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  • Leona Bastianic

What were relationships between Muslims and Christians in the middle ages like?

As you can imagine, foreign strangers trying to steal what is yours doesn’t exactly say ‘Let’s be best friends!’ but, the story between their relationships are deeper than you might have imagined at first glance.

 

Many settlers, especially people who had already been in the Middle East for about a year or more, had started on the road of acceptance of Muslim religion and faith by kindling friendships and romances between themselves and the Muslims. One quote from a Muslim Trader, Ibn Jubayr, traveling through the Middle East in the 1180’s shows the forgings of an early friendship between some townspeople wrote: “The two sides understand each other completely. The men of war fight their war, but the people stay at peace.”


Another man, Fulcher of Chartes, wrote about how some crusaders had settled and adapted to their new life with their newfound Muslim friends. “We used to be Europeans,” he said “Now, we are Easterners.” He also noted some of his friends' cross-religion romances and marriages: "Some have married women from this land, either Christians or Moslems [Muslims] who have been baptised."


Finally, an extract from Usamah Ibn Munqidh's autobiography reads "The Christian Templars were in charge of the mosques. They were my friends and let me say my prayers in the little mosque." This little snippet shows that some Christian's did accept foreign religions and did not disturb the prayer.

 

However, from the same story by Usamah Ibn Munqidh, he recalls: "I was praying when a Frank rushed at me, seized me and turned me to the east saying 'That is how to pray.'" and continues "The same Frank came back and forced my face round the the east repeating 'That is how to pray."


A chronicle written by a First Crusade soldier reads: "There was such a slaughter for a whole day, but, finally they were beaten." This sentence portrays the merciless bloodbath, which had almost no justifiable reason behind it.

 

In conclusion, you cannot classify the horrific actions of people as a group, as, now you know, not everyone was mean and many people found romances, made friends and accepted everyone, no matter their religion.

THANK YOU FOR READING! ♡

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