ISLAM AND THE CRUSADES 49traumatized a people who saw God as being on the side of the victors.
How God could allow the lands of the followers of the one true faith to
be invaded, occupied, and pillaged by infidels was incomprehensible to
them. It shook the very roots of their faith and produced a hatred for the
West that can be seen to this day. In the Middle East it is common to hear
Westerners referred to generically as “Franks,” and when President George
W. Bush referred to his war on terrorism as a “crusade” the Muslim world
shuddered as visions of Western armies pouring into the Middle East again
appeared before them.
CHRONOLOGY
1071 Seljuq Turk Alp Arslan defeats the Byzantines at Manzikert,
and captures Anatolia.
1096 Peter the Hermit’s Crusade is crushed outside Nicaea by Kilij
Arslan.
1097 First Crusade captures Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem in 1099.
1098 Crusader kingdoms expand until about 1144.
1144 Zangi captures Edessa.
1146 Nur-al-Din succeeds Zangi, consolidates power in Syria.
1148 Second Crusade defeated at Damascus.
1167 Nur-al-Din sends Saladin to Egypt. Saladin defeats a Franco-
Egyptian army at the Battle of Al-Babayn and occupies Egypt.
1174 Saladin usurps the Syrian throne from Nur-al-Din’s minor son.
1174–83 Saladin consolidates his power in Egypt and Syria.
1187 At the Battle of Hattin, Saladin destroys the crusader field ar-
mies, breaking the power of the Frankish states. Jerusalem is
freed by Saladin.
1191 Third Crusade of Richard and Phillip
1192 Death of Saladin, disintegration of his empire
1249 Seventh Crusade temporarily reoccupies Jerusalem.
1292 Sultan Khalil eliminates Acre, last vestige of the Frankish
states.
NOTE
- See Chapter 12 for a complete history of the Assassin sect.