Outre-Mer

SOM3
Originally uploaded by SoxIn18.

Here's another "States of Mind." I have four that I've finished to date. My goal is to come out with one per week. I'm hoping this is doable.

I read through some of the Crusade accounts I enjoyed so much in college: the Alexiad of Anna Comnena (1083-1153) and various Arab historians such as Ibn al-Athir and al-Furat. (Upon reading the introduction to Sewter's translation of the Alexiad, I noticed that she is mentioned in Gibbon's "Decline and Fall." I had not been aware that the great chronicler of the Roman empire had included the Byzantine state in his massive history ... but now it makes sense. Incidentally, I have found, I believe, a copy of the whole "Decline and Fall" online for those who may wish to read it.)
One last note (for now) on the Crusades: Both the Byzantines and the Muslims distrusted the Crusaders, and I can't blame them for it. That's not to say that Byzantium or the Muslim empires were innocent, of course ... but it was the Crusaders who committed the worst crimes.