The era of the Crusades retains an aura of romance and chivalry, of knights in shining armor emblazoned with the cross. But the reality is more cruel than romantic.
Certainly, the period had its romantic figures. Probably the most famous were King Richard the Lionheart of England and the Muslim conqueror Saladin, whose Arabic name Salah al-Din means "reformer of the faith."Adversaries in the Third Crusade, the two men reached a treaty that gave Christian pilgrims access to Jerusalem and left a crusader kingdom on the Mediterranean coast.
It was one of many treaties to be broken in the Crusades. Treachery and massacre marked the crusading era from its start with Peter the Hermit leading a peasant army in 1096 to the Christian defeat at Acre nearly 200 years later.
As Peter's poor crusaders foraged for food, they got into battles in Hungary and killed 4,000 people. Later, the crusaders killed Orthodox Christians - whom they were supposed to save from Islam. Pogroms that murdered thousands of Jews - seen as infidel, like the Muslims - became a pattern for the zealous crusaders.
The cruelty even touched figures like Richard and Saladin.
Once during negotiations for a truce, Richard suspected Saladin was stalling and ordered the slaughter of nearly 3,000 Muslim captives - men, women and children - as Muslim warriors watched from across a valley. Saladin then ordered the massacre of his Christian hostages held in Damascus.