History Channel - The Crusades Crescent and the Cross BluRay (2005) Part 1 The First Crusade

One of the most intriguing periods in global history, The Crusades had a profound impact on the course of human civilisation with a lasting legacy that is still felt today. THE CRUSADES CRESCENT & THE CROSS, an Emmy award-winning visual narrative presents the epic battle between two Middle Age superpowers the Christian Crusaders and the Muslims. Fought over two centuries, the conflict decided the fate of the Holy Land of the Middle East. Only a tiny strip of land, just a few hundred miles long, it contained the ultimate prize, the city of Jerusalem. For thousands of years, the holy lands of the Middle East have been the focus of intense political conflict. These lands have been the sites wars of epic proportion between three of the great religions of the world – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The deepest crevasse in these territories was created in wars between Christians and Muslims that began with extreme sacrifice in the name of Christ and Mohammed. At stake for the followers of both religions was the sacred land of Jerusalem, and control over the broader region surrounding it. The documentary is driven by the key personalities of the First, Second and Third Crusades, the popes, kings, sultans and knights who, in the name of God, ruthlessly fought for land and power. Experience the murder, treachery, and bloodshed of this legendary chapter of history through the eyes of key historical figures such as Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, King Louis VII and Nur al-Din. With expert opinions, interviewees from all different faiths, translated scripts, maps of cities, trips to ancient battlefields and castles, and extensive reenactments, the world's most infamous conflict of religious zeal, fanaticism, and violence comes to life.

Part 1 The First Crusade

The shadow of war between Christian and Muslim hangs over us today, but it is a war that began nearly a thousand years ago. By the close of the 11th century, Jerusalem had been in Muslim hands for over 400 years. In 1095 Pope Urban II launched an unprecedented military campaign to seize it back–a “Crusade” to purge the Holy Land of “the infidel”. Over 60,000 Christian warriors would journey 3000 miles and for almost three years to reclaim the Holy City in the name of God. We will follow the two great waves of crusader armies- - that of the nobility led by Count Raymond IV of Toulouse with becoming ruler of Jerusalem Duke Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother and right hand man Baldwin of Boulogne, and that of the commoners exhorted into mobilisation by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless–en route to Constantinopole and from there across the Anatolian plains to Jerusalem. But their adversaries, the Turkish warlords of the Middle East would resist them every step of the way. In a series of epic battles and bloody massacres, tens of thousands would die as the crusaders inched ever closer towards Jerusalem.

History Channel - The Crusades Crescent and the Cross BluRay (2005) Part 1 The First Crusade

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