Tripoli’s Two Thousand Days 5. Only one man remained unruffled amidst the confusion that reigned in ZangÐ’s camp. European and Arab versions of the Crusades have little in common. The Crusades through Arab Eyes Translated from the French by Jon Rothschild Contents Translator’s Note Foreword Prologue PART ONE. All the regions controlled by the Franj in Syria are subject to this same system: the landed domains, villages, and farms have remained in the hands of the Muslims. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books you've read. It became over-sensitive, defensive, intolerant, sterile—attitudes that grew steadily worse as world-wide evolution, a process from which the Muslim world felt excluded, continued. Nothing of the sort existed in the Muslim states. By the epoch of the arrival of the Franj, they were already marking time, content to live on their past glories. RIPOSTE (1128 – 1146) 6.
The author has combed the works of contemporary Arab chronicles of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants. With historical hindsight, a more contradictory observation must be made.
We are experiencing technical difficulties. Customer Reviews. The Franj Arrive2. The Mongol Scourge 14. Beloved Book Characters for Kids of All Ages, The Ultimate Guide to Adult Coloring Books, Audiobooks Read By Your Favorite Celebrities. Buy. An Accursed Maker of Armour 3. It is tempting to confound past and present when we read of a struggle between Damascus and Jerusalem for control of the Golan Heights or the Bekaa Valley. The inhabitants were all Muslims, but they live in comfort with the Franj—may God preserve us from temptation! The Turk Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to shoot the pope on 13 May 1981, had expressed himself in a letter in these terms: I have decided to kill John Paul II, supreme commander of the Crusades.
Their dwellings belong to them and all their property is unmolested. NÙr al-DÐn, the Saint-King.
By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. And there can be no doubt that the schism between these two worlds dates from the Crusades, deeply felt by the Arabs, even today, as an act of rape.
European and Arab versions of the Crusades have little in common. The Arab world had seemingly won a stunning victory. Even today we can observe a lurching alternation between phases of forced Westernization and phases of extremist, strongly xenophobic traditionalism. Nor should we forget the extent to which European agriculture was enriched by contact with the Orient: apricots, aubergines, scallions, oranges,pastèque (the French name for watermelon): the list of words derived from Arabic is endless. In the realm of industry, the Europeans first learned and then later improved upon the processes used by the Arabs in paper-making, leather-working, textiles, and the distillation of alcohol and sugar—two more words borrowed from the Arabic language.