'god's War', Christopher Tyerman. Book Review

Yes those nasty Crusades. In the post-modern,shared a similar intensity of religious motivation and
Marx-droid universe of salivating moppets and eagerzeal, without the element of ideology and spiritual
to please relativists ['please daddy tell us again aboutexhiliration, there would have been no march to
how nice the Saracens were and evil the Christians?'];Jerusalem, let alone a successful conquest.'
it is quite easy to lose sight of reality. Muslims andMilitary superiority, good organisation, personal genius,
Arabs good, Christians bad. Arab, Muslim and Turkishluck, good planning and a rough hewn solidarity were
imperialism good, European fascist. So it is refreshingthe reasons why the First Crusade succeeded. These
to read a dense, intellectual and accurate piece ofcrusaders had faith, believed in their cause and went
work which describes the Crusades as they werethrough amazing deprivations before finally, in 1099
– a complex political, military, and very humanattacking, sacking and controlling their objective –
response to pre-modern Arab and Turkish designs atJerusalem.
world conquest. They might have in effect savedIn spite of this success the Crusades were doomed
Europe.to failure if and once the Muslims could unify their
Tyerman's overall conclusion is that, '..the internal,command and take advantage of Christian manpower
personal decision to follow the cross, to inflict harmweakness, internal political dissension and lack of
on others at great personal risk, at the cost ofWestern European support. Importantly for the
enormous privations, at the service of a consumingMuslims, the varied Christian states and sundry
cause, cannot be explained excused or dismissedcrusaders always had a hard time creating political
either as a virtue or sin. Rather, its veryand miltiary unity. Without a unified chain of military
contradictions spelt its humanity.' How true. Theand political command, Christian conquests became
Crusades, erupting from Pope Urban II's call in 1095difficult to defend.
to help the Eastern church against Turkish or SaracenAnother issue was resource scarcity. During the 200
depredation was full of cross purpose, material aims,years of the Crusading wars only a small fraction of
personal vanity, spiritual earnestness, military valor,European power was involved in trying to wrest and
and political intrigue. That is what makes them such aprotect the Holy Land from Muslim occupation. If the
great story.average Crusade had about 40.000 fighting men
The Crusades were in many ways, extraordinarilyinvolved it represented a small fraction of European
successful. Men, money, material, and complexmanpower and also value-added GDP. Logistically such
logistics were stretched over a thousand miles froma force would entail a further 400.000 people to
the European heartland to the Holy Land and thesupport the Crusade including those involved in
Eastern mediterranean. The crusaders were usuallyshipping, transport, supply manufacture, arms
quite outnumbered. Each of the 5 major Crusades,provisioning, food supply, various support work and
lasting roughly from 1095 to 1299 could only musteraiding the army directly in engineering, food and siege
some 30.000 – 40.000 men, many of whomwork. At most about 500.000-700.000 people would
would melt away after a few months of soldiering,have been occupied in some way with the Crusades.
confident that any work combatting the Turks wouldEurope's population at that time was about 30 million
gain them access into heaven.in 1100 doubling by 1300 to more than 60 million. This
The Muslims, aided by their intimate knowledge ofsignals that Europe was a fast changing, very
geography, millions of citizens from which to drawproductive and extremely wealthy society. So in
armies, proximate logistics, and supply, should easilyeffect we can say that less than 2 % of Europeans
have repulsed these infidels from any and allwere involved with the Crusades – a rather
conquests. The fact that the crusaders were able topaltry amount.
organise; embark; conquer; hold and build theThe problem for the Christian East was getting
incredible line of castle fortifications some of which,money out of their fast growing home economies,
like the Krak de Chevaliers are still standing today, isand using such wealth to secure and deepen their
one of the great achievements of pre-modernhold on the Holy Land. Medieval Europe was still in the
warfare.nascent phases of nation state creation. Its richest
Tyerman's book is valuable because it relates historyterritory was Germany which was made up of many
as it most likely was. The Crusades were viewed indifferent and competing sub kingdoms. The German
Western Europe as bellum justum – a just warEmperor whilst powerful, did not have anything
– a war to reclaim once Christian lands fromapproaching the machinery of a modern state, nor
infidel Turks; a war to push the Muslims out ofthe ability to extract monies to the level the later
Europe; a war to help save the Eastern church andstates would deem justifiable. France was not yet
bring it under the control of the Western. The casusunified [and wouldn't be until after the Albigensian or
belli for the conflict was varied and justified byCathar crusades in southern France in the early 13th
theologians and lay political leaders alike. Jerusalem,century]; Spain was bifurcated by Muslim conquest;
the home of Christ and the origins of the Church hadItaly was split into many kingdoms; and the other
a profound and special attraction for an extremelyparts of Europe were fragmented, small and
religious and devout population.preoccupied with internal matters. In short in about
Tyerman rightly asserts that Muslim supremacism and1100, the European modern state and its ability to
war mongering made the Crusades a necessity. Largecreate wealth, tax it, and use it to fund centralised
parts of Europe were under Muslim dominaton and,armies was not yet in existence.
'jihad was fundamental to the Faith, described byTherein lies the major factor for the eventual
some as a sixth pillar of Islam. In theory fighting wascollapse of the Crusading ideal. Without a strong
incumbent on all Muslims until the whole world hadnation state structure where GDP can be centrally
been subdued, but it was a spiritual as well as militarytaxed and armies centrally managed, the Crusades
exercise from the start, and a corporate notwere left with wealthy Kings and Lords paying the
individual obligation.'costs, supported by European wide Church taxation
You won't read such an honest assessment of jihadicor tithes so make up the short fall. Even this was not
Mohammedism in the New York Times. Without aenough. Many crusaders paid their own way,
response Western Europe might very well havesupporting themselves as they went with plunder. In
suffered the fate of the Eastern Church. Asfact many states such as France went into financial
Tyerman states, 'it is hard to argue that we areruin due to the Crusades with some states and their
dealing with an age any more credulous ornoblemen spending an entire year or more of
unthinkingly accepting of religious truth than our own.'revenue just to reach the Holy Land.
Certainly so. Contrary to modern media andThe Crusades were a very costly business indeed.
educational manipulation, the Europeans of the 11thAlong the routes between Europe and the Holy Land,
century and of the Crusades were not simpletonpillage and theft was common, and much of it
mental midgets, scurrying around mud hovels,directed against fellow Christians and where possible,
wearing hair shirts practicing witch craft or listening tothe Jews. Attacks against Jews by crusaders along
papal sermons with rotted teeth falling out. Westernthe path of their march, were legion. Tyerman relates
Europe in the early medieval period was a bustling,that, 'Nothing in official Christian doctrine justified
thriving, urbanising scene of activity, invention, andslaying Jews. Pope Alexander II had explicitly
dynamism – everything one would expect to findprohibited it when drawing a careful distinction
and see, in an era of change, which heralded thebetween them and Muslims in 1063.' Without plunder
creation of the modern political-economy.or the promise of it, the Crusades never would have
Tyerman's chapters are broken into outlining the 5happened. This says nothing about the sack of
major crusades – all of them described in ratherConstantinople itself in 1204 and the looting of its
exhaustive fashion. Details on the military, political andwealth.
church-oriented spiritual complexity are compelling andAlong with plunder comes carnage and the Crusades
very human. The highly successful First Crusade,if savage, were no more savage than any other
featuring many of France's and Germany's leadingpre-modern war. The myth that the Muslims were
noblemen, families and Knights, is summarised bytolerant multi-cultists devoted to easing the pain of
Tyerman as a dramatic episode, an event rarely told.conquered Jews and Christians and never engaging in
The First Crusade's conquests from the borders ofmass slaughter and savagery is junk and bunk. As
the shrinking Greek state [some 100 odd milesTyerman elucidates, 'The recent Turkish conquests in
outside of modern day Constantinople or Istanbul],the Near East had been accompanied by carnage and
through the rough terrain of Anatolia, down theenslavement on a grand scale.......Massacres as well as
Lebanese coast, and on through to the borders ofatrocity stories were – and are – an
modern Gaza and east to Jerusalem, north east toinescapable part of war. In the face of a Muslim
Edessa, were an astonishing feat, accomplished incounter-attack, letting the locals live may not have
just 2 short years of fighting. A force of roughlyseemed a prudent option to the Christian victors,
40.000 men, from different states, under varioushowever obscene the alternative.'
leaders with political infighting and intrigue, and weaklyHow real that statement is. The Turks, and the
supported by the Greeks of the Eastern empire, hadArabs before them, warred, raped, murdered and
landed, marched, fought and won numerous victoriesannihilated their way through Christian and Jewish
over far larger Turkish hosts.territory. Submissive and cowed populations make
From 1097 to 1099 when Jerusalem was taken, theconvenient and easy to rule apartheid empires. So it
Christian forces were always in demand and need ofwas with the Muslim states of the Holy Land.
men, food, water, supplies, military weaponry, andTyerman's book is a great one volume piece on why
the medieval tank or mounted Knight. Fully armedthe Crusades happened, how they occured and just
mounted knights were extremely expensive tohow complicated a story it all is. But a couple of
maintain and only the rich could afford to pay theirthings stand out when reading it. The faith and
own way to the Holy Land, including horse, armor,confidence of 11-14th century Europe is one. Their
servants and food. Of a force of 30.000 thelogistical and sometimes military brilliance in
crusaders might be lucky to count on 2.000 suchcampaigning far from home is a second. The
men, their power often assuring a Christian victoryengineering achievements in fortifying and bringing to
over the lighter armed Turkish forces.economic life an uncompromisingly harsh land is a
As Tyerman notes about the complexity andthird.
astonishing prowess of the First Crusade, 'Yet theAnd perhaps most importantly of all, is their clear
political, material, and military pillars of victory failheaded appreciation of what Islam was all about
adequately to describe the structure of the First– a cult of Mohammed, which desired to wipe out
Crusade or alone explain its success. Although it iscivilisation. It is a lesson that one thousand years later
misleading to assume that all recruits and followersstill resonates.