ThePoliticallyincorrect Guide to Islam(and the Crusades)did not mean that they were unwilling to enter into agreements with the
Christians. The English historian Matthew of Paris reported that in 1238,
Muslim envoys visited France and England, hoping to gain support for a
common action against the Mongols—a fact that opens a new perspective
on the mode rn Mus lim and PC view tha t the Cru sader s were not hin g
more than "rapists" of Islamic land.'
With the end of Crusad er activi ty in the Holy Land, the jihad gained
new energy. Some of this new energy was handed to them by shortsighted
Christians! In 1345, in one notorious instance, the ByzantineemperorJohn
I Cantacuzenus asked for help from the Turks in a dynastic dispute.
This was by no means the first time that Christians had concluded
agreem ents with the Muslims , John VI was followi ng ample precede nt.
One of the principal sources of enmitybetween Eastern and Western
Chri stia ns duri ng earl ier Crus ades was the Byza ntin es' wil ling nes s to
conc lude pact s with the ene mies of Chri stia nity. Alex ius I Comn enus
enraged the earliest Crusaders by engaging in negotiations with Egypt,
Another Byzantine emperor, Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1186), likewise
earn ed the cont empt of the Crus ader s for deal ing wit h the Turk s, and
many blamed him for the disaster of the Second Crusade. Later, of course,
Emperor Frederick II and other Crusaders entered into pacts withthe
warriors of jihad themselves. But according to Islamic law, Muslims may
only conclud e truces during jihad warfare with non-Muslims when they
are in a posit ion of weakn ess and need time to gathe r stren gth to fight
again. Those who concluded agreements with the Crusaders did not lose
sight of this princi ple and never entere d intoapact that ultimat ely weak-
ened the Muslims' position.
The invitation from John VI was a prime example of Christianshort-
sight ednes s. The Musli ms arri ved in Europe to help him, cross ing over
the Dardanelles in 1345 and occupying Gallipoli in 1354. In 1357, they
captured the imposing Byzantine fortress of Adrianople. In 1359, Sultan
Murad I founded the janissary corps, a crack force of young men who