Bonus Assignment: Two Faces of “Holy War” – Impressions/Perceptions
during the Crusades
The Crusades brought Christians and Muslims into close, direct contact. Below are
excerpts from accounts written at the time about various encounters between
Christians and Muslims. What impressions did each side have of the other?
How might have these perceptions influenced the way they chose to deal with
one another? (Note: just because a group perceived something to be true, does not
mean it actually was true. However, sometimes what people think is true may be
more important in forming/influencing their behavior than what is really true.)
In the excerpt from Peter Tudebode, the Muslims view the Christian knight Rainald
Porchet as an ignorant fool for not revoking his Christian God and ideals for worldly
possessions. His ignorance and defiance causes the Muslim leaders to lash out in
anger and rage, killing many Christian pilgrims. They furthermore insulted the
Christian beliefs by mocking their cross and breaking against the walls of Jerusalem.
This account points to the idea that the Muslims feel that the Christian crusaders are
ignorant men dying for no cause. The second excerpt recounts a story where many
Saracens had gold coins in the bodies when they died. So to get them, after they had
been killed, the Christians piled all the bodies and in one big heap lit them all to get
as many gold coins from them as they could. It also tells of how men would go into
houses and take the possessions. This account gives the perception that the
Christians only viewed the Muslims as a means to gain wealth and that they would
do much harm to attain that wealth. The third excerpt is a Christian account of how
a Muslim who is the “first-born son of Satan” proclaims to be a prophet and forces
people to follow him by violence instead of preaching. This false prophet then
defiles a Christian temple, causing outrage among the people. This excerpt portrays
the perception that the Muslims were Satanic, unclean, and animals.
