Good point, the Romans saw this, Egypt being a food factory of wheat pretty much. Perhaps in the Crusades it was more about religion, and re-taking Jerusalem. If it was only about strategic importance, yes, Egypt would have been the place to take.....as the Romans did.

Goblintrain what do you mean? From the fourth crusade onwards most of them targeted egypt, and it hardly worked

Adam, i think that one of the most important points you can teach your children, -God bless them, is that the Crusades made a generational pause of Muslim advancement. But i can easily see a future where it to be the duty of your children to take up the sword, in defense of our civilization against the Muslims. We are in the 21st century but Islam is still on the verge of taking over the West. The Muslim threat did not end with the Siege of Vienna. They are now winning with the womb what they couldn't win with the sword.

+Goblintrain Hi, I absolutely agree with you. I won't type you to death so will try keep this short as poss! I have always lived alongside the Muslim community (I say alongside because the self segregation from this community is like no other) growing up as a kid in working class England I had mates from all cultures & colours. We would all play etc yet the only homes we were not welcome in were the Muslim ones. I still am friends with most of these "kids" now I'm 38- it hasn't worked out that way with the Muslim lads however! I went totally off the rails in my youth-& subsequently ended up in prison. I was in prison (with Muslims lads I'd grown up with my entire life) on 9/11. These Muslim lads were mostly in jail for dealing heroin- so good Muslims! I never knew them to go to mosque- ever. But on that day I saw the true colours come through. They celebrated like Eid ×100, even made posters of planes hitting towers for thier cell walls. Prison officers despite being equally disgusted where paralysed by PC culture and fear of being called Islamaphobic- they did nothing. I was er, a bit wild back then (I was almost always in prison for violence) . so I (with others) responded the only way I knew back then. I would have served around 8 yrs in total I believe but it ended up at 11 through lost parole etc for constantly fighting back. It steadily got worse in the coming years with full blown islamists/convicted terrorists being placed on the wings more & more. Everytime all the Muslim lads who upto this point had gone about thier time quietly (although again, on self segregation) suddenly became highly pious and they'd form a gang with the Islamist at the head. They'd prey on the loners, weak, vulnerable (of which there's many in prison)& push "prislam". We made it our Job to stop them. I later learned to read and write (at 28) in prison and decided to read Quran and Hadith for myself (to see for myself & to better understand my enemy). I found it even more appalling & abhorrent than I'd heard/imagined. it is an intolerant, militant, supremacist, death cult imo. Full of hate for the kuffar & no love at all not for non believers but not a mention even for Muslims. It's all about being a slave. I do not get into trouble at all now , been out of prison 7yrs settled down, married with a 3yr old daughter who I adore. I don't advocate violence though I'm not ashamed nor regret what I did in this respect nor do I regret a single extra day spent in prison. I volunteer with youths starting to get into trouble etc & I'm told the situation in prisons now (from youths & old friends who are still inside serving long sentences) that the "prislam" situation is completely out if hand now. Sadly it sounds like no one is fighting back either. I can only guess this is because the fear of being labelled with the word invented by the Muslim Brotherhood "Islamaphobia" has infected even inmates- that & maybe the Muslim gangs just simply far outnumber anyone else. They were always massively over represented- go figure! I am still very vocal as an anti Islam activist (self styled mostly). I didn't have a choice, one out of conscience- it's a lifetime fight but two, when I got out of prison I moved town for a fresh start. However probation & Police decided due to my fight against islam/ islamism/ islamisation that I must surely be a bigot & so held a meeting with the local Muslim community & (although they didn't give my full address it wasn't hard to figure out- because they knew the building I'd be living in & day I was moving in!( anyway yep they informed local Muslim "Community leaders" of my arrival. I haven't had any physical trouble at my door but I have had/ do get endless death threats by phone. it seems they're still cowardly. I don't allow it to intimidate however & I believe the police now regret thier decision as of course all I do is debate. Anyway, I hear you but you can see you do not need to convince me on this lol! I would just further add- I am not a Christian. I am a lifelong athiest HOWEVER I have no issue with Christians- the most extreme Christians I've ever met politely agreed to disagree on our worldviews, & likely offered me some Victoria sponge! In seriousness, the fact I can be openly athiest & suffer no problem (tbh I've only ever met 3 Christians-most Brits are Atheist) is because I live in a country steeped in the history of & based on Christian traditions of tolerance. You only need look at the stats and you'll quickly see only one "religion" (I hesitate to call it such) is consistently & persistently having acts of terrorism committed in its name. I think as we've become ever more civilised & tolerant & PC etc we've made two mistakes. We assume all other cultures/ religions/ peoples wish/ will offer the same & we've forgotten our history. My late gran born 1912 (also an Atheist btw- though rare in her time!) told me all about the "saracens" & the "Moors". No doubt she'd have been called a bigot & islamaphobe today, she was infact a lovely, kind lady who just knew her history and the centuries old enemy of Islam. PS- I realise there are many militant atheists & anti theists out there (though this is something I only encountered on the Internet) atheists (ie most people I know) in life don't feel this way. There's an odd tendency to treat all Religions equally responsible for bloodshed. Regressive leftists/ SJW types readily wish to say Christianity (I've even seen claims here for Buddhism!!) is just as violent as Islam! I call bullshit- as does anyone sane or aware of history, stats, reality. I have seen these ppl seriously attempt to compare is it 9? abortion clinic bombings to 1400 yrs of jihad! Also, some of the most staunch lads that stood up against (& alongside us) in the fight against islamists in prison were Eastern European lads. I never asked but I assume most were Catholic? I think the entire non muslim world should ally against Islam & it's spread since it pitted itself against us all and made us natural allies anyway. Sorry, I knew it'd be impossible to keep short- atheist or not, I thank you for your kind words towards my daughter "God bless her" I gladly return the gesture to you and yours by saying " I genuinely wish you all health, happiness and prosperity, & I hope you have a great day" oh one last thing-if anyone is ever in any doubt still as to whether the crusades were a "Christian jihad" or infact defensive- point them in the direction of Dr Bill Warner he has a great visual YT video showing how ridiculous the claim that they were anything but comparable!

Adam, believe it or not, i actually read your entire post. Thank you for offering me, a perfect stranger, such an intimate window into your life. Personally i have never been in prison -not yet anyway, but here in the States prison is an industry, and chances are you are not very far from finding yourself there for one reason or another. It is kind of funny, when i was a child, i attended a primarily black school. It was weird being that white kid, but it was mitigated by the fact that in a very real way, once we got over that initial shock of different skin pigment, we were color blind to each other. But then the adults, and older children would step in and separate us out by color, and tell us to be prejudiced based on color. And then, that movie "Roots" came out, and all of a sudden i as a Caucasian child was responsible for the crime of slavery, even though neither any one in living generational memory had either owned a slave or been owned as a slave. Not to mention, Muslims had a good head start in the slave trade, and still practice it. But those events as a child, i would have to say that was my introduction to the concept of White Guilt. Being automatically bad simply because of the paleness of my skin. I guess what i am trying to say is that both as a Christian, and a Westerner i place a premium on having some capacity for introspection and self criticism. But i don't see that same capacity within Islam. As much as race issues here in the States may get inflated by the media, they are nothing compared to the real hostility that Muslims feel towards Americans on a visceral level. Islam hates America. I do not see a black man walking by me and think to myself, that individual hates America. I am not afraid to strike up a conversation with a black person at the grocery store. And, just on the side, unrelated to my point here -damn, but black men look so great in a suit! They just wear it better than the average white guy! But when i see people that openly dress as Muslim, i am afraid of these people. I see them as people that actually hate everything that i represent. I see the term "Islamophopbia" thrown out and i am left scratching my head, wondering what is "phobic" about being opposed to an ideology that is Hellbent on your destruction? And in a completely sick, dysfunctional way, if some one asked me who has suffered the most under Islamic aggression. The surface view might say Hindu India. And i certainly don't want to minimize or diminish their suffering. But the people who may have suffered on a comparable level, i don't want to have to quantify and measure, but it is actually the people who have endured 14 centuries of Muslim rule. That is the only likeness i might be able to possibly make to the suffering of Hindu India.

Adam Aston The whole problem of Nazi guilt is every much as dangerous as Nazi denial. The outlawing of Nazi language, basically blocks a conversation between you and me for example -and no i am not placing you in any sort of Nazi spectrum. You are one of the most open minded people i have had conversation with in the last twenty years. But when the whole Western becomes a white, becomes a Nazi population, you understand how that is a completely unfair label to be placed under simply because you have a different point of view it will be put in one guise or the next, but if it is allowed to continue and it ensures we do not talk about Nazis and Genocide, or the flip side of that coin, Islam and genocide, then what we actually do is ensure 100% that it will just happen again. I am completely against, as a Christian and as a human being a ban against the same language that i don't use in my own home. Sometimes it is necessary. Just because i don't like it doesn't mean that it doesn't also have a purpose! But that is perhaps what the Muslims enjoy so much using against us. We see having the ability of having a different point of view, and still being one civilization as a point of strength. They see that as a point of our weakness. I am both proud of what i see as the achievements of Christianity, but also the fact that i do not live in a Theocracy! But you as an Atheist, and me as a Christian, to Hell with them. Lets prove them wrong my friend! :)

I live in Northampton too, and I love the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I liked to sit in the churchyard for peaceful contemplation. Most people walk past it without any knowledge of its history, and history in general; the evocative names of the streets of our town (Scarletwell, Greyfriars, Sheep Street and so on) that echo the past. History is lost if we do not bother to remember it.

This is a podcast. We release videos and podcasts. This particular upload, as we mentioned in the audio, is a podcast. Like most youtubers, we upload a single image to accompany a podcast.

It is nice, isn't it? It's Reconquest of Beirut, Alexandre Hesse, 1842. www.medievalists.net/2015/03/19/the-german-crusade-of-1197-1198/the-taking-of-beirut/

Thanks! I'll definitely use this one in future posts. Need to find out more about the recapture of Beirut as well. Do you suggest a source? And wasn't John d'Ibelin involved? He was later named Lord of Beirut.

Crusader recapture of Beirut in 1197.

Frederick's achievements during the Sixth Crusade are impressive, but the idea that they surpass the triumphs of the First Crusade and the Third Crusade, well, that's quite a stretch.

@@RealCrusadesHistory quite a stretch indeed

Seems logical, maybe we can ask Dr. Donnachie the next time he's on. Glad you enjoyed it!