Belvoir - Crusader Fortress - Justin's blog

Crusader Fortress Blog

On Thursday, we toured an Crusader Fortress in the Galilee. The era of the crusades

is the time period generally from 1100-1300, in which Christian Knights returned to the

Holy Land to retake it from Muslim Rule. There is a lot of mysticism and glamour

regarding the crusades as a religious conquest or a quest for the Holy Grail. The

Crusades began in 1095 when Pope Urban II urged for troops to conquer the Turks

and retake Israel. Jerusalem fell in 1099. After this there were a series of crusades as

the Muslims pushed back with it ending in the 1200s, correlating with the rise of Mamluk

rule of Israel.

The Fortress itself was very interesting. With its dark basalt walls, and its interwoven

secret passageways, the fortress is living testament to the time of the Crusaders.

The castle itself dates back to the 12th century. Its purpose was defend the newly

conquered kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1189, the fortress finally fell to Saladin's forces

after a year and a half siege, a few years after the battle of the Horns of Hattin. The

site laid in wait until archeologists in the 1960s began to excavate it. The fortress itself

is composed of many defense features. This includes its deep land mote and high steep

walls. Also the its secret escape routes and archer towers.

But there is another narrative about the crusades that goes fairly untold. And that is

the slaughter of thousands of Jews on there way to the Holy Land. The Age of Legend

of knights and kings also has a deep underlying theme of anti-semitism. The glorified

story of the noble knights who fought to retake their holy city is an utter lie in spite of

the numerous atrocities they committed. While persecution of Jews has existed since

biblical times, the routes of modern day anti-semitism begin in this era, the Middle Ages.

Ultimately the Jews are seen as Christ-Killers which a lot of hate stems from. And it

doesn’t help when the Pope accuses an entire people of deicide, or the murder of G-d.

But anti-semitism during this time can be divided into three main tropes.

Firstly is something called the Blood Libels. In some village somewhere in Europe,

a child is murdered. The only explanation is that the Jews were behind it. There is no

historical evidence of the Jews murdering children. Can we prove a Jew didn’t murder

this specific child in this specific village, no. But what comes after is what is more important.

After events like this, people start to believe that the Jews are ritually murdering children,

and using their blood in religious rituals like baking matzah for Pesach. Blood Libels

spread across Europe. What kind of hate can inspire such a lie? That the Jews are

murdering children for their blood, it’s unbelievable to a modern lens.

Second comes the desecration of the host. In Catholicism, there is a ritual in which church

goers drink wine and eat a wafer which represent the blood and body of Christ. The wafer

itself is referred to as the host. Rumors start to spread during the medieval ages that Jews

would go into churches and stab the host, the wafer. Supposedly, when they did this, the

wafer would bleed, as if they were murdering Christ a second time. This form of

anti-semitism relates specifically back to the before-mentioned idea of Deicide, or

the murder of G-d. This idea of deicide is a trope of anti-semitism that is still very

prevalent today, that the Jews killed Jesus. First off, the Jews were not directly responsible

for Jesus’ death. Rome executed him, and more specifically a man by the name of

Pontius Pilate. The New Testament portrays Pilate as sympathetic character that did

not want to kill Christ. Yet, other historical documents beg to differ. According to

Josephus’ account, Pilate was a headstrong authoritarian with a goal to provoke the

Jewish People. So the blatant statement that Jews are responsible for Christ’s death,

is an utter lie.

Lastly, the third trope of anti-semitism to evolve during this time was the poisoning

of the wells. It can be argued that the most defining event of the Middle Ages was the

Black Plague. Highest estimates reach around 60% to the amount of people killed by

the plague in Europe. And while Jews did suffer from the plague, because of our isolation

and the fact that we ate our own meat, the plague did not affect us as bad. This led to the

assumption that since the Jews were not getting sick, they must be responsible. Jews

across Europe were blamed for poisoning the wells therefor spreading the plague. It’s

no small thing to be blamed for a disease that killed 60% of Europe's entire population.

So the untold story of the crusade is anti-semitism. Underneath all the lore and

valor of the knights is the slaughter of thousands of our people. Never forget. But I’ll

leave you with a couple questions. How do these ancient forms of anti-semitism relate

to more modern stigmas regarding Jews? If you wish to share, what forms of anti-semitism

have you experienced in your life in America? And to what extent, if at all, should Europe

bare the weight of these atrocities, even though they were committed almost a thousand

years ago?