Crusader violence against civilians exceeded Saladin’s conduct in Jerusalem

Evidence

This was not an anomaly: Crusaders passing through Germany en route to Jerusalem murdered Jews in cold blood. Christians were not spared either. When the Crusaders attacked Constantinople in 1203, “for three days and nights, the Crusaders murdered, raped, looted or destroyed everyone and everything they could get their hands on. Untold thousands perished; many more were brutalized, maimed and left homeless.” King Richard of England (known as Richard the Lionheart) beheaded thousands of men in full view of their armies after a battle. In contrast, after Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, successfully retook Jerusalem from the Crusaders, he forbade acts of vengeance and violence against the Crusaders, gave Jews state money to rebuild synagogues, and left churches untouched. This is why he was celebrated in Europe as a just and fair Muslim ruler. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 364

Categorization

• SHARE: The detail that Crusaders at Jerusalem burned Jews sheltering in a synagogue, while Saladin funded synagogue rebuilding, is a striking contradiction-of-stereotype fact for a friend writing on moral-panic history.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 364
• XREF: connects to: Crusader violence exceeded that of their Muslim adversaries in scale and cruelty — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 196; Saladin’s retaking of Jerusalem was far more merciful than the Christian conquest had been; Some medieval polemicists acknowledged Christians exceeded Muslims in actual violence — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 712 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Crusader violence exceeded that of their Muslim adversaries in scale and cruelty #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 196
• Medieval Christian Crusaders were more brutal than Saladin, who spared defeated enemies. #corroborates (0.93)
• Saladin’s retaking of Jerusalem was far more merciful than the Christian conquest had been #contradicts (0.90)
• Some medieval polemicists acknowledged Christians exceeded Muslims in actual violence #corroborates (0.82) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 712
• The First Crusade’s Jerusalem conquest slaughtered nearly all local Jews and Muslims #corroborates (0.78) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 110
• Medieval Christians equated the destruction of Jews with that of Muslims in Jerusalem #corroborates (0.72) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 291