On Constitutions and Eternity












































Brigitte Bardot and Marine LePen

Well, the French presidential race is hotting up and it remains to be seem whether enough French people have the sense to vote Marine LePen into the Elysee Palace. Whether she could even do very much once there would be a concern, but at least, it would be a huge symbolic victory for our side, LePen seems to be a good debater, she does not seem crazy, she looks good, she is elegant. She also knows how to talk to the French people, she criticises ‘capitalism’, immigration and the over mighty EU, she does this in an intelligent way and well, one hopes beyond hope that she can make it.

Marine LePen

Marine LePen

I read an article on the official state sponsored France 24, you can see it here. In this opinion piece, the writer attempts to savage Brigitte Bardot, the former actress who now campaigns against animal cruelty, especially ritual slaughter of animals for Muslims, she has been convicted five times for ‘racial hatred against Muslims’ as the writer mentions twice in his piece, he refers to Bardot as an ‘old bag’, he compares her to the local crazy old racist we ‘all avoid’ if they lived in our neighbourhood! Hmmm, well, the comments were interesting, as they are in so many places nowadays, most of the comments I read laid into the writer, accusing him of showing disrespect for the old, accusing him of not knowing about Islam and the dangers posed and mocking him as a coward for not putting his name to the piece. Indeed it seems odd that France 24 should be so partisan, it is the French equivalent to BBC World, and although the BBC are quite blatant about their prejudices, there are nowhere near as bad as France 24

‘Once upon a time, she was France’s most alluring actress and a source of Gallic pride. Today, she’s deemed a pesky old bag and an embarrassment to her fellow countrymen. One thing’s for sure – Brigitte Bardot is still a great source of entertainment.

 At 22 she was the darling of France, a talented and beautiful actress who nobody could keep their eyes off. At 77, she’s like that racist old neighbour that you avoid in the street – the one that values puppies over asylum seekers.’

So, the writer is telling us we should value ‘asylum seekers’, when was the last time an actual ‘asylum seeker’ seeked asylum? All of the immigrants I see are just here for free money, none of them complain very much about their homelands, indeed some of them love their homelands so much, they are attempting to turn Europe into a version of them by forcing us to assimilate into their backward cultures!

But crafty old Bardot saw straight through them. She knows all too well that the only politician who really, truly hates Muslims enough to pretend to care for animal rights, is far-right darling Marine Le Pen (MLP). She, of course, would have no qualms in banning halal abattoirs in France. After all, the country’s five-million Muslims rely on them. No more halal… no more Muslims? And it would all be done in the name of animal rights, naturally. Bleat it lambs, MLP for president! 

Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot

Already convicted five times for inciting racial hatred against Muslims, Bardot is back, and this time she’s got the presidential palace in her sights.

Again, the hatred toward France is palpable here, whoever this guy is, needs to get the hell out of France and leave people who actually love the place.

We can only imagine were that ‘rightful spot’ might be – a kitten-filled paradise where Muslims have their throats slit by cows?’

More lies and slurs against the French, why should they have to tolerate millions of aliens in their once fair land, why should one of the great nations of Europe allow itself to be overrun by teaming multitudes of hateful, angry, unemployed misfits?

Some of the comments:

‘Loves dogs, hates muslims, huh? She has the right idea, for sure. We need many more Brigitte Bardots. More who acknowledge the criminality of the muslim “religion”, more who condemn and punish the atrocities the muslims perpetrate on people of all faiths. Vive le Bardot!I’d say she talks a lot more sense that you do. Your blog post is so politically correct it’s embarrassing. It’s also riddled with prejudice against older people through the use of words like “doddering”. You would never dream of employing comparably unflattering adjectives when talking about Muslims. But you have been indoctrinated to believe that the de-Europeanisation of Europe is good and anyone who has qualms about it must be evil’

‘Ms. Bardot is correct on both counts: Her concern for animals and her understanding of true Islam. Nothing good has ever come out of Islam. One can only assume that the idiot calling Ms. Bardot, “An old bag,” is a Muslim. Such disrespect for an elderly woman or any woman for that matter, only comes from those who are enslaved by Islam, or their stooges. If the people of France had any pride at all in their history and culture they would expel that plague which has invaded them from the East.’

‘Where is out Le Penn here in England? The French hate muslims in their country as much as we English do. Any step that may put them off staying/coming is a good one. Well said Bridget!’

‘1 Mr. SARKOZY, not ”Zarkozy” (learn to spell, your post is awful) is French and the president of the Republic. Which can only mean that you are not the President, obviously (thank God). His rich background makes him proud 2- Algeria and Tunisia treated french immigrants with hostile racism. The pieds noir had nothing to do with colonization, they just wanted to live in the region. Their expulsion is a far cry from how rude & unpatriotic French-Algerians are treated in France 3-Get a grip on your ego 4-get a grip on your ego and show some respect and decency or seize sharing your backward thinkibng with the masses’

‘Typically, liberal columnists resort to grotesque ad hominem attacks when their arguments fail to hold water. Brigitte Bardot is a supporter of animal rights. It is, therefore, consistent, that she should oppose the innate cruelty of halal meat production. Quite how that makes her a ‘racist’ (the unanswerable insult of choice for all Leftists) is beyond me. And is ‘old’ now smething to be ashamed of, too?’

‘What a nasty article.’

‘i would choose Bardots values above those of fanatical moslems any day and the ridicule within this article shows that the writer fears Bardots views as they are very widely held…..’

‘It is blogs like this that make me want to puke. What horrible writing. Just calling a bad literary piece what it is.’

‘Animals live in agony and pain in Muslim countries, that is a fact. They treat animals very badly, I have seen it myself. They see western women as “bitches” and desecrate our churches by turning it into Mosques.’

‘By all means, this author’s views should be accepted. Shut down that evil racist Bardot! How dare she stand up for the nation of France… a nation that is faced with the destructive forces of “multiculturalism.” And if France pulls back from the precipice of multiculturalism, it may survive as a nation-state…. Unless, of course, unions and “welfare lifestyle” citizens continue to such the lifeblood out of this important nation.’

‘Mon Belle Brigitte she is a real true patriot and loves her native France. She hates what France has become with all the foreigners especially the musslims who despise the west. She is the modern symbol of Liberty. France needs to be returned to the French or the foreigners need to embrace the rich French culture and democracy’

‘Why is this author so hateful and contemptuous of Bardot? Her name will be remembered long after he is completely forgotten.’

‘It seems to me the author is pretty hateful too. What a personal attack on someone with a different view. I wouldn’t call this journalism and its not why if read France 24. This is a personal attack disguised as a news.’

It seems to me, that the comments on many articles, from left leaning outlets like the Guardian, to the Telegraph, from the Mail to the BBC and now even France 24, are showing the cracks in the false reality our elites have enforced on us for decades now, people are speaking out, it almost seems like people don’t care about being called ‘racist’ anymore. I hope that this is true, and I hope it continues. We need people like Marine LePen, the Front National and ‘crazy old bags’ like Bardot to show people the truth and to show people there is a way out of the catastrophe of the modern West.

Slavery alive and well in Africa

I’m posting this not really because I hate slavery, it is after all an ancient custom, one that permeates all civilisations. I post it more as proof that the race hustlers, in all parts of the west, are huge hypocrites. The peoples of the west are constantly bombarded with dishonest propaganda, inferring that we, and only we, are a nasty, brutish, oppressive peoples, who invented slavery. In the minds of those who hate us, we enslaved the noble black man, kidnapping him from his home, forcing him to ‘build’ our civilisation and then raped them all just for a laugh!

Well, most sensible people will realise that this is a lie, I previously posted an article about the Arab slave trade and the raids on Iceland by the Corsairs. Many thousands of Icelanders were stolen from that desolate land and sold into slavery in the slave markets of Barbary, many of the women and boys would become sex slaves to the depraved Beys, Sheiks and others wealthy enough to pay for it, the men would be condemned to be galley slaves. In my own country the little village of Baltimore was sacked by the Corsairs and almost all the residents carried off into slavery, only two would ever see home again, in Newfoundland, England and France, coastal communities were under threat, fishing boats and merchant ships were often seized and their crews sold in the markets of Barbary, the seized ships being refitted to become pirate ships. Whole sections of the Spanish and Italian coasts were abandoned, or so ravaged by slavers, that there was no one left to live there, excepting a few large, well defended port cities.

Well, it seems that slavery is still alive and well in Africa, well we all knew this anyway, but here is a story that needs to be thrown into every liberals/negroes face when they make some clueless remark about whitey!


The country is slavery’s last stronghold.


I would disagree about the last stronghold bit, it is alive and well in most of Africa, as well as in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other more primitive parts of the third world, but I repeat myself. The story by the insufferable CNN is a good one, but they seem to think slavery is on its way out, which it isn’t. Slavery one of the most ancient of stations may not be called slavery anymore, but is does still exist, and once the west’s moral imperialism has faded, it will once again thrive in the more primitive parts of the world, indeed it is already returning to lands which were once free, Pakis importing Pakis into England, where they force them to work as slaves, and rape and beat them to their heart’s content. We have also seen the Pakis enslave white girls, turning them into prostitutes, so no, slavery is not gone, it has only changed.

Slavery was one of those things that only white people have ever tried to ban, a bit like when white people banned the Thugs and Suttee in India, and cannibalism among the blacks, but as we lose our confidence, as we retreat and surrender more ground, as we allow our faith and culture to die, we shall see, and are already seeing a rebirth in the dark things that we put under foot.

The world without a confident, faithful white man, is a world of darkness and unimaginable horror, that seems to be our future now!

Corsairs in Iceland

 by Bernard LEWIS

For many centuries the Barbary corsairs had operated principally in galleys. These vessels required hundreds of rowers, who were expensive both to obtain and to maintain, and were in any case becoming more difficult to find. The cruising range of the galley was limited by the need to carry great quantities of food and water for the rowers, while its construction, designed for the calmer waters of the Mediterranean, made it unfit to with stand the heavier strains of the open ocean.

At the beginning of the 17th century, however, an important development took place which enabled the corsairs greatly to extend the scope and scale of their enterprises. After the death of Queen Elizabeth of England in 1603, the new king James I at last made peace with Spain, and by the treaty of 1604 the long maritime war between the two countries came to an end. At about the same time the long Spanish struggle with the Netherlands ended, and in 1609 Spain was finally compelled to recognize the independence of the Dutch. The many English and Dutch sea-rovers, who had played an important part in the struggle against Spain, now became not only unnecessary but a nuisance, and the English and other western governments began to adopt measures of increasing severity against their own pirates, for the protection of international trade. Many of these pirates, finding conditions in their own countries less and less favourable to the exercise of their profession, fled to the states of the North African littoral, where they received a ready welcome. English and Dutch pirates, accustomed to navigating the oceans of the world on square-rigged sailing ships with their armament disposed along their sides, introduced these vessels to their hosts, and instructed them in their construction and use. The corsairs, quick to realise the advantages of the broadside sailing-ship over the galley, mastered the arts of navigation and warfare with these new vessels with remarkable speed, and before long fleets from North Africa were sailing beyond the Straits of Gibraltar and ravaging as far away as Madeira, England and Ireland. Certainly their boldest venture was their raid on Iceland in the year 1627 (1).

The first published account of this expedition is that of the French priest Pierre Dan, who visited North Africa in 1634 to arrange for the redemption of Christian captives. In his history of the Barbary corsairs published in Paris in 1637, he tells briefly of an Algerian corsair raid on Iceland in 1627. It was carried out, he says, by three ships, and was led by a renegade of German origin known as Come Murat. The corsairs raided a number of different places on the Icelandic coast and carried off 400 captives (2).

A second French account dates from the year 1642. In that year Sieur Emanuel d’Aranda, about to leave Algiers on being ransomed from captivity, was approached by a young “Turk” who asked him to carry a letter to the Danish minister in Madrid. D’Aranda, puzzled by so odd a request, questioned the man, who turned out to be an Icelander converted to Islam. “Some years earlier”, the man told him, “an Icelandic renegade, having for long sailed with the corsairs of this city without making any prize, suggested to the captain that they should sail to Iceland”. The raid was made and produced 800 captives, many of whom were still awaiting ransom (3).

These two brief and contradictory accounts are all that, to my knowledge, is to be found in general Western sources of the time on the expedition to Iceland of the Algerian corsairs. So extraordinary an event, however, was not passed over in silence by the Icelanders themselves, nor by the Danes, to whose King Iceland was at that time subject. In both Icelandic and in Danish there is a considerable volume of material on the raid, and even a prayer in the Icelandic liturgy asking God for protection against “the cunning of the Pope and the terror of the Turk”.

The first account to be published was the narrative of Olafur Egilsson, an Icelandic priest from Heimaey, in the Vestmann islands, who was captured by the corsairs and taken to Algiers. After a short stay, he was sent by his captors to Copenhagen to negotiate with the Danish authorities for the ransom of the captives. His account of his adventures, from his capture to his return home on 6th July 1628, was first published in a Danish translation in 1641 (4). The Icelandic original was not printed until 1852, when it appeared in Reykjavik together with another brief and contemporary account by Klaus Eyjolfsson (5). Another important contemporary source, the Tyrkjarânssaga of Bjôrn Jônsson of Skardsà (1574-1655) was printed in 1866 (6). It was written in 1643, and based on the two above mentioned texts, supplemented by letters from captives in Algiers, oral information from ransomed captives, and a number of other written sources that are no longer extant. A critical study of the whole episode was published in Danish in 1 899 by the Icelandic scholar Sigfûs Blôndal (7). It was based not only on the printed sources then available, but also on a number of narratives and records then still in manuscript, including many letters from Icelandic and Danish captives preserved in various collections. Finally, in 1906-9, another Icelandic scholar, Jon Thorkelsson, published a volume of texts, containing all the known sources on the expedition. After a detailed historical introduction on the raid, its origin, course, and results, he gives critical texts of twelve different accounts of the expedition. These are followed by a collection of letters and other documents, including letters from prisoners, negotiations about ransoms, reports on the Icelandic captives in Algiers, accounts and correspondence on the collection of money and the arranging of ransoms. The volume ends with a collection of poems and ballads in Icelandic relating to the raid (8).

The story begins on 20th June 1627, when an Algerian ship entered the little port of Grindavfk, on the south coast of Reykjanes, the southernmost promontory on the west coast of Iceland. The origins of the raid are uncertain. Returned Icelandic captives said that the originator of the raid was a Danish captive in Algiers, whom they name only as Paul. In return for a promise of freedom he gave the corsairs information about the Northern Seas, which he knew well, and accompanied them on the raid. This man is probably identical with the Icelandic renegade mentioned by d’Aranda.

According to Icelandic reports twelve ships set out on the expedition, of which only four actually reached Iceland. The others probably went to England. The leader of the expedition was one Murad Reis, variously described as a German or Flemish ( = Dutch) renegade. The rest of the expedition was, as usual, of mixed origin — some Turks, some Western converts, as well as a number of Western captives employed as slaves. This is how Olafur Egilsson describes his captors. The reader will note Olafs naive astonishment that the dreaded corsairs looked “just like other people”, and his remark that it was the converts who behaved worst.

“Now I will say something about how these wicked people looked, both as regards their faces and their clothing, namely, that they were exactly like other people, unequal of height, some white, some with darker faces ; some were not Turks, but people of other countries, such as Norwegians, Danes, Germans and English ; of these, those who had not left their religion still wore their old clothes in which they had been captured, and had to do the most dangerous work that arose, and received blows as wages. But the Turks [i.e. Muslims] all had tall red caps, some cocked, with gold galloons, some with silk and others with braid ; they wore long robes, bound round with sashes, as their robes were very wide ; they wore tight canvas breeches, and many went barefoot, with iron heels under their feet ; they had black hair, and were shaved except over the mouth, where they had moustaches. The real Turks in their behaviour were just like other nations, if one may say so ; those who had been Christians and abandoned their faith followed in clothes, beards and other things the same usage as the Turks, and it was just these that killed people, cursed and beat them, and did all that is evil” (9).

When the corsair fleet arrived off Iceland, it was split up by a severe storm. One ship, separated from the others, entered Grindavik alone on 20th June. In the harbour lay a Danish merchant ship. The corsairs pretended to be whale- fishers, and thanks to this disguise were able to seize the cargo of the Danish ship without any difficulty. After a raid ashore they sailed out with booty and prisoners. On their way out they met another Danish merchant ship, which they boarded and captured, putting a corsair crew on board. One of the captured ships was sent back to Algiers with the booty ; the other two ships sailed round the west coast of Iceland in the direction of Faxa Bay.

News of the raid spread rapidly, causing great alarm. A system of signal warnings was arranged, and both people and ships assembled at Bessastadir. This town, lying in a small bay called Seila, a few miles south of Reyjavik, was the residence of the Danish governor of Iceland and the centre of administration throughout the 17th century. It so happened that at this time the famous Jon Olafsson, the Icelandic traveller who is remembered for his journey to India, was in Bessastadir on a visit, accompanied by some Frenchmen. His biography, written by his son Olafur Jônsson, gives the following account of the coming of the corsairs to Bessastadir :

“Jon Olafsson’s journey was deferred, and he received orders to stay until he should know for certain how matters stood. The Governor ordered all to be ready to take up their positions for defence, and Jon Olafsson and the Frenchmen were commanded to repair to the fort and be ready to fire the cannon when needed. But the Governor with his servants and a great number of Icelanders in large brass-bound saddles rode about keeping watch with long staves in their hands, so that it was as if one saw armoured men, when the sun shone on their saddle-bows.

And when they were all prepared for defence on land, the pirate ships began to sail into the harbour. When those on the ships and in the fort perceived this, they fired some salvos at them, and the pirates replied by firing on them on shore. But just this moment, by God’s appointed plan, one of the two robber vessels ran aground and stuck fast, for the tide was far out. This was the vessel which had the captive people on board and most of the goods. When the other pirates saw this, both vessels lowered their boats to remove the people and goods from the stranded vessel to the other, in order to lighten it, and they also threw overboard many barrels of goods, meal, oil and other liquids, which were heaviest, and which they had taken on Danish ships. The most part drifted ashore, and on these were the mark of the merchant Bogi Nielsson, merchant at Skutilsfjôrd. This Jon Olafsson recognized and so knew that a vessel from the Skutilsfjôrd port must have been captured by the pirates. While the pirates were splashing about and conveying men and goods from one ship to the other, the Danes left off firing at them, both from the Danish ships, and (alas ! ) from the fort, but the Icelanders desired to fire at them as much as possible while they were in these difficulties. But in this they did not have their way (10), and so the pirate ship floated off with the rising tide, and both left Seila, and sailed back along the south coast, and were seen no more until they came to the Vestmann Islands and plundered there in the month of June. These ships came to Seila shortly before the time of the Althing [Icelandic Parliament], and therefore neither the Governor, nor any of those then at Bessastadir, rode to the Althing that summer, by reason of the general terror” (11).

The vessels that later visited the Vestmann Islands were not in fact the same as those that had come to Bessastadir. These latter sailed home, without waiting for the others, and carried with them fifteen Icelandic and an unknown number of Danish captives.

Meanwhile two other ships sailed up the east coast. On 5th July they landed with four boats at the Herutsfjôrd, and left again on 13th July with booty and captives. After several other small raids they sailed south with 110 captives. Off the south coast they met the fourth ship and together sailed to the Vestmann Islands. On their way they met an English fishing boat and forced the captain to give them pilots for the dangerous passage into Kaupstad harbour.

The Vestmann Islands are a group of small islands four miles south of Iceland, of which only the largest, Heimaey, was inhabited. It had been raided several times earlier in the century by Spanish and English pirates. News of the approach of the corsairs reached the islanders, and the Icelandic sources tell of wild rumours of “Turks with claws instead of nails, spitting fire and sulphur, with knives growing out of their breasts, elbows, and knees”. The islanders hastily prepared defences around the Danish trading house.

On the morning of 16th July three ships were sighted approaching the island. Despite the preparations no serious resistance was offered, and the corsairs “were able to land three large forces. Much booty and many captives were taken, and a Danish merchant ship, the Krabbe, was seized in the port, filled with captives and manned by a corsair crew. The corsair flotilla fired nine shots from their cannon as a parting salute and sailed away with 242 captives.

The return journey to Algiers is vividly described by Olafur Egilsson, the captured priest from Heimaey. The weather was very bad, and for a week the Krabbe was separated from the other ships. The prisoners on the Krabbe outnumbered the corsairs several times, and planned to revolt and seize the ship. The plan, however, was betrayed and frustrated. One of the prisoners was a Dane who got into conversation with the Danish renegade Paul and, no doubt with the idea of making himself important, asked him how many mice were needed to kill a cat. Paul understood what was in his mind, and warned the other corsairs. The prisoners were put in irons until the Krabbe was able to rejoin the rest of the flotilla. Olafur Egilsson remarks that the prisoners were quite well treated on the journey, and notes with surprise that the Turks gave them beer, mead and brandy to drink while they themselves drank only water.

The captives were confined below decks, and, says Olafur Egilsson :

“Since it was dark there, they had lamps burning both night and day, and every evening food was prepared for us, and we were given the same dishes as the officers got in their cabin ; as long as the two tuns of beer and mead, which they seized in the merchants’ house in Vestmann Island, lasted, we were given drink from them. They destroyed all the drink in the merchants’ houses. Brandy they only gave us in the morning ; the Turks never drink anything but water” ( 1 2).

The ships returned to Algiers on 17th August, and the captives were sold. Olaf was sent to Copenhagen to arrange ransom, and considerable efforts were made to collect money for this purpose. A document of 1635 lists 31 men and 39 women as remaining in captivity, while another of the following year records the redemption of 34. The testimony of d’Aranda shows that some were still in Africa in 1 642. Two at least of the captives stayed voluntarily and made a career among the corsairs. One’ of them, Jon Asbjamarson, obtained a high post at the court of the Dey, while the other, Jôn Jônsson Vestmann, became a sea captain in the corsair service. After many adventures he finally returned to Europe and died in Copenhagen (13).

Bernard LEWIS

Professor of the History

of the Near and Middle

East, University of London

(1) See Ch. A. Julien, Histoire de l’Afrique du Nord. 2nd edition, revised by Roger Le Tourneau, II, Paris 1961, 274 ff. ; S. Lane-Poole, The Barbary Corsairs, London 1890, 228 ff. ; Aziz Samfli, Çimali Afrikada Tûrkler, Istanbul 1937, I, 174 ; R.C. Anderson, Naval wars in the Levant, Princeton 1952, 67 ff.

(2) Pierre Dan, Histoire de Barbarie et de ses Corsaires, Paris 1637, Book III, 276. “En 1627 trois vaisseaux d’Alger, conduits par un Renégat Allemand, nommé Corne Murat, furent si hardis que d’aller jusques’en Dannemarc, ou prenant terre en l’Isle d’Island, ils enlevèrent plusieurs mesnages escartes l’un de l’autre, & firent esclaves quatre cens personnes qu’ils emmenèrent”. In the Dutch translation of Dan’s book (Amsterdam 1684), the leader’s name is given as Kure Murat.

(3) Emanuel d’Aranda, Relation de la Captivité, 4th edition, Leiden 1671, 368-72.

(4) Oluf EigjlBsen, En Kort Beretning om de Tyrkiske Sôrôveres onde Medfart og Omgang. . . , Copenhagen 1641.

(5) Olafur Egilsson, Litil Saga um herhlaup Tyrkjans arid 1627, Reykjavik 1852. The difference between the Danish and Icelandic forms of the author’s name will be noted.

(6) Bjôrn Jônsson, Tyrkjarânssaga, Reykjavik 1866.

(7) Sigfûs Blôndal, “De Algierske Sôrôveres Tog til Island aar 1627”, Nord og Syd (Copenhagen), 1898-9, 193-208. This excellent article forms the main basis of the account given here.

(8) Jôn Thorkelsson (éd.), Tyrkjarânid â ïslandi 1627, published by the Sôgufjelag, Reykjavik 1906-9. A very brief account of the raid will be found in Knut Gjerset, History of Icelad, London 1923, 319-320.

(9) En Kort Beretning, 19-20.

(10) Some of the other Icelandic sources severely criticise the negligence of the Danish governor Holger Rosenkrands on this occasion.

(11) The Life of the Icelander Jon Olafsson, translated from the Icelandic edition of Dr. Sigfûs Blôndal, by Dame Bertha Philpotts, ii, London 1932, 258-9. To my knowledge this is the only one of the original sources available in translation.

(12) En Kort Beretning, 22.

(13) Blôndal,toc. cit., 207-8.


Europe in 2029?

The above video is an amateur one, I recognise some clips from films I’ve seen and the spelling is not the best, I think the maker is Polish or Czech. But this does get across the danger of our current immigration policies better than anything else I have seen, it makes one feel that this could be the result of what has happened and continues to happen.

In that way it is scary.

I hope this is not the future, but can any of us be sure this can’t happen?

On the Crusades


Islam spent a few centuries solidifying as a distinct religion, at first many considered it a Christian heresy, which it could have been, perhaps explaining the welcome their armies received in some places such as Egypt. The Koran spent a few centuries being developed, oddly by Christian monks, and the Arabic script was developed by those same Christian monks! It may have been only by the time of the Crusades, that Islam had become a distinct ‘other’ as opposed to just another heresy!

The Crusades were ostensibly a ‘Holy War’ to liberate Jerusalem from the heathen Saracen, it was a struggle to make the Holy Land, once again Christian and it almost worked!

Although the worst thing to emerge from the Crusades was the merciless plunder of Constantinople, it may be a fact that the Second Rome was loosing its power and going into decline, but I have often wondered what could have been if the Crusades did not besiege and rape Constantinople. Could she have used the Crusader victories to rise once again? Could she have remained a bulwark against the dark forces of the Turks, preventing the suffering of Serbia, Wallachia, Bulgaria and Hungary?

Some things we can never know.