In Fighting for Christendom: Holy War and the Crusades, British historian Christopher Tyerman challenges many assumptions about the epic conflicts that began when Pope Urban II summoned Christians to invade areas of the Middle East in 1095. Christian troops conquered Jerusalem, killing most of the city's inhabitants, and Western-sponsored states were established in Syria and Palestine.
Centuries later, the history is relevant. But as Tyerman writes: "Most of what passes in public as knowledge of the Crusades... is either misleading or false."
He outlines some of the most glaring misconceptions about the Crusades in a conversation with Sheilah Kast.
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