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The First Crusade
It was at a speech made outside Clermont Ferrand that Pope Urban II called for a Crusade to claim the holy city of Jerusalem for Christianity, and wrest it from Islamic control. This was the start of a movement that continued, some historians argue, for over 500 years. The Crusades of course, have a topical relevance since the events of September 11 2001. In their own ways and for their own ends, both President George W Bush and Osama Bin Laden have invoked the image of the Crusades.
In fact, the First Crusade was something of a shambling fiasco. A motley collection of knights and venturers from the countries of Western Europe made their way to Turkey, on the frontier between Christendom and the Islamic world. After a year all of the Crusaders' horses had died, as had most of their pack animals. It seemed the operation was doomed to failure. The taking of Jerusalem appeared inconceivable, and yet in 1097 - on foot - that's what the Crusaders achieved.
Professor Chris Andrew poses the quite plausible hypothesis that the First Crusade did indeed fail. What would have been the consequences of such an outcome? Renowned expert on the Crusades, Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, editor of The Oxford Illustrated Guide to the Crusades explains that, had they failed to take Jerusalem, there would have been no Crusading movement. He goes further: a victory for Islam might well have encouraged the Seljuk Turks to invade Europe with greater success than they achieved in later centuries.
We're faced with the scenario of a Muslim Europe, and, allowing still for the discovery of the New World, a Muslim United States of America.
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to the 4 April 2002 programme
