I want to talk about one of the most ambitious and ambitious films of its time - " Crusade".
The Crusades are very fertile ground for cinema, but this topic is very rarely addressed. Hollywood is afraid of offending Muslims (or Jews and Christians) and the most that the viewer can count on is all sorts of politically correct shit, such as Kingdom of Heaven (2005) by Ridley Scott.
But all this could change back in 1993, when Paul Verhoeven, a talented and fearless director who was never afraid of controversial and risky topics, took up the matter. Being a big fan of this historical period, Verhoeven knew a lot about the Crusades and wanted to show their true essence on the big screen, giving the viewer a feel for the morals of the Middle Ages.
The script was assigned to Valon Greene, the man who wrote The Wild Bunch (1969), Sorcerer (1977), WarGames (1983) and other films.
What do you think will happen if you cross the talents of Green, who gave us The Wild Bunch (1969), and Verhoeven, who loves blood and dismemberment? The result is Crusade - perhaps one of the bloodiest films of its time.
To say that this film is cruel means don't say anything. The level of violence is off the scale even by Verhoeven's standards! This was a real Game Of Thrones of its time - the script constantly mentions rape, dirt and other joys of the Middle Ages. At the same time, Valon Green is well read, understands the material, and reading his prose is a pleasure.
At that time, Verhoeven had three major hits under his belt and there were no signs of trouble: the script was ready, and the sets were already being built in Spain.
At the very last moment, Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger held a meeting with the producers, who demanded guarantees from the director that the budget would not exceed the 100 million mark. Verhoeven exploded: “What do you mean guarantees? There are no guarantees! I can’t control God, how can I guarantee you anything? This is absurd!”
Arnold describes the events this way: "I kicked him under the table to shut him up, but he wouldn't stop. That was the end of the movie. Paul was always trying to be honest, but you can be a little more selective about when to be honest and when to just be honest." moving forward with the project. It was a real shame."
As a result, Carolco Pictures studio stopped filming and decided to invest money in... attention... Cuttrhoat Island (1995)!!! I hope the people who made this decision burn in hell. Cutthroat Island bankrupted the studio, becoming one of the biggest failures in film history.
Below is a retelling of the plot.
The script was actively circulating on the Internet for a while, but for several years now all the links have been dead. I miraculously found it on sale for $18 on Lulu.
The film opens with the robbery of an abbey in France in 1095.
Hagen (Schwarzenegger) sneaks into the monastery under cover of darkness, while the abbot of the monastery is having fun with two servant boys in his chambers. Hagen is caught red-handed and sent to prison. The abbot sends for Count Emmich, who rapes a fifteen-year-old girl in a barrel of grapes. Having finished the rape, he concludes: “I pronounce this harvest well-seasoned.”
It turns out that Hagen is Emmich's illegitimate half-brother, to whom his father bequeathed half of his fortune. The abbot knows about this secret will and forces Emmich to give him a quarter of his possessions in exchange for Hagen's death sentence.
Hagen is sentenced to hanging, but by a lucky coincidence, Pope Urban II comes to the monastery and gathers people for the Crusade. After the pope's fiery speech about how Muslims are raping nuns and oppressing Christians in Jerusalem, Hagen feels that this is his chance to stay alive.
At night, Hagen uses a lamp to heat the shackles in which he is shackled and burns a cross on his back. His cellmate Ari, who was in Samaria, tells him about the Life-Giving Cross and the relics of John the Baptist. In the morning, Hagen bares his back and talks about how he had a vision that he was a knight who swore allegiance to the Pope in the battle for Jerusalem. Having told other details of his dream, Hagen receives a pardon and becomes the mascot of this Crusade. He is placed under the command of Emmich, who still wants the death of his illegitimate relative.
On the way to Jerusalem, Emmich and his henchmen attack Jewish newlyweds who find themselves in the way of the crusaders. Emmich wants to rape the girl right in front of the groom, but Hagen stands up for them and permanently disfigures Emmich's face, crushing his jaw with an ax.
The degree of hatred between the brothers increases even more, but instead of simply killing Hagen, Emmich decides to make him suffer: in the port he sells Hagen and Ari into slavery to Barbary pirates. What follows is a colorful scene of boarding the ship. Having been captured, Ari, exposing his genital organ and remembering a few words in Arabic, convinces the invaders that he is a Muslim who completed the hajj to Mecca and was captured by the crusaders.
Meanwhile, an unenviable fate awaits Hagen: his friend is castrated right before his eyes (a truly terrible scene). Ari appears at the very last moment and saves Hagen, ransoming him from the savage surgeon. It turns out that Uncle Ari is an adviser to Prince Ibn Khaldun, who rules in Jerusalem, and now Hagen will be part of his personal guard. There is no choice - either slavery or service with a Muslim. The only chance to escape is to wait until the city is besieged by the Crusaders.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Hagen learns the truth - there is no persecution of Christians. Jews, Muslims and Christians live in peace and can freely practice their religion. There in Jerusalem, Hagen falls in love with Leila, the daughter of Ibn Khaldun. Leila protects her virginity and therefore indirectly enjoys Hagen's body by sending him her servant.
Hagen finds Jarvat, kidnaps Leila, but is captured by Emmich's people, who, according to the good old tradition, want to rape her. Fortunately, Leila miraculously manages to escape, although she is again captured by Jarvat, and Hagen is sent to Emmich, to the crusader camp. There is complete debauchery and disorganization in the camp, and soon they are attacked by Muslims, led by Ibn Khaldun.
Hagen, having gained fame as a seer and talisman of the Crusade, inspires his fellows to victory in a very beautiful and poetic scene: the setting sun projects his silhouette - in black armor, killing crowds of Muslims - onto a thick wall of smoke. He thrusts his two-handed sword into the back of one of the fighters and the sword becomes like a cross, washed by the sunset light... The crusaders, seeing a sign from above in this murder, begin to gain victory and soon put the Muslims to flight.
What follows is a large-scale scene of the storming of Jerusalem, but Hagen does not participate in it: at night, with the help of Ari, he sneaks into the city in search of Leila. Jarvat holds her captive and Hagen tries to kill him, but their duel is interrupted by a shell hitting the castle wall. Ari, Hagen and Leila take to the streets of fallen Jerusalem.
- Death to the jews! - the crusaders shout, killing women and children.
- The Jews killed our Savior! Kill them! Destroy the name of Israel! - some hermit monk echoes them.
There is carnage in the streets.
It turns out that Ari is Jewish. In the crowd he sees his uncle Yakub and rushes to his aid. In the chaos and under the pressure of a huge mass of people, Ari finds himself locked in a synagogue, which is burned by the crusaders. Along with the synagogue, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with the Life-Giving Cross is also burning. Hagen rushes in, places the cross on his back and, like Christ, leaves the temple engulfed in flames. The crusaders and ordinary people are fascinated by this spectacle, they kneel down and begin to pray. Hagen understands that a person possessing the Cross will enjoy enormous power and instructs the monks to hide it from prying eyes.
The time comes for the final duel with Emmich and Hagen literally cuts his enemy in half.
Seeing the reputation Hagen has gained, knight Godfrey invites him to swear allegiance to himself, but Hagen, disappointed and disgusted by this whole mess, refuses and leaves with Leila to the farm to lead a quiet and peaceful life.
The script ends with the caption: “Even under torture, the monks of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher refused to name the location of the Life-Giving Cross. It was never found.”
As we can see, this was a real Verhoeven - provocative, uncompromising and very cruel. The genre of historical adventure film skillfully incorporates a double bottom, although in my opinion Verhoeven went too far with “good” Muslims and “bad” Christians. We must not forget that Jews and Christians in Jerusalem were subjected to severe persecution: they could profess their faith, but at the same time their rights were infringed on literally at every step. In Muslim countries, people of other faiths always have the same fate: they are tolerated until a certain point.
History knows no subjunctive mood and the original film is now forever lost to the public. We have lost potentially one of best films 90s. In the end, everyone lost: Verhoeven, Schwarzenegger, the idiot producers and, of course, the audience.
Personally, I put this picture on a par with another unrealized masterpiece - Jodorowsky's Dune.
On the other hand, everything is not so bad and hopeless. The script has not lost its relevance and is so well written that there are still rumors about reviving the project. Who knows, maybe we'll see this film adaptation someday.
Although the original combo - Verhoeven + Schwarzenegger - still cannot be surpassed by anyone.
IN last years X century the entire Christian world froze in anticipation of the second coming. People were preparing for the Last Judgment, which, according to learned theologians, was supposed to occur in the year 1000. Nobody made plans for several years ahead. In 999, there were cases when peasants did not even harvest their crops: why fill barns when the apocalypse is about to break out?
The year 1001 came, and little had changed in the sublunary world, except that the farmers, who had put too much faith in the churchmen, went bankrupt and became impoverished. Theologians slapped their foreheads and declared that the Last Judgment, naturally, should come a thousand years not after the birth of Christ, but after his resurrection. Christians took a breath and prepared to wait another 33 years. In 1034 everyone discovered that the second coming had never happened.
These games of the church with its flock about the ever-postponed end of the world greatly undermined people's faith in the sermons read to them from the pulpit. When the shock from the long expectation of apocalyptic horrors subsided, Christians discovered that their shepherds were not at all examples of Christian humility, chastity and piety. The turn of the millennium is precisely the period when the level of morals among monks and priests fell below the plinth in the deepest crypt. Bishops, cardinals and the most holy Popes themselves, without hiding from the laity, took mistresses, wallowed in luxury and, indulging in all seven deadly sins, violated all ten of God's commandments. The local priesthood did not lag behind the church hierarchs, placing itself above human and divine laws. The clergy and monks did not even think of paying attention to such a vain and worthless thing as public opinion. It backfired on them.
In the second half of the 11th century, a wide variety of heresies blossomed in lush flower beds in Western Europe. People could not bring themselves to believe in what the false shepherds taught them; they themselves tried to find the hidden meaning of the word of God. Christians seeking truth clustered around a few literate people who interpreted the Bible according to their own understanding. Self-taught preachers, often possessing much greater oratorical abilities than church hierarchs, attracted crowds of listeners.
The Catholic Church tried to fight unauthorized attempts to interpret dogma, but at first not very diligently. The natural monopoly on mediation between heaven and earth seemed so unshakable to the churchmen that they only laughed at attempts to undermine it. But in vain. More and more inquisitive Christians united in their own communities, refusing to listen to sermons and accept communion from priests who, in their opinion, were mired in sin. These truth-seekers began to doubt numerous church sacraments. For example, they refused to baptize children, arguing that this should be a meaningful act of the person himself, and rejected the sacrament of marriage, which the Catholic Church was actively introducing into everyday life at that time. Some adherents of the new teachings refused to worship the cross, claiming that it was a murder weapon. In a word, from all sides, undermining was underway under the foundation of a huge church building that seemed unshakable.
This problem was most acute in southern France, in Languedoc. The so-called “Qatar heresy” was gaining momentum there. The adherents of this doctrine themselves, the Cathars (from Greek word“clean”) did not call themselves. They called each other “Good Christians” or “Good People.” By the middle of the 12th century, this teaching took possession of the minds of hundreds of thousands of people. In different places in Europe they were called differently: Manichaeans, Origenists, Fifles, Albigensians, Publicans, Weavers, Bulgarians or Patarenes, although the beliefs of all these sects were extremely similar. Some scholars believe that their common origin was the Bogomil movement, which originated in Byzantium at the end of the first millennium.
The Cathars, as all representatives of this teaching are commonly called, tried to build their own church, guided by the example of the apostles. They devoutly revered the Gospel, but rejected the Old Testament, believing that the New Testament was a “book of goodness”, and the Old Testament prophets taught cruelty. The Cathars extended the commandment “thou shalt not kill” to animals, so they were vegetarians, although they ate fish. They were baptized not with water, but with the laying on of the hands of several shepherds on the head of an adult newly baptized person. They did not believe in the human nature of Christ, believing that a good God could not send his son to torment. The Cathars considered everything earthly to be the creation of the devil, and they believed in the transmigration of souls, believing that the souls of the dead do not immediately ascend to heaven, but move into the bodies of newborns, staying on Earth in anticipation of the Last Judgment.
The Cathars had their own church structure with clergy and bishops, and these could also be women. There were also unique monasteries, the inhabitants of which were called “good women” and “ good men" The Cathars vehemently rejected the Catholic Church's claims to temporal power, and were therefore favored by local feudal lords. The Cathars treated ordinary Catholics quite kindly, and many peasants, judiciously believing that life cannot be spoiled by double grace, carefully attended both Cathar and Catholic services.
The official church hastily looked for ways to combat the Cathar heresy. The first bonfires that heretics took part in broke out in Orleans and Toulouse in 1022. However, these executions had the opposite effect. In 1143, the Cologne monk Everwin de Steinfeld complained that the Cathars accepted the torment of fire with the dignity of the first Christians. And this causes sympathy for them among numerous spectators.
In addition to repression, the Vatican also used propaganda methods. To where the Cathars' positions were strongest, experienced preachers were sent, who were instructed not only to appeal to the flock from the pulpit, but also to organize debates with heretics. This helped little: the “good Christians” were much closer to the local parishioners than the emissaries from the Vatican, they spoke to the people in their language, and their position found warm approval among the listeners. The Languedoc feudal lords also favored the Cathars. The Cistercian preacher Bernard of Clairvaux complained bitterly about the insults that he, the papal envoy, suffered from the nobility, and about the inattention of the nobles to his sermons.
Catholics tried to fight the Cathars with their own weapons. The Castilian canon Dominic de Guzman changed into rags and began to travel, preaching the Catholic version of the word of God in Languedoc. They listened to him poorly. When Dominic was declared a saint after his death, legends arose about how he threw his writings and the writings of “good people” into the fire. The Qatari texts were burned, but the fire did not touch the papers of the future saint. Unfortunately, the Cathars of the 12th century did not yet know what they would write in the life of the future saint, and they did not renounce their delusions.
One of the papal legates, Peter de Castelnau, who tried in vain to reason with the Languedocians, exclaimed: “I know that the cause of Christ will not succeed in this country until one of us suffers for the faith.” He didn't know that he himself would suffer. Eradicating heresy at the top, de Castelnau in 1208 excommunicated Raymond VI himself, Count of Toulouse. In response, one of the count's associates killed the papal envoy.
Having received such an excellent pretext, Pope Innocent III declared a crusade against the Cathars in 1209. The pope was not at all embarrassed by the fact that this time the soldiers of Christ would not have to win the Holy Sepulcher from the infidel Mohammedans, but destroy their fellow tribesmen who devoutly believe in Christ, albeit a little differently: “Treat the distributors of heresy worse than the Saracens, because they themselves are worse than them.” The knights themselves were much more concerned about the theological issues with the announced “prizes”: the participants in the crusade were promised fat chunks of the possessions of the Languedoc feudal lords, who criminally patronized the vile heresy. Thousands of knights and mercenaries, mainly from the north of France, rushed to the south.
The first major settlement on the path of the horde of crusaders was the city of Beziers. The newcomers besieged it on July 22, 1209. They promised not to touch Beziers if its inhabitants would hand over all the Cathars to them. At a citywide meeting, a list of heretics was compiled. There were 222 of them out of 14,000 inhabitants, but they decided not to hand over the Cathars to the crusaders: they were respected for their kindness and decent behavior. The entire population of Beziers fell victim to this respect - the crusaders who took the city by storm massacred everyone without bothering with theological subtleties. Even before the assault, the knights turned to the papal representative Arnold Amalric for advice: how could they distinguish a good Catholic from a damned heretic? “Kill everyone, the Lord in heaven will recognize his own,” answered the clergyman. Only three dozen residents of the unfortunate city managed to survive the terrible massacre and subsequent fire.
After this nightmare, the entire population of Languedoc, regardless of religion, greeted the crusaders as bloody occupiers and offered them stubborn resistance. The Languedocians did not consider themselves French at that time and their fierce resistance uninvited guests, who came from the north with a cross and a sword, acquired the character of a national liberation struggle. It lasted for several decades, known in history as the period of the Albigensian Wars. According to historians, up to a million people became victims of these wars.
From the very beginning, the Crusaders tried to suppress resistance with fear. They did not always destroy the population of the conquered cities, but in any case, they left a bad memory of themselves. For example, on August 15, 1209, the invaders spared the inhabitants of Carcassonne, who surrendered without a fight, but deprived them of all their property and forced them to leave the city in only their underwear. When dividing the loot, the crusaders quarreled and a significant part of them went home. Soon, giant fires began to burn in the territories liberated from heresy. In Minerva in 1210, 140 Cathars were simultaneously burned, and in Lavora in 1211 - four hundred at once. The number of smaller fires could not be counted. The commander of the crusaders, Count Simon de Montfort, ordered the burning of even those who repented of heresy and returned to the bosom of the Catholic Church: “If he lies, this will serve as a punishment for his deception, and if he tells the truth, then he will atone for his previous sin with this execution.”
The resistance to the crusaders was led by Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. It was not only his sympathies for heretics, but also the fact that de Montfort openly declared his claims to Toulouse. Raymond organized a solid army from his vassal knights and foot militia. Throughout 1210-1212 it gave a worthy rebuff to the invaders. The crusaders were also hampered by the fact that in their rear, uprisings constantly broke out in already conquered cities.
On January 27, 1213, the oppressed Cathars were taken under the protection of the king of neighboring Aragon, Pedro II. His army moved to Languedoc and united with the army of Raymond of Toulouse. Now, under their flags there was a huge army of up to 50 thousand people. It seemed that the time had come for the liberation of Languedoc. The decisive battle took place on September 12 near the strategically important city of Muret.
The forces were clearly not equal. Under the command of de Montfort there were only about a thousand knights and six hundred infantry. The 45,000-strong Qatari army celebrated the victory in advance. On the eve of the battle, King Pedro spent a stormy night with his mistress and the next morning he was not in the best in better shape, therefore, could not provide worthy resistance to the sudden attack of the crusaders. In a furious slashing, the king of Aragon was killed with a sword in the chest. Upon learning of the death of their leader, the Qatari militia fled from the battlefield. The Languedoc and Aragonese knights retreated behind them. Hundreds of them drowned while crossing the river. The defeat was complete. The Cathar losses amounted to up to 20 thousand people, and the Crusaders lost only 150 knights killed. After this defeat, Aragon withdrew from the war.
For several more years the war continued with varying success. Raymond VI either fled abroad or returned to his native land. His army either scattered under the attacks of the crusaders, then gathered again and recaptured the captured cities. Toulouse either surrendered to de Montfort or rebelled against him. In 1218, de Montfort was forced again, for the umpteenth time, to besiege the rebel Toulouse. During the siege, a stone from a catapult blew off his head. The siege was lifted, and for several years Toulouse again became Qatari. Papal legates zealously helped the exhausted crusaders. Things went better for the monks who worked systematically and did not know pity than for the warrior-knights. They cleared the occupied territories, mercilessly dealing with “good Christians”, as well as with those who, having feignedly converted to Catholicism, again joined the heresy. The bodies of the dead Cathars, so as not to desecrate Catholic cemeteries, were dug out of their graves and burned. All this terrified the flock, but did not suppress the will to resist the “good people.” A guerrilla war broke out in Languedoc.
In 1226, the anti-Qatar movement was led by the French king Louis VIII. The Languedoc forces were already running out, and three years later Raymond VI sued for peace. Languedoc was annexed to the possessions of the French crown, however, the Cathar heresy had not yet been completely exterminated. The last center of resistance was the castle of Montsegur, which stood on a high cliff in the spurs of the Pyrenees. In 1232, the Cathar bishops from Toulouse, along with their most fanatical supporters, found shelter there. For 10 years, Cathar preachers dispersed from Montsegur throughout the south of France for underground worship and sacraments. The Catholics looked with hatred towards Montsegur, but could not do anything - the fortress seemed impregnable.
In 1242, Raymond VII, the son of the Count of Toulouse, who had lost his possessions, persuaded the inhabitants of Montsegur to make a punitive raid - to deal with the mobile tribunal of the Inquisition created shortly before, which was holding court nearby. The inquisitors were killed, but violating the commandment “thou shalt not kill” had fatal consequences for the Cathars. In the summer of 1243, Montsegur was placed under a tight blockade. The defense was held by 15 knights, fifty soldiers and about two hundred “good people”. At the cost of incredible efforts, the crusaders were able to take Montsegur only on March 16, 1244. Several dozen defenders committed suicide, the rest were burned that same day at the foot of the cliff.
The surviving Languedoc Cathars finally went underground. The Inquisition carefully searched for their traces, but thanks to skillful secrecy, the “good people” managed to convey their teachings to parishioners who sympathized with them for another half a century.
The last surge of Cathar activity dates back to the beginning of the 14th century, when the family of the notary Peyre Hauthier from Ax-les-Termes tried to once again fan the flames of teachings hostile to Catholicism. Extremely active members of the Authier family traveled throughout the south of France and the north of Italy, looking for Cathars who had survived the underground and recruiting new supporters. The Inquisition quickly learned about the attempt at the “Catari reconquista” and rushed on its trail. By the end of the 1300s, all members of the Authier family were hunted down and burned. The only person close to them managed to survive - Guillaume Belibast, who fled to Catalonia. The tentacles of the inquisitors reached him there too. Last " a kind person» Belibast was burned in Villerouge-Termenez in 1321. This date is considered the final end of the Cathar heresy.
Sources
- Grigulevich I. “History of the Inquisition”, 1970
- Osokin N. “History of the Albigenses and their time” 2003
- Photo of the announcement: Massacre of the Crusaders with the Cathars.
This was the outcome... The Crusaders suffered a crushing defeat. Many dying people were left on the battlefield. The mortally wounded crusader lay in the mud. Frantically clinging to the loose and cold earth with my fingers. He did not feel the support of this earth. Lord...help me to continue my mission...to carry your Faith. The warrior coughed hoarsely. Spitting out the blood, he threw his head back helplessly. Suddenly the sun above his head was obscured by a figure. Do you really want to continue Vera's work? The knight whispered with only his lips “Yes..”, a stranger in a monk’s cloak with a hood that completely hid his face carried the warrior into the house. Within a few days, to his surprise, the crusader completely recovered. Although the monk only gave him water to drink and put his hands on him, no tinctures or powders familiar to the warrior. For some reason, the monk didn’t even read prayers, but when he put his hands on, a soothing warmth flowed through the crusader’s body, as if he had been lowered into a warm bath. A feeling of weightlessness and complete peace enveloped him. All worries and doubts left his mind. As soon as the warrior felt in shape, he went out into the street in front of the house and began to practice with his weapon. The monk looked at him silently for a long time, the warrior noticing this tried to show the best of what he could do, and he could do a lot. Mistaking the monk's silence for silent delight, he continued to complicate and complicate his techniques, knowing how spectacular his muscular body looked, making soft and precise movements from the side. Unexpectedly for him, the monk spoke in a quiet, calm voice: “Why are you practicing with weapons?” Slightly surprised by this turn of events, the crusader, pronouncing every word clearly, replied, “I can become stronger to fight.” "With whom?" - the monk asked just as calmly. The crusader looked at the monk as if he were crazy. “With enemies.” "With which?" - the monk did not let up. The warrior looked at the monk again, and still not understanding how he could not understand such simple things, he replied, “With the opponents of the Faith.” “What faith?” - the monk continued melancholy. “In Our God,” the crusader answered even more surprised, “What’s his name? God? After all, he doesn’t have a name, maybe they serve him, they just call him something else?” - the monk asked in an unchanged tone. “Okay, I just want to become stronger... That’s all... Just don’t ask why again... This is my path of service and my understanding of it...” The knight answered irritably. “Do you think that swinging a sword makes you stronger?” - the monk’s new question sounded like a barely noticeable mockery, which nevertheless did not escape the warrior. “What do you mean by this”? The crusader almost growled. “You're in great shape, you have a weapon and you've already warmed up. Try to hit me...” - The monk remained standing in place, not even thinking about taking a fighting stance or preparing for battle in any way. The crusader made feints and complex pirouettes, but the monk incredibly managed to escape at the very last moment. Angry to the extreme, the warrior pulled out a second sword and tried to reach the obsessive monk with a new style of fighting. But he left the line of attack without visible effort. At one point the monk gently threw his hands forward and without the slightest effort threw the crusader several meters away, barely touching him. Once on the ground, the crusader did not even have time to blink an eye, when, having made just one jump, the monk found himself standing right above him. Startled with surprise, he saw the smiling face of the monk, right opposite his own. It was incredibly fast... With his hands folded on the ground as a sign of his defeat, the crusader asked to become a student of the monk. A lot of time has passed since that moment, after long training, the crusader’s movements became soft and smooth, but even more deadly, he completely mastered his body. He could see three hundred and sixty degrees and control the functioning of any organ in his body. He could foresee and anticipate the enemy. He was truly pleased with himself. No one, perhaps except his teacher, could cope with him. He could destroy his enemies in huge crowds. Knowing perfectly the special points on the human body, he would be deadly and at the same time almost invulnerable. "Now I'm ready, Master!" he said in a confident tone. "For what?" The monk asked him in a calm voice, as always. “I can continue the Path of my Faith! Fighting her enemies,” the student answered with pathos. “No, my boy, you are still too weak. Show me what you can do." Without even having time to take a step towards the monk, he froze. His entire body was paralyzed. “How will you fight me if you can’t even get close to me?” - the monk asked him with a grin.
As soon as the body began to obey him, the warrior again knelt before the monk and asked to continue his training. He trained for a long time, strengthening his will and spirit. He learned a large number of secrets and mysteries. Together with their teacher they sang and danced. Listening to the monk's thoughts as they sat by the fire, the warrior began to wake up early in the morning so that, together with his Master, he could go to the lake and meet the dawn. Gradually, watching how the first rays of the sun illuminate the darkness of the night, how the darkness slowly recedes under the onslaught of the sun, and in the evening again returns to its position as it sets, the crusader began to find peace. Having acquired it, he was able to grow trees, sing and dance like his Master. The monk told him about other wars that occur in the soul of everyone living on Earth. But in these wars there are no winners and losers, the goal in them is not to win, they need to find harmony. We are here as a single multicellular organism. We act together, and our goal is the embodiment of the creator's plan! You and I are cells whose task is to bring the body into harmony. The monk explained to him, continuing to reveal more and more incredible truths for his student at first. During the time spent next to the monk, the warrior cut and sewed the same clothes for himself as his teacher. Having climbed the hill, he again saw the field where he had once died. Approaching the place from which the monk had picked him up, the man dug a hole and buried his swords and armor. Having placed a tombstone with his name, he turned and left. So, in the golden rays of the setting sun, he became a monk. An anonymous cell of a huge organism called humanity. After watching the sunset, two absolutely identical monks nodded to each other and went in different directions. Pursuing one great goal. Defending your Faith.
The organizer of the first crusade was Pope Urban II, who was a follower of the Cluny movement of the Catholic Church. Spreading greatly exaggerated and groundless rumors that in the East European pilgrims were being oppressed in every possible way and sacred places were treated with contempt, he began to incite the fanaticism of the population. At this time, Pope Urban II, in 1095 (488 X.), in order to discuss issues concerning the delegation of French monks, went to a meeting of the church meeting organized in the city of Clermont, in France. With the speech he delivered at this meeting, the entire Christian world was pushed towards a holy war against the Muslims. He declared that anyone who armed himself in the name of committing a holy war would be freed from his sins, that even a murderer who had committed a crime would be forgiven, that women and children, goods and real estate those who take part in the war will be under the protection of the church and will be inviolable.
In connection with this speech of Pope Urban II, crusaders began to gather in the central and southern parts of France. The Pope, making another speech to this assembled core of crusaders, personally urged them to war.
The most valuable assistant of Pope Urban II in organizing the crusader army against Muslims in Europe was a certain priest Pierre Lhermitte, who was a member of the same sect as Pope Urban II. Pierre Lhermitte, barefoot, with his head uncovered, with a huge cross in his hand, in a torn jacket, sitting astride a lame mule and driving around village after village, town after town, blessed the people for the holy war.
3 months after the church meeting was held in Clermont, in France, 40-50 thousand people were created for the holy war different ages and both sexes. They, having formed an advanced detachment under the command of the monk Pierre Lhermitte and a knight nicknamed Beggar Gautier, set out from France. When they crossed the Rhine River, they were joined by an army of crusaders who arrived from Germany, numbering 40-50 thousand people.
This advanced army, whose numbers increased in every place where it came, was disorganized. In order to provide themselves with food, people in it, along the way, robbed the places through which they passed. Therefore, they aroused feelings of hatred and hostility towards themselves among the Hungarians, Serbs and Bulgarians. These countries made every effort to ensure that this advanced army of the crusaders, leaving the places they had passed in poverty and sadness, left them as quickly as possible.
These hungry people, who made up the army of the crusaders, asking the inhabitants of the cities they met on their way whether this or that city was Jerusalem, reached the fortress walls of Constantinople. Alexei Komnenos, who, along with the fact that he had previously asked, through the mediation of the pope, for help from Europe, in the fight against the state of the Seljuks of Anatolia, did not at all like this unorganized accumulation of poor people. His dream of ridding Anatolia of the Seljuks, using the army of the Crusaders, crashed in an instant. And he, without allowing those who arrived into the city of Constantinople, and without making them wait at all, led them from Yalova to Anatolia.
When the advanced forces of the Crusaders, numbering 200,000 people, crossed into Anatolia, this meant that they had entered the country of the Muslims. And thus, for the first time, they came into contact with the Turks. They immediately tried to surround the city of Iznik, which was then the center of the Seljuk government of Anatolia. They were met by the ruler of the Seljuk state of Anatolia, Klycharslan I. As a result of the bloody battle that arose, only 3,000 people from the crusader army, which numbered 200,000 people in its ranks, managed to survive. Although Beggar Gautier was killed on the battlefield in 1096 (489 AD), however, the priest Pierre Lhermitte managed to escape and barely save his life.
At a time when the advanced troops of the Crusader army were destroyed in this way, in France and Italy, the main, main army of the Crusaders was being prepared. This army on August 15, 1096 (489 AD) went into action, from four flanks, in order to meet in front of the fortress walls of Constantinople. Since King Philip of France and Emperor Henry IV of Germany were excommunicated, none of the European kings were allowed to participate in the campaign. Although this army of crusaders consisted of large feudal lords and glorious knights and was led by the pope, however, instead of himself, as his authorized representative, he sent some priest.
Although the number of the Crusaders who arrived at the fortress walls of Constantinople was close to a million, however, the real participants in the battle, in general, were no more than 300,000 people. The commander was one of the French aristocrats, named Godfrey of Bouillon.
When the Byzantine Emperor Alexei Komnenos saw this gathering of people, he, fearing the capture of Constantinople, provided all possible assistance in order to transport the army towards Anatolia as soon as possible. In the meantime, he also made a promise that the Anatolian cities, once captured from the Seljuks, would be handed over to the Byzantines. He himself also sent one Greek army, along with the army of the crusaders, to Anatolia.
When the Crusader army entered the land of Anatolia, it moved towards the city of Iznik, which was the center of the Seljuk government of Anatolia. The Seljuk ruler of Anatolia, Klycharslan I, left the city and began to prepare for war elsewhere. And the army of the crusaders captured the city of Iznik, some time after its siege.
At a time when the Byzantine army, which arrived in Anatolia along with the army of the Crusaders, moving towards Izmir and Ayaslug, tried to capture these areas from the Seljuks, the army of the Crusaders, after capturing Iznik, began to move straight into Anatolia to go to Syria.
The ruler of the Seljuks of Anatolia, Klycharslan I, having met an army of crusaders near the city of Eskisehir, launched a brutal attack. During the bloody battle, Klycharslan I, due to the fact that the number of crusader troops was too large, unable to do anything other than cause a certain amount of losses, retreated, leaving the battlefield. This battle taught him to refuse to commit a general battle with the crusaders. Therefore, Klycharslan I, dividing his army into small groups, began to use tactics of a kind of guerrilla warfare, attacking the crusader army at every opportunity, exhausting and weakening it. Moreover, in order to leave the Crusader army hungry, he burned and destroyed the entire harvest.
Although the army of the Crusaders suffered quite heavy losses due to heat, hunger, thirst and at every opportunity attacks by Turkic units, however, it still with great difficulties, having overcome the Taurus Mountains and reaching the border with Syria, managed to block the Antakya fortress.
Although the southern regions of Syria and the city of Jerusalem were under the Fatimids, other parts were under the Seljuks of Syria and Sham. The Crusader army, having blockaded the Antakya fortress and got rid of the attacks of the Seljuks of Anatolia, this time was forced to fight the Seljuks of Syria.
The fortress of Antakya was a very fortified, powerful fortress, it housed 20,000 soldiers, and had a year's supply of food. The commander of the fortress was a brave, experienced and old warrior named Bagisyan. Despite the fact that the Crusader army blocked this fortress for 8 months, it was never able to capture it. At this time, the crusaders, from hunger and disease, suffered countless losses. Unable to achieve success during the blockade, the army began to flee. And, as a consequence of this, commander Baldwin, separating from the crusader army, with his detachment, went to the Urfa region. Having captured Urfa, he created a principality there. At one time, even the monk Pierre Lhermitte wanted to sneak away on the sly to Urfa. Many people of authority fled to Urfa.
The commander of the crusader troops, Bohemond, who blocked Antakya, realizing that he could not take the fortress with the help of the sword, resorted to cunning. Having managed to come to an agreement with one apostate named Firuz, he took one of the towers of the fortress walls of Antakya. The crusaders, who were thus able to enter the city, brutally dealt with the Muslims who were in the city, whose number was about 10,000 people.
Shortly before the Crusader army captured Antakya, the Great Seljuk Emperor Sultan Berkiyarik ordered the governor of Mosul, Carbeg, to march from Mosul with a 50,000-strong army to Antakya. Kerbega, having arrived in Antakya and seeing that the city had been captured, blocked the crusader army located in the fortress. The Crusaders, being in such a situation, found themselves in a difficult situation. There was a food shortage in the city. A large number of people from the crusader army began to look for measures to escape.
One of the monks who were in the army of the crusaders, having begun to look for means to awaken the hope and patience of the crusaders, seeing an old sword lying in one of the corners of the church, immediately resorted to deception and cunning. Going to the meeting of the commanders, he said that that night, in a dream, he saw one of the apostles, and that that apostle allegedly told him that the sword that wounded Christ was in the church and that the person who found this sword would defeat the enemy . The commanders, immediately starting their search, saw the same sword that the monk had seen earlier. Great hope and strength awakened in them. Their mood improved. With this determination and will, they made a sortie, attacked the army of Kerbeg and in the end managed to defeat it.
After this event, the crusaders, having appointed Bohemond as ruler of the principality of Antakya, began to advance towards Jerusalem along the area located between Mount Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Crusader army managed to reach Jerusalem 3 months after it left Europe. Here, there were only 40,000 people in the army. On the roads of Anatolia and Syria, heading from Iznik to Jerusalem, they left 600,000 corpses. During the siege of Antakya, 200,000 casualties were also suffered. A certain number of crusaders went to Urfa. Thus, the army of the crusaders, with a very small number of forces and having suffered unexpected losses for them, came to the fortress walls of Jerusalem and surrounded the city. Jerusalem was able to withstand the siege for 37 days. Eventually, the Crusader army entered the city in July 1099. And, immediately, rushing at the inhabitants of the city, he began to rob and mercilessly kill everyone. This robbery and pogrom lasted a week, during which time 70,000 Muslims and Jews were killed.
During the first crusade, when the crusader army was in Anatolia and Syria, only the Turks tried to defend Islam. The fact that at this time, the northern part of Syria had left the hands of the Sunni Turks brought only a sense of satisfaction to the Shiite Fatimid government in Egypt. However, when the Crusader army began to advance towards the south, then the Fatimids realized the danger. Despite this, they were again unable to do anything against the crusaders.
After the Crusaders captured Jerusalem, they immediately formed a government and appointed a duke from the French duchy, Laurent Godfrey of Bouillon, as king. Godfrey, showing humility and not accepting this title, that is, the title of king, limited himself to the title of guardian of the tomb of Isa.
The army of the Crusaders, dividing the cities of Urfa, Antakya, Trablusham and others small towns, which they captured while advancing towards Jerusalem, according to the feudal system of counties, duchies and principalities, subordinated them to the kingdom of Jerusalem.
The Fatimid ruler Mustali Billah, who realized the danger of what had happened in connection with the creation of a kingdom in Jerusalem, although later, having prepared an army, tried to take back Jerusalem, however, in the vicinity of Askalan he was defeated by Christians. After this victory, the kingdom of Jerusalem, whose position was further strengthened, also created a government on the coasts of Phenicia and Palestine.
Christians, in order to protect the kingdom of Jerusalem they created through the use of force, formed the knightly dynasties of the Hospitallers and Templars, consisting of a kind of military monks. At this time they also asked for assistance from Europe. However, the decrease in the number of soldiers in the Crusader army from a million to several thousand people at the time of arrival in Jerusalem, just as it frightened Europe and cooled the ardor of fanaticism in them. And thus they were unable to provide any help.
The capture of Jerusalem and the terror spread by the fanatical Christians gave rise to great unrest and hatred in all Muslim countries. Even the Fatimids, sending warriors from sea and land, began to put pressure on the kingdom of Jerusalem.
The ruler of the Atabek state of Mosul, Umiduddin Zenki, and his son Nurettin were the ones who fought the most against the kingdom of Jerusalem. They captured Urfa in 1144 and twice captured the king of Jerusalem. Having captured the cities of Alep and Sham, they advanced to the gates of Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was forced to ask Pope Eugene III for military assistance. In this regard, the pope called on Christians for a new campaign and organized a second crusade.
I. Monk and Sultan
At the beginning of the 13th century, the position of Frankish Syria was in no way similar to its position in the previous century. Paradoxically, they continued to call the kingdom Jerusalem, although Jerusalem was no longer part of it, and the territory now ruled by the kings was reduced to a narrow strip, which became the base of new conquests, dangerous for Muslims, since it was a coastal strip that gave access to the crusaders and made it easier for them supply. From this point of view they were, in general, in a better position than their predecessors in the 11th century. Finally, the capture of Cyprus and Constantinople made it possible to carry out many operations that in the previous century, due to the evil will of the Byzantines, were either difficult or delayed.
Conditions were thus radically different from the first century of the overseas kingdoms. But much has also changed in the Christian world: it was agitated by various economic and social movements, but especially by currents of thought with an unclear outcome of their struggle. On a religious level, hasn’t the struggle already begun between those who want to help the church in its troubles and its opponents? Everyone more or less felt that the church was in danger of suffocating under the weight of its own wealth, but who would prevail, the sectarians of various heretical movements or the mendicant orders? This was characteristic feature the seething of ideas and interests that shook the West in that era and gave rise to passionate university debates, intense rivalry between trading cities, and clashes of worldviews between the bourgeoisie and the barons.
In the East, the Western world discovered and clearly realized through experience, purely empirically, without perhaps understanding possible consequences, those new trends that have emerged in the Christian world. From here great importance some events of the Crusades, more significant than others, because in them emerges a new style life and activity, pure mystics alternately entered into action, rejecting all weapons, all technology, all human means and recognizing only grace, and, conversely, pure politicians who took into account only efficiency and were completely skeptical about those measures that were previously justified by one faith. Finally, there appeared those who, combining two extremes, mysticism and politics, patiently and methodically served their faith.
Two men in cassocks made of coarse cloth, belted with ropes, who walked calmly through the bushes, undoubtedly gave the patrolman the impression of being abnormal, or perhaps he mistook them for apostates who were going to seek protection from Muslims, which happened from time to time during this period. Time of Troubles. There had to be at least one such person, since a little earlier the Sultan’s order had been announced everywhere, according to which the head of every captured Christian would be cut off. But, despite this, the captured Francis of Assisi and his companion, the Illuminati brother, repeated with calm confidence the request: “We are Christians, take us to your master.” No matter how incredible this adventure may seem, they still achieved that they were both admitted to the Sultan of Egypt Malik al-Kamil.
All this happened in Egypt, not far from Damietta, when the real decomposition of the Holy Land was underway, as well as moral forces, which the Franks had. However, from a purely military point of view, the events of 1218-1219. could fuel the hope of the Franks, since they were feared in the world of Islam. King Jean de Brienne of Jerusalem decided to carry out the old plan and attack the Muslim forces in Egypt. After the Franks arrived at Damietta and delivered a series of lucky blows, first the tower protecting the Nile crossing fell (August 1218), then the Muslim camp (February 1219) and, finally, Damietta itself (November 1219), after a very difficult siege, because with their double walls, thirty-two large towers and very perfect system fortification, this large trading city, the key to all of Egypt, was considered impregnable.
But from a moral point of view, the position of the crusaders was compromised. “The Pope,” wrote one author, “sent two cardinals to the army to Damietta, Cardinal Robert de Courson, an Englishman, and Cardinal Pelagius, a Portuguese. Cardinal Robert died, but Pelagius remained alive, which is why many troubles occurred, for he caused great evil.” .
Indeed, this unfortunate character, whom some historians have tried unsuccessfully to rehabilitate, had already proven himself by failing negotiations between the Greek and Roman churches, and then became evil genius a campaign that began so successfully, which he ended with complete defeat. Terribly frightened that Christians were firmly established in Egypt, Sultan Malik al-Kamil, like his brother, the ruler of Damascus Al-Muadzam, offered the king of Jerusalem in exchange for Damietta to cede to him no less than Palestine, an unexpected offer for which it was necessary immediately to grasp, because in reality, although the king was victorious, he was almost ruined and bled white by the efforts that this crusade cost him. Moreover, while he was mobilizing most of his knights, Sultan Al-Muadzam intensified devastating raids into Frankish Syria, where his bands methodically devastated the country, burning houses, cutting down trees and ripping out vineyards.
However, Cardinal Pelagius refused to listen to the king’s advice, imagining himself already the master of Egypt. He behaved like a real despot, obstructing John de Brienne in his decisions and threatening him with excommunication, so that the king, tired of this, finally left Damietta and went to Acre. The army remained inactive for a year and a half, allowing the Sultan to replenish his forces and resort to repression, which, first of all, resulted in the massacre of Syrian and Coptic Christians; One hundred and fifteen churches were destroyed, including St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria, and Christians were subjected to heavy taxes and countless levies. This lasted until Cardinal Pelagius, always confident in himself, began on his own initiative, without warning Jean de Brienne, a campaign against Cairo, which very quickly ended in disaster, after which he was happy to give Damietta in exchange for the liberation of the Frankish army, completely blocked by Muslim forces. Meanwhile, even before the defeat, in an atmosphere of disagreement and disastrous inaction, unrest and strife began within the Frankish army itself, especially between the Franks and Italians, who also opposed the Templars and Hospitallers. It was in the midst of these unrest, but long before they brought Christians to the brink of disaster, that the event about which the story began above took place. In September 1219, when the siege of Damietta was coming to an end (the city was taken by storm on November 5), St. Francis, accompanied by an Illuminati brother, appeared in the Crusader camp and decided to go to the Sultan’s camp to preach Christianity to him. The historian Jacques de Vitry tells about it this way: “When the army of Christians approached Damietta in Egypt, Brother Francis, armed with the shield of faith, fearlessly went to the Sultan. On the way, the Saracens grabbed him, and he said: “I am a Christian, take me to your master "When they brought him to him, this wild beast, the Sultan, seeing him, was imbued with mercy towards the man of God and listened very carefully to his sermons, which he read about Christ to him and his people for several days. But then, fearing that If anyone from his army, under the influence of these words, would turn to Christ and go over to the side of the Christians, he ordered him to be taken carefully, with all precautions, back to our camp, saying goodbye: “Pray for me, so that the Lord will reveal to me what is most pleasing to him.” law and faith."
The chronicle of brother Jean Elemozin adds several details to this story and reports, in particular, that Francis allegedly offered the Sultan a trial by fire as God's judgment: “They say that he came to the Sultan, and he offered him gifts and treasures, and since the servant of God did not desired them, said to him: “Take them and distribute them to the churches and to the poor Christians." But the servant of God, who despised earthly riches, declared that the providence of the Lord would provide for the poor in their needs. When blessed Francis began to preach, he proposed to enter the fire with Saracen priest and thus irrefutably prove the truth of the faith of Christ. But the Sultan objected: “Brother, I do not believe that any of the Saracen priests would be willing to enter the fire for their faith.”
Other chroniclers specify that a “holy elder” was sitting next to the Sultan, who, after the proposal of St. Francis, stood up and left. This episode was examined in our time by Louis Massignon, who identified this elder: “This is Fakhr-al-Din-Fanizi. But I do not think that this ascetic, a disciple of the Muslim mystic Hallaj, withdrew out of fear. He did not recognize ordeals, believing that You cannot tempt God."
Later, this scene inspired Giotto, who wrote it in the church of Sita Croce in Florence, and a legend arose among Christians that before his death, the Sultan, under the influence of the Minorite brothers sent to him, completely converted to Christianity.
This story, namely the meeting of St. Francis of Assisi with the Sultan of Egypt at a time when persecution of Christians was unfolding in that country, is in itself amazing. She was part of that golden legend that surrounded the entire life of the poor man from Assisi. Sultan Al-Kamil, at the moment of his greatest hatred for Francis' co-religionists, is defeated by the meekness of a small man who appears unarmed in the no-man's land that separates the two camps, intending to preach his faith to the one with whom they were going to fight. This appeal to the power of faith at a time when the only possible force seemed to be the power of arms, is quite in the spirit of mystical poetry that defined the atmosphere close to Francis.
This act of Francis, like his very presence at Damietta, immediately reveals those aspirations that will gain strength later. St. Francis embodied the poor man and the knight, personifying the two forces that in former times set out for the Holy Land and conquered Jerusalem. It is known how tempting the knightly ideal was for St. Francis, and he wanted to be first God's singer, and then the Lord's knight. Therefore, it is not surprising that for him, who literally understood the Gospel, the Holy Land was so attractive.
Like those who were once shocked by the call of Urban II, he understood the acceptance of the cross in a literal sense. And with his amazing mystical intuition he determines new way sending his brothers to the Holy Land, he most of all wanted them to become martyrs. When he learned that five of them, who repeated his feat, were killed by the crowd, he exclaimed: “Praise Christ, now I know that I have five little brothers". Jacques de Vitry recalled the beginning of this evangelical mission: "The Saracens willingly listened to the Minorite brothers when they spoke about the faith of Christ and the evangelical teaching until their words began to clearly contradict the teachings of Mohammed and he appeared as a treacherous liar in their sermons; Then they began to be wickedly beaten, and if not for the miraculous help of God, they would have been killed.”
In the Holy Land, the saint of Assisi was also attracted to the manger of the infant Christ. It is known how he first opened the Bethlehem cave in Greccio to believers and how since then, especially since the 14th century, the veneration of the Holy Child along with the veneration of the way of the cross has developed. Everything that so profoundly renewed Christian sensibility arose in this first journey of St. Francis to the Holy Land, accomplished in the roar of battles and the noise of discord among Christians. Wasting love and madly heroic deed he left behind the image of the armed knight taking the cross to conquer Jerusalem. Decisions of the 11th century were no longer suitable for the XIII century, when the ideal of the “army of Christ” was completely transformed, and the first step in this desire to rethink the meaning of the cross was taken by Brother Francis between the two warring camps at Damietta.
The crusaders, however, continued to fight, completely not understanding the sublime act committed before their eyes. Cardinal Pelagius believed, while Francis was with the Sultan, that the mendicant brother had renounced Christianity. As for the other prelates, their impression of Francis can be guessed from the fears expressed by Jacques de Vitry in his Oriental History and a letter written at Damietta in March 1220: “We have seen the first founder and head of this order, to whom all its members obey as the great prior; he is a simple and illiterate man, loved by God and people, and his name is Brother Francis... The head of the Minorite brothers, who founded their order, arrived in our army; inflamed with zeal for the faith, he went to the army of the Saracens and within For several days he preached the word of God to them with great success; the Sultan, the king of Egypt, asked him to pray to the Lord to help him convert to the faith most pleasing to God. The cleric Colin the Englishman and two of my brothers, Master Michel and Ser Mathieu, joined this order. to whom I entrusted the care of the Church of the Holy Cross in Acre, and I have difficulty restraining my singer, as well as Henri and some others, from this step.”
An inexplicable impulse in the eyes of the prelate that draws his brothers to an inconspicuous man in a rough cassock. Elsewhere, with purely ecclesiastical caution, he expressed his fears regarding this man: “This man seemed very dangerous to me, since he is not only perfect, but also young, imperfect people, who should be subjected to monastic discipline for some time, so that to accustom them to it and test it, sends them out in twos all over the world.” Quite natural prudence, manifested in concern for the ways of the church, but short-sighted in relation to the miracles that the “madness of faith” began to perform. And Brother Francis’s speech soon brought unexpected results, and some facts lined up in the line of his behavior that could not have been foreseen several years earlier. First of all, these are the letters that Pope Gregory IX himself sent in 1233 to the Sultan of Morocco and the Sultan of Egypt to convince them with moving words to accept the Christian faith "We pray with all our might to the Father of light, knowing his good love, instructing us, that he will mercifully condescend to our prayers and showed his great mercy. May He open your ears and your mind, so that in piety of heart and humility of spirit you come to us, thirsting for grace in the present and glory in the future.. May He show you his only son, so that when he comes to the Christian faith through baptism, you could become, through a completely new life, beloved adopted sons of the Lord, who desires that all the faithful should reign with Him in heaven.”
It was to the disciples of St. Francis that the Pope entrusted these letters, since they had already begun to form a kind of honorary guard of the Holy Land, which was subsequently entrusted to them. The hour of missionary work had not yet struck; It was only at the end of this century that Raymond Lull outlined a real missionary program, but attempts to completely transform the crusade so as to approach the world of Islam with the mere weapon of the Gospel continued.
St. Francis himself sent two brothers, Gilles and Elie, to Tunisia; and if their preaching failed, it was more likely due to the hostility of the Venetian or Provencal merchants, whose trade agreements they harmed, than the Muslims themselves. However, from 1257, another mendicant brother Philip, provincial of the brother preachers in the Holy Land, could already report to Pope Gregory IX himself about the successes of their preaching among Eastern Christians, previously independent of Rome: the Jacobite patriarch returned to the bosom of the Roman Church and himself became a Dominican; The Maronites of Lebanon joined the same church, the conversion of the Nubians was begun, and in the Nestorian church some expressed a desire to join the Roman church. During this era, the Brethren Preachers truly established themselves in the East, particularly in Egypt, while the Brethren Minorites conquered Aleppo, Damascus and Baghdad.
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