SPECIAL REPORT: Should We Be Ashamed Of the Crusades III

In the fall of 1571, as the Muslims prepared for an all-out advance into Europe, the Pope implored everyone to pray the Rosary.

WICHITA, Kansas (Catholic Online) - The First Crusade was the most successful. Jerusalem and Antioch were captured and held by the Europeans. Through the next two hundred years, these and several other small polities would go back and forth between the Crusaders and the Muslims and between factions among the Crusaders.

Since most Crusaders returned to Europe immediately after winning Jerusalem, these little "kingdoms" never had more than a small handful of fighting men at any given time. The little kingdoms were primarily populated by indigenous peoples - Christians and Jews (the dhimmi, freed from their servitude by the Crusaders) and by Muslims.

The fortunes of these kingdoms waxed and waned with the strength of the Muslim forces around them. They entered into local alliances and treaties with Muslims and with other Christians. The most important function of the later Crusades was to provide reinforcements and to win back territory lost.

Enthusiasm for Crusading petered out by the end, but the liberation of the holy places, the churches and relics of the saints - external signs of the faith - was genuinely important to the Europeans. While it's true some individual Christian nobles personally gained by the Crusades, they also preserved a Christian presence in its own birthplace for two hundred years and made holy pilgrimage once again possible.

The Mongols upset the fragile balance of power that had developed in the Middle East. In 1256, Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Kahn, conquered Persia and completely destroyed Baghdad. The Caliph was beaten to death. Christians and Muslims alike quaked with fear before the Mongol advance until the Mamluk Baybars of Egypt defeated them -- and then went on to conquer the little Christian states. The 8th Crusade failed, and by 1291, the Crusaders had been completely swept from the Holy Lands. The Islamic Empire again ruled unopposed.

The Resumption of Muslim Advance into Europe

After they soundly defeated the Crusaders, the Muslims resumed their efforts to take Europe. The Barbary Pirates, part of the Sultan's navy, continued to terrorize and enslave Europeans living on Mediterranean islands and along the coasts.

The Byzantine Empire was hacked into ever smaller pieces. By the 15th century only the cities of Thessalonica and Constantinople remained free. Finally, after long and careful preparations, Constantinople was taken in 1453. Eastern Christendom was submerged in an Islamic ocean, and Orthodox Christians in the East were forced into dhimmitude. Today Constantinople is known as Istanbul. The great mother Church of Eastern Christianity, the Hagias Sophia, was converted into a mosque and is now a museum.

Islamic forces continued to push into Europe, with Muslim expeditions into Eastern Europe and as far west as Austria. All of Europe quaked with fear of these Muslim incursions. The Mediterranean and its coastlines were unsafe. The Middle East was impossible to traverse. Fortunately for us, this forced the Europeans to seek trade routes to the East by going west into the fearsome Atlantic ocean.

The Battle of Lepanto and Second Siege of Vienna

In the fall of 1571, as the Muslims prepared for an all-out advance into Europe, the pope implored everyone to pray the Rosary. Don Juan of Austria responded to his pleas for defense, and in an amazing victory, defeated the Muslim armada on October 7th, at the Battle of Lepanto. The Feast of the Holy Rosary (Our Lady of Victory) is celebrated on October 7th in honor of this great turning point for Europe.

The victory was not permanent, but it changed the European perception that they were destined to remain the underdog in defending their territory against Islamic aggression. They had reason to hope and gained confidence.

The Muslims quickly rebuilt their navy and continued to pound Europe. Finally, on September 11th at the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683, they were held out of Europe definitively.

Not that there were no further skirmishes or that piracy ended completely. History never cleans up that neatly. The Barbary Pirates continued to harass the Mediterranean, continued to hamper shipping, continued to take slaves. By the 18th century, the fledgling United States found itself involved. President Adams paid tribute for the safe passage of our ships. Still, thousands of American seamen were taken as slaves. Thomas Jefferson, famous for the quip, "Millions for defense. Not a penny for tribute," started the United States Marines to protect American interests and lives abroad.

The United States went to war with the Barbary Pirates, who were based in Tripoli, Libya, in 1801-1804 and definitively in 1815. (Remember the Marine theme song: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli. . .?") Thousands of Americans were freed from slavery, and piracy gradually began to subside. Nonetheless, the Ottoman Empire was a force to contend with into the 20th century.

When seen in context, it becomes clear that the Crusades were defensive wars and that the Europeans had every right to be proud of their attempt to defend the Christian holy places. For their part, the Muslims regarded the Crusades as honorable wars - which they soundly won.

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Jeri Holladay writes from Wichita, Kansas, where she has been Director of Adult Education at the Spiritual Life Center of the Diocese of Wichita, Associate Professor of Theology, Chairman of the Theology Department and founding Director of the Bishop Eugene Gerber Institute of Catholic Studies at Newman University. She teaches moral theology and church history.This is the third and final installment in her series on the crusades.

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