 |
| (CNS photo) |
Untangling the nuanced religious, political, economic and territorial complexities of the Crusades is an endless task. The complexities are so interwoven in the 200-plus years of fighting between Christian kingdoms and Muslim empires that eight centuries later people are still trying to untie the knots.
Complicating the matter is that there were no good guys and bad guys in this succession of wars that stretched from the end of the 11th century to the end of the 13th century. Christian and Muslim armies rivaled each other in massacres, pillages and territorial gain by brute force. In the name of religion and freeing the world of "infidels" both sides slaughtered defenseless women and children.
