Before the Crusades, two-thirds of the Christian world had already fallen under Islamic rule.
Your school probably skipped that part.
They taught you the Crusades began in 1095, as if Christians just woke up one morning and decided to march east for no reason.
But history did not begin in 1095.
By then, Islamic armies had already conquered massive portions of the Christian world:
Syria.
Egypt.
North Africa.
The Holy Land.
Spain.
In 711 AD, Islamic forces crossed into Spain.
By 732 AD, they had pushed all the way into France.
That is where Charles Martel met them at the Battle of Tours and stopped the advance into Western Europe.
Some historians consider it one of the most decisive battles in world history.
So when people talk about the Crusades without mentioning the 400 years before them, they are not giving you history.
They are giving you a narrative.
Were the Crusades complicated?
Of course.
Were Christians perfect?
No.
But the idea that the Crusades were some random act of Christian aggression is historically dishonest.
The real story begins long before 1095.
And once you know what happened before the Crusades, the entire conversation changes.
They buried this.
Now you know.
