Saturday, February 16, 2008

Crusades: Jerusalem



Episode 2 (not sure where the third and fourth are… pity) follows the Crusaders on their “hellish” two year path of destruction across Anatolia, including the siege of Antioch, the infamous massacre at Ma’arra, where, according to the chronicler Radulph of Caen, the Crusaders “boiled pagan adults alive in cooking-pots; they impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled,” and finally, the siege and subsequent “liberation” of Jerusalem that involved killing and torturing practically all of the inhabitants; Jews, Muslims and Christians.

In one particular notable episode after the Crusaders had breached the defenses of the city, the Franks burned a synagogue filled with Jews seeking refuge, all the while circling the flaming building while singing “Christ, We Adore Thee!”