The Crusades were military expeditions planned and carried out by western European Christians. The crusades started around 1095. The purpose of these crusades was to overtake and gain control of the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Holy Land was Jerusalem and the Christians believed that gaining control of it was their fate. The pope…
By the 16th century, the vast and mighty empire of the Ottomans had reached the zenith of its power. The lands under Ottoman rule stretched from the heart of Central Europe to the deserts of Arabia. In nearly every respect, the Ottoman Empire was strong and well-organized. As such, it comes as no surprise that…
The Knights Templar, a military order of monks answerable only to the Pope himself, were founded in 1118. Their primary responsibility, at least initially, was to provide protection to Christians making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. They rose in power, both religious and secular, to become one of the richest and most powerful entities in…
Jerusalem is a sacred city within the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and its loss to the Muslims has been argued by many historians to be the reason for the initiation and perpetuation of the eight crusades, as Jerusalem is where the Crusades were primarily focussed[1]. However, it is easy to disagree with such…
Islam shares a common history with Christianity and Judaism up until the time of Abraham. Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad is a descendant of Ishmael, the son that Abraham had with Hagar and then banished. Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad are all considered to be prophets who attempted to reveal Allah’s will to humankind.…