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The First Crusade

The shadow of war between Christian and Muslim hangs over us today, but it is a war that began nearly a thousand years ago. By the close of the 11th century, Jerusalem had been in Muslim hands for over 400 years. In 1095 Pope Urban II launched an unprecedented military campaign to seize it back--a "Crusade" to purge the Holy Land of "the infidel". Over 60,000 Christian warriors would journey 3000 miles and for almost three years to reclaim the Holy City in the name of God. We will follow the two great waves of crusader armies- - that of the nobility led by Count Raymond IV of Toulouse with becoming ruler of Jerusalem Duke Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother and right hand man Baldwin of Boulogne, and that of the commoners exhorted into mobilisation by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless--en route to Constantinopole and from there across the Anatolian plains to Jerusalem. But their adversaries, the Turkish warlords of the Middle East would resist them every step of the way.

English
  • Originally Aired February 25, 2005
  • Runtime 90 minutes
  • Special Position Airs after season 1
  • Network History
  • Special is Critical to Show's Story No
  • Created September 25, 2024 by
    eldoroonie
  • Modified September 25, 2024 by
    eldoroonie