The Crusades

Knowledge & Values Courses: History I

Muslim fundamentalists today see attacks on Westerners as a continuation of the Wars of the Cross; Westerners know little about them and feel no sense of continuity.  These attitudes are a legacy of the medieval period.  For Europe, the Crusades were a positive experience, encouraging scholarship, economic expansion, and Christian solidarity.  For Muslims, it hastened the fragmentation of an empire. A better understanding of the Crusades illuminates current relations with the Middle East.