![]() Book name: The First Crusade: The Call from the East Author: Peter Frankopan Genre: History, Non Fiction Goodreads: Link Storygraph: Link "Charge at top speed, like a brave man, and fight valiantly for God and the Holy Sepulchre, for you know in truth, this is no war of the flesh, but of the spirit. so be very brave, and become a champion of Christ. Go in peace and may the Lord be your Defence!" - Bohemond of Taranto Have always been curious to learn more about the events surrounding the crusade and Peter Frankopan’s book provides a very rich and detailed look at the events leading upto, during and the aftermath of the First Crusade which took place between 1096 and 1099 which saw the arrival of Western forces with the stated objective to ‘recover the Holy Land’. While the book is very detailed, it comes in at just over 200 pages and is written in a very compact and engaging manner which makes it accessible and an interesting read even for someone with only a very vague notion of the incidence. Not only is the book comprehensive, the subtitle of the book ‘The call from the East’ underlies Peter Frankopan’s thesis which challenges the established traditional view of the crusade which has a Western Bias that the Crusades was something led and direct by Western Europe under the leadership of the Pope Urban II and the Latin church. The author convincingly argues that this was in fact something that was conceived and engineered by the Byzantine Emperor; Alexios I to shore up the Eastern half of the empire and recover lost territories which at that point was under constant threat of being overrun. The book details how the Emperor convinced Pope Urban II to galvanize support in Europe for a Crusade and made extensive use of ‘relic diplomacy’ by distributing holy relics which were in the possession of Constantinople as a way to gain favour with Western Leaders. The pope whose position was weak at the time where he faced threats from Rival claimants was only too happy to oblige and he found a willing audience amongst the Western leaders who due to a combination of religious fervor and opportunities for material gains set out on this task. The book details the careful logistical steps taken by the emperor to ensure that the Crusader army was kept happy while at the same time ensuring that they won’t be a threat to the empire itself. Alexios then using traditions that he knew were appealing to Westerners bound the key leaders of the crusade such as Raymond of Toulouse, Geoffrey of Boullion and Bohemond of Taranto where he got them to swear oaths of fealty, thus establishing himself as the leader of crusade while at the same time ensuring that any territories captured by the crusaders would revert to the Byzantine empire. As the Crusader army advanced, the emperor's representatives made sure to take the crusaders on a circuitous route to the Holy land, that were planned and would serve as bases for further conquests to be launched in the future. The book details some of the key battles and events of the first Crusade, touching on some of the factors that led to at times the unexpected success of the Crusaders despite being outnumbered and ill equipped in many circumstances. The book details that this came down to some of the military tactics of the Western forces which effectively deployed heavy cavalry where they hid from view and charged at the right moment to ambush the enemy, while the high discipline allowed them to hold the line which caused confusion and spread panic when faced with vastly larger group of enemies. Another factor was the sheer luck and the propitious events such as during the siege of Antioch, the discovery of what was thought to be the Holy Lance which galvanized the faith of the Crusaders. At the same time, the book doesn’t shy away from the horrendous conditions that the Crusaders faced in terms of starvation, hostile and unfamiliar climate as well as the fate that awaited those subjected to the crusader’s violence such as the wave of Anti-Jewish massacres that took place along the way as well and when they captured Jerusalem. In the aftermath, the leaders of the Crusade became heroes and gained unprecedented prestige where even minor knights and nobles gained renown and was popular subjects of Western popular literature. Pope Urban's power had been cemented and even though he died a few weeks after the taking of Jerusalem, the Latin church which had been suffering from infighting at the time had been strengthened and increasingly came to occupy a central role in the politics of Western Europe. Alexios and the Byzantine empire that had instigated the whole thing reached a new level of stability in terms of its security and wealth. Interestingly though the success of the Crusades also set the stage for the Western powers to look greedily at Byzantine and its wealth and set the stage for future crusaders some of them were explicitly targeted at Constantinople and the rest of the empire. In fact, Bohemond of Taranto one of the famous figures of the Crusade who Alexios had though would be his champion and representative in the field turned against the emperor forswearing the oaths and in fact waged war against him. As a result of these, medieval western historians turned against the emperor and was portrayed as a traitor which was a convenient way to justify the crusaders keeping possession of key cities such as Antioch which should have reverted to the Byzantine empire. Overall, would really recommend the book for any fan of history as a very accessible book while providing a very rich and vivid retelling of the events. Looking forward to reading the authors much more ambitious book ‘The Silk Road’ which provides a new history of the world.
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December 2023
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