pope Urban II's legendary speech at Clermont to the horrific massacres that followed, this documentary traces the true origins of the Crusades and exposes the myths, distortions, and political agendas that have shaped how we understand them today.

This is not a defense of the Crusaders. It is an honest look at what actually happened, why it happened, and what historians consistently get wrong.

Sources and further reading:
Thomas F. Madden — "The New Concise History of the Crusades"
Jonathan Riley-Smith — "The First Crusaders, 1095–1131"
Rodney Stark — "God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades"
World History Encyclopedia — Battle of Manzikert, Council of Clermont

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#Crusades #MedievalHistory #FirstCrusade #HiddenHistory #ByzantineEmpire #PopeUrbanII #BattleOfManzikert #CouncilOfClermont #Jerusalem #SeljukTurks #HistoryDocumentary #TrueHistory #DarkHistory #MiddleAges #IslamicConquests #ChristianHistory #Manzikert1071 #CrusaderStates #HistoryExplained #WhatHistoriansGetWrong

20 Comments

@mark.J6708 1 month ago

These battles are not over.

@oldharpydisguised709 1 month ago

This is undoubtedly one of if not the best brief descriptions of the Crusades that I’ve found on the internet. 30 minutes to cover a vast and truly fascinating subject, to an audience that is so separated from the mindset of the peoples that were both effected and involved, was very impressive.I even forgive some of those rather iffy illustrations that were used to hopefully keep the viewers interested, as it would seem that modern people hate “talking heads”.
More please and in greater detail.

@ForgottenHistories-r4w 1 month ago

A fascinating reminder that history is rarely a simple story of good versus evil, but rather a mix of faith, politics, and survival

@petersawchukux700 1 month ago

I really appreciate the context that the presenter gives. It shows the motivations of many of the actors.

@charlesjohnson89 1 month ago

History without simple truth is not history. The truth is the truth. Thank you for telling it.

@TheFredmac 1 month ago

Most of this I already know. This video answered a big question I had as to who successfully changed the image of the Crusades. Enlightenment philosophers. It makes sense now.

@HistoricEnglishAudio 1 month ago

The Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the fall of Anatolia being the real trigger for Alexios I to call for help is a detail so many popular documentaries completely skip. Exceptional research!

@1969cmp 1 month ago

Raymond Ibrahim makes for great listening on this subject. 👌

@WhispersWonders-9 1 month ago

The way the Norman conquest of southern Italy gets connected to Alexios I’s desperate appeal for Western military support is another detail mainstream documentaries gloss over. Fantastic historical research!

@RandySantoro-z2p 1 month ago

Well done. Excellent podcast that renders new light on a subject riddled historically with erroneous potholes from those with hidden agendas.

@New-Moderate 1 month ago

I think one of the challenges of discussing the background, setting and motivation of an event in history is that most people are too impatient to learn the history. Also, regardless of such factors, the side that starts a war is the one who chose to break the peace.

@DesertMike 1 month ago

People like to simplify history, put it in a box, tie it with a nice bow and sell it.
Truth is history is far more complicated. The line between good guys and bad guys can start to blur.
What bugs me most is people judge by using today’s moral compass. Societies were so much different years ago.

@Mario-z3z 1 month ago

As a native Italian, and a product of Italian primary education, your depiction of the crusades is absolutely in sync with how I was taught the history of the crusades in the Italian school system. To ignore the proselytizing nature of the Arab expansion, and the subsequent conversion of the North African mediterranean polities to Islam, along with the expansion into Sicily and Spain ignores the threat posed the highly aggressive Muslim armies to Christianity, a threat that the Church viewed as a danger to its own existence. You correctly pointed out that the Mongols were indeed a greater threat to the Muslim polities than the Crusaders were. When the Mongols invaded Mamluk Syria in late 1400, they sacked Aleppo before turning on to Damascus. During the sack and fire of Damascus, Mongol troops pillaged the city and enslaved its inhabitants; the Umayyad Mosque and many other historic structures were burned or heavily damaged in an orgy of rapine and destruction comparable to Sulla's destruction of Corinth in its cultural implications.

@AbuAfakski 1 month ago

Charles Martel means “Charles The Hammer”

@x-b52navcpa17 1 month ago

Hey @Markets of the Past: While I enjoy the dialogue and content of these videos you always show pictures or paintings, which is nice. But when you talk about conquered areas, of how the road to Jerusalem, it would be helpful to see a map of what is closed, or where exactly a battle took place.

@Ianshandle999 4 weeks ago

It is amazing how the narrative about the Crusades has changed in the last 50 years. Growing up in the 70s we were taught that the crusades were a glorious exercise in European chivalry. Christian Knights went to the holy land to protect pilgrims from ruthless persecution by the Turks. Richard the The Lionhart as a great English King., Who narrowly failed to recapture Jerusalem. Read the ladybird book about Richard the Lionhart to get a feeling for how history was once written.

@hansspadvii 1 month ago (edited)

Thank you for this, like so many, I've been taught the one sided version of the story way back at school.

@LisaMerritt-v3y 1 month ago

Great video. Thank you. 😊

@Kaine-cw7ue 1 month ago

Absolutely fantastic video... thanks so much. Nuanced and succinct... a rare combination in any age, in any media! My thanks. (I've studied the crusades in some detail, so can appreciate some of the difficult design decisions you've made, in terms of what to tell, what to leave out...).
...And to the present: It shows us that the situations that we face in our own countries now are not new, but part of an ongoing conflict which has lasted hundreds of years. It also offers possibles solutions: The 'reconquista' of the Iberian peninsula for example.
Deus Vult.