Crusades - Episode 1: Pilgrims in Arms

Description

Terry Jones starts this episode by telling us about the incident at Ma'arrat al-Numan, where Crusaders massacred the population and engaged in cannibalism. Terry Jones sets off the explain the chain of events that lead to this event. The chain of events that lead to this event began, with the Seljuk invasion of the Byzantine Empire. The emperor, Alexis called on his fellow Christians of the west to aid him. So the pope called for a crusade to free Jerusalem. The church has so much influence that they ended up causing a mass migration. On the way to Jerusalem, the crusaders massacred the Jews. Finally they arrived in Constantinople, where the emperor was shocked at their arrival. He had expected maybe a few knights, but not thousands of peasants. He urged them to wait for the real army that pope was sending, but they refused to listen to him and crossed the Bosporus. The expedition ended in disaster; the Turks either killed or captured them all. Meanwhile an army of knights had arrived in Constantinople, and was forced to swear loyalty to the emperor. They crossed the Bosporus and attacked the Turks. Terry Jones meets with weapons expert Mike Loades who shows him how Norman tactics differed from Turkish ones. The Normans has stallions who were strong and massive, while the Turks used mares who were smaller and faster.

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