Category Archives: Crusades

The Christ-Bearer

Crusades, Evangelization, History,

There once was a society that fell in love with the equality of its citizens.  They saw it everywhere and in everything so much so that fought to remove its enemy, excellence.  They did not lift up the lowly, but lowered the mighty.  Heroes became a thing of the past and then past heroes were erased because they might inspire noble acts among the citizenry.  Heroes simply never existed.  Then one day a great crisis came upon that society and for want of enough heroes, they perished.  They were all equally dead.

Is this just a story, or is this a glimpse of what the future will say about us?  We might gauge by asking, which is easier, to name three modern day heroes or three celebrities?  Most certainly the latter.  Heck, even most our fictional super-heroes are deeply flawed bullies lacking nobility.  For want of heroes, the people perished.

We look down on Achilles because we can’t take our eyes off his heel.  Paradoxically we abhor excellence while at the same time demanding perfection.  That is because we have forgotten what a hero is.  The heroes of the past and the present are all fallen men and women.  They are not heroes because they are perfect, they are heroes because they are magnanimous and courageous.  They do great and noble things, even if not all the things they do are great and noble.  All saints are heroes, but not all heroes are saints.  I can think of no better example of this principle than the former hero Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus may not have been a Catholic saint, but he is a great Catholic hero.  As Leo XII said of the great explorer “[F]or the exploit is in itself the highest and grandest which any age has ever seen accomplished by man; and he who achieved it, for the greatness of his mind and heart, can be compared to but few in the history of humanity” (Quarto Abeunto Saeculo [QAE]).  His unflappable courage in literally “setting out into the deep” and his noble intention of winning souls to Christ, that set the course of history off in an entirely new direction.  For generations, his life was a model and inspiration.  For our generation he is a scoundrel.

Why He Went

There are those who would challenge the contention that he set off from Spain in August of 1492 with anything more than a desire for fame and riches.  They allow the men holding the eraser to tell the whole story rather than letting the man himself tell it.  Leo XIII summarized it best when he said that  it is “indubitable” that the Catholic faith was the strongest motivation for Columbus and for this reason the whole human race owes “not a little to the Church.”  After 30 plus days without the sight of land mutiny threatened and the Admiral of the Ocean Sea reminded his crew of their mission.  His log for October 10, 1492 records:

They could stand it no longer. They grumbled and complained of the long voyage, and I reproached them for their lack of spirit, telling them that, for better or worse, they had to complete the enterprise on which the Catholic Sovereigns had sent them. I cheered them on as best I could, telling them of all the honors and rewards they were about to receive. I also told the men that it was useless to complain, for I had started out to find the Indies and would continue until I had accomplished that mission, with the help of Our Lord (The Log of Christopher Columbus, p. 72).

After discovering Hispaniola, he wrote (again in his log) to Isabel and Fernando:

I have to say, Most Serene Princes, that if devout religious persons know the Indian language well, all these people would soon become Christians. Thus I pray to Our Lord that Your Highnesses will appoint persons of great diligence in order to bring to the Church such great numbers of peoples, and that they will convert these peoples. . . . And after your days, for we are all mortal, you will leave your realms in a very tranquil state, free from heresy and wickedness, and you will be well received before the Eternal Creator (Nov. 6 entry).

Even one of his contemporary critics, Fr. Bartolome de Las Casas, the great champion of the rights of the Native Americans, labeled him “extraordinarily zealous for the divine service; he desired and was eager for the conversion of these people…And he was especially affected and devoted to the idea that God should deem him worthy of aiding somewhat in recovering the Holy Sepulchre” (quoted by Samuel Eliot Morison in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, Admiral of the Ocean Sea pp.45-46).

This quote is particularly appropriate because it helps to explain one reason why Columbus has become an object of scorn in recent times.  His name, Christopher, or “Christ-bearer”, was his mission.  In an age of religious subjectivism anyone who acts must be acting for some other motive.  To act for the glory of God is deemed to be absurd and bears the label fundamentalist or extremist.  Not only that, but his motive was also politically incorrect.  Columbus saw his mission as an extension of the Crusade to capture the Holy Land.

The tellers of history often speak of the reason why explorers set out to find water routes to the Orient based on strictly on economics, but do not explain why the land route was so costly and dangerous.  The reason is simple—the lands that needed to be crossed were controlled by Muslims who heavily “taxed”, robbed, enslaved and killed merchants from the West.  Columbus and his generation thought this could be avoided by finding a water route.  What set Columbus apart however was that he thought he could convert the East and then squeeze the Islamic lands between East and West and recapture the Holy Land for good.

Although these were Columbus’ primary motivations, they were not his only.  He did also seek riches.  Riches are a “second thing” and provided that the First Thing remain first there is nothing wrong with that.  He wanted to fund the Crusade to recapture the Holy Sepulcher, but he also had investors that he had to satisfy.  He also sought to increase his own wealth and like the rest of fallen mankind these secondary goals were wont to make him forget the primary goal at times.

A Great Hero, but a Fallen Man

There is no need to whitewash all that Columbus did.  He failed to live up to his noble mission at times, especially in his inability to transcend his own circumstances.  When he arrived in Hispaniola he found two peoples, the peaceful Arawaks and the brutal Caribs.  The Caribs committed all kinds of atrocities including human sacrifice and cannibalism, mostly directed at the Arawaks.  Columbus viewed the peaceful Arawaks as Spanish citizens and thus worthy of protection.  When he conquered the Caribs, he, as was the accepted custom of the time, enslaved the conquered peoples.  He was gravely wrong in doing so, although he may not have realized the full import of what he had done at the time by blindly accepting the cultural norm.  It is easy to condemn him thinking we are more enlightened now about slavery, except we are far less enlightened about the barbarity of human sacrifice to our own gods.

He also was a much better explorer than an administrator.  Despite objections to the contrary—he told the King and Queen that only “good Christian men should be sent”—the Spanish sovereigns sent him back to govern Hispaniola with 1200 colonists.  These men were included corrupt nobility and convicts whose death sentences were commuted for going.  Rather than accept this role wholeheartedly, he often left the island for long periods of time to continue exploring.  While the cat was away the mice played and he returned to find the peaceful Arawaks enslaved to the Spanish men there.  Rather than putting an end to it, he allowed it to continue and eventually ended up returning to Spain in chains  This ultimately cost his governorship, but he was allowed to return a fourth time strictly as an explorer.

Before closing, it is also worth addressing the other common accusation lobbed at Columbus, namely that he stole the land.  The fact that this is an accusation at all shows how chronologically bias we are.  There is no evidence that the natives themselves viewed the land as their own.  They were for the most part nomadic peoples among nomadic peoples so that even if there were stationary groups you have to ask whether the land they occupied was rightfully theirs.  How did these primitive peoples make land claims and how were the recognized?  Did they merely use the land for a certain amount of time and move on, or did they actually own it?  What is sure is that they did not have any understanding of property the way the Western Europeans did or we do today.  So, even if the Spanish were guilty of exploiting them in many ways, the accusation that they had their land stolen from them is really meant to excite modern prejudice.  In any regard this is not as cut and dry an issue as it is often presented to be.

It is Leo XIII that seems to best summarize why we as Christians should redeem the history of Christopher Columbus and rank him among the great American heroes of the past: —“ He was distinguished by this unique note, that in his work of traversing and retraversing immense tracts of ocean, he looked for a something greater and higher than did these others. We say not that he was unmoved by perfectly honorable aspirations after knowledge, and deserving well of human society; nor did he despise glory, which is a most engrossing ideal to great souls; nor did he altogether scorn a hope of advantages to himself; but to him far before all these human considerations was the consideration of his ancient faith, which questionless dowered him with strength of mind and will, and often strengthened and consoled him in the midst of the greatest difficulties. This view and aim is known to have possessed his mind above all; namely, to open a way for the Gospel over new lands and seas” (QAE).  This Columbus Day let us come to his defense.  For want of heroes, the people will perish.

 

Defenders of History

Crusades, History

History is central to Christianity.  Christians believe, not in some distant God, but a God Who acts from within mankind’s history.  But in order to see His hand, it is absolutely necessary that true history be preserved.  There are no mere events, but instead the very actions of God in time.  In many ways, to be Catholic is to be a historian.  We should not then be surprised that His enemies attempt to alter the stories.  The Church often finds herself on the defensive against the revisers of history and so her members must become defenders of history.  There is perhaps no area that has been so bombarded by revisionist historians as the Crusades.  Therefore it is instructive to look at some of the common myths in order to be better prepared as Crusaders of Truth.

Myth 1: St. John Paul II apologized to Muslims for the Crusades

This is an important myth to debunk from the outset because, if John Paul II apologized to Muslims, then anything else we say on the matter would be moot.  It is also a pretty widely held belief, even Wikipedia mentions it.  But the fact of the matter is that he never did apologize to Muslims for their treatment by the Crusaders.

As the Church entered the Third Millennium, the Pope wanted to thoroughly examine her conscience and seek forgiveness for all the wrongs done by her.  On March 12, 2000 he declared a “Day of Pardon” to acknowledge the Church’s sins.  There was no mention of Islam or Muslims among the list of those the Church sought pardon from.  The Crusades also are not mentioned.  The closest that he came that day was during the homily when he said “We cannot fail to recognize the infidelities to the Gospel committed by some of our brethren, especially during the second millennium. Let us ask pardon for the divisions which have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken toward the followers of other religions.”  This is clearly not an apology for the Crusades however.

Likewise with the Second Vatican Council.  In the Council’s document on other religions, Nostra Aetate, there is specific mention of Islam.  While the Council Fathers conceded that in the past there was much quarreling and dissension on both sides and made a plea to “forget the past,” there is no asking of forgiveness or mention of regret.  Instead the Council recommends that both sides “work sincerely for mutual understanding.”  Only in light of this can the many centuries of hostility be replaced with a genuine understanding (NA, 3).

John Paul II did seek pardon from the Greek Orthodox in 2001 for the actions of the Crusaders during what came to be known as the Fourth Crusade.  This is mentioned because this crusade is often used as “proof” of just how misguided the crusading spirit was.  It is also a humbling reminder that not everything that happened is something we should be proud of.  In this particular case the Crusaders got involved in local political intrigue rather than focusing on their mission.

One of the practical problems that the Crusaders faced was the fact that they could find no local and permanent government to put in place in Jerusalem.  The Crusaders would often have to stay behind and form their own government in the region.  This left them isolated and extremely vulnerable to Muslim attack.  This is why Richard the Lionheart refused to take Jerusalem during the Third Crusade.  He thought it a political liability and instead secured, via treaty, safe passage for unarmed pilgrims.  The Fourth Crusaders had hoped that the Byzantine Empire would take control of the area because they were in a better position to defend it.  But there was a great deal of political instability in Byzantium during the years of the Crusades.  They sought to put a more Latin-friendly leader on the Byzantine throne and  found it in Alexius IV (son of the deposed emperor Isaac II).  He agreed to pay 200,000 Silver marks, supply provisions for expedition against Egypt, submit the Greek Church to Rome and then station 500 Knights in the Holy Land for its permanent defense.  This was exactly the solution they were looking for, but when Alexius IV gave in to pressure from his subjects and ceased supplying the crusaders, war ensued.  The Crusaders eventually sacked Constantinople and placed Baldwin of Flanders on the Byzantine throne.  It was hardly the bloodbath that revisionist historians like to paint it as, but still about 2000 of the 150,000 residents were killed.  Pope Innocent III immediately condemned their actions and declared the Fourth Crusade a failure because they did not recapture the Holy Land and turned on fellow Christians.  Despite this condemnation, it still deepened the rift between the East and West.  This is the rift that John Paul II was hoping to heal by addressing this wrong.

Myth 2: The Crusades were unprovoked; mostly about making a land grab and increasing wealth of the Church

As we learned from the folly of the Fourth Crusade, there are situations in which Crusaders could go awry in their mission.  There also were some that went for less than noble reasons.  However what is really at question here is the principles behind the Crusades.

The Crusades start in earnest in the Seventh Century as a response to Muslim expansion into Syria and Persia (modern day Iraq and Iran).  Jerusalem soon followed in 638, although Christians were not cast out of the city.   Pilgrims from the West into Jerusalem were mostly left unmolested because of their contributions to the local economy. In 1071 this changed drastically.  The Turks (who were Sunni) invaded the Holy Land and attacked the “heretical” Shiite.  They began to kill and enslave the resident Christians and any pilgrims who attempted to enter the Holy Land.   In response to this, Blessed Urban II called for the First Crusade.

This myth is quickly debunked by reading Blessed Urban II’s speech to the assembly at Clermont calling for the Crusade.  He told them that by taking the Cross “[U]nder Jesus Christ, our Leader, may you struggle for your Jerusalem, in Christian battleline, most invincible line, even more successfully than did the sons of Jacob of old – struggle, that you may assail and drive out the Turks, more execrable than the Jebusites, who are in this land, and may you deem it a beautiful thing to die for Christ in that city in which He died for us.”

He defines the twofold purpose; first the release of Christian captives and second the liberation of the city of Jerusalem.  His use of the word pilgrimage  also reveals motives because it showed that the aim was not to conquer the region, but to make pilgrimage to the Holy Land and return home.

A careful study of the history also shows that the intention of the successful Crusaders matched that of the Pope.  To go on Crusade was incredibly expensive and it left many of its leaders in financial straits.  Most Crusaders had to secure 4-5 times their annual income to go on pilgrimage.  This not only renders absurd claims about the Crusaders seeking to secure wealth but also the myth that they were mostly landless younger sons.

In truth we have difficulty imagining the culture of the early second millennium.  While we look for secular motivation, there were many men who were in fact driven by faith.  The men who took the Cross were often great warriors and were far from saints.  Yet they saw the Crusades as a means to make amends for their sins and gladly sought the indulgence attached to it so that they could become the saints they desired to be.  In short, the fact that wealthy men risked their fortunes to take the Cross with the intention of returning home after the pilgrimage makes the “motivated by personal gain” hypothesis untenable.  Those who did remain in the Holy Land after the Crusades did so at great peril and only out of the necessity of defending it.

Myth 3: The Church slaughtered all the inhabitants in Jerusalem

In October of 2001, just one month after the attacks of 9/11,  former President Bill Clinton offered this explanation for the attacks:

 “Those of us who come from various European lineages are not blameless…Indeed, in the First Crusade, when the Christian soldiers took Jerusalem, they first burned a synagogue with three hundred Jews in it, and proceeded to kill every woman and child who was Muslim on the Temple Mount. The contemporaneous descriptions of the event describe soldiers walking on the Temple Mount, a holy place to Christians, with blood running up to their knees.”

Now putting aside the fact that the “contemporaneous descriptions” that he is referring to were using a biblical literary device (Rev 14:20—“blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles”), he is promoting the myth that the Crusaders were overly brutal.  While it is true that many people were killed, we cannot impose the rules of the Geneva Convention because it was a different time.  The Rule of War of the time was different.  When attacking a city, the aggressors always offered peaceful surrender as an option.  When this was rejected, it was often the case that all a city’s inhabitants were put under the ban.  This was meant mainly to be seen as a deterrent to other would be enemies.

This is not to say what they did was right, only that they were following the conventions of war at the time.  Any combatants, Christian, Muslim or otherwise would have done the same thing.  To judge by this standard leaves almost all victors of wars fought in history guilty of the same thing.  It is not until we get to the 18th Century that we see anything similar to Christian (note the emphasis on the word Christian) Just War principles being consistently applied.  This unfortunately is another case where attempts to condemn Christianity using Christian principles falls flat.   All it ends up proving is another Christian doctrine—Original Sin.  We often fail to live up to our Christian principles.  Guilty as charged.  But don’t pretend that the principles are something that weren’t given to the world by the Church.

How did these myths arise?

Like many clubs used to beat the Church, it gained teeth during the Protestant Reformation.  Because the Crusades were so closely tied to the doctrines of papal authority and indulgences, they served as a great polemical tool for Martin Luther to conclude that the Crusades were nothing but a ploy by a power-hungry papacy.  He even claimed that “to fight against the Turks is to resist the Lord, who visits our sins with such rods.”  However he soon changed his mind when it began to get too close to home when Suleiman and his armies began to invade Austria.  At that point however the foundation for attack was already set.  First the Crusades were viewed through a confessional lens and, once the Enlightenment thinkers came along, it was viewed as “religious violence.”

What is difficult to determine is exactly when it was picked up by Muslim sympathizers.  It may be that it is just a logical conclusion from the wide-scale acceptance of the three myths above.  If those things are true then truly Muslims were the victims.  They also paint current Muslim aggression as being retaliation for brutal colonization by the West.  But to those who follow the tenets of Islam, the jihad never ended and won’t end until all are under the reign of Islam.  Interestingly enough, that is precisely how all of this started.