ABSTRACT
Crusades A series of conflicts which took place in mediaeval times, often on Middle Eastern soil, between Christian Europe and the Muslim East. Known in Arabic as al-Hurūb al-Salībiyya, meaning 'The Wars of the Cross', they were, perhaps, of greater significance for the European West, and later Western historians, than for the Muslim East where far greater threats loomed like the invasions of the Mongols (q.v.). Although such cities as Jerusalem (q.v.) and Acre were at various times captured by the Christians, the latter never succeeded in taking more than small pieces of territory, temporarily, from Islam. While some of the Christian invaders were inspired by genuine religious motives, others (often second sons who would not inherit in their European homelands) were driven by the lure of booty, power and prestige. It is interesting that such travellers as the 6th/12th century Spanish Muslim Ibn Jubayr describe the passage of Muslims aboard Christian ships in the Mediterranean, as well as the continuation of Muslim-Christian trade, while their respective armies were at war on the land. The first Crusade, preached at Clermont by Pope Urban II in 488/1095 resulted in the Christian capture of Jerusalem in 492/1099. By the 8th/14th century the great age of the Crusades had almost finished. The final religious verdict on them must be that while for Islam the Crusades were an irritating hiccup in the fabric of Middle Eastern history, for Christian Europe they were a major historical and religious project, if not actual trauma. For an overall picture of the age of the Crusades, see Holt, The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the Eleventh Century to 1517 (see back of this Dictionary for full bibliographical details). (See Hattīn, Battle of; Jihad; Salāh al-Dīn.)
Custody of Children See Hadāna.
