Arab Crusades essays

Arab Crusades essays Popular perceptions paint the Crusades as an act of Christian aggression toward as alien Eastern culture. Although this was an important catalyst to the declarations of the Crusades, it is in fact not the Arab catalyst of the crusades. Maalouf through Arab chronicles conveys the idea that the major factors that allowed the establishment of the crusaders was political rivalry amongst the Seljuk amirs along with the powerless Abbasid caliph who could do nothing to control the fighting amongst these rulers. The key factors that ultimately expelled the crusaders were the many victories of Saladin that left the crusaders with little land and few men. The rule of the Mamluks around 1250 also let to this expulsion. To begin you must clearly understand the definition of political rivalry to understand how the Arabs believed this to be a key factor of the invasions. Political rivalry is explained as fighting amongst political organizations in order to gain or overtake something or someone (Britannica 2002) . The Seljuks were a group of Nomadic Turkish Warrior Leaders from Central Asia who established themselves in the Middle East during the 11th Century as guardians of the declining Abbasid caliphate. After 1055 they founded the great Seljuk Sultanate. This was an empire centered in Baghdad and including Iran, Iraq, and Syria. During their rule DSlejuk princes struggle for the throne ...