The Cross and the Crescent: The Dramatic Story of the Earliest Encounters Between Christians and Muslims by Fletcher Richard

Author:Fletcher, Richard [Fletcher, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780141939292
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2004-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

King Richard became so noted for his daring exploits while overseas that when any horse belonging to a Saracen shied at a bush its master would say to it: ‘D’you think that’s King Richard of England?’15

Our most communicative witness to Islamic attitudes is another autobiographer, as revealing of his age as ‘Abd Allāh of Granada was of his. Usāmah ibn Munqidh (1095–1188), emir of Shaizar in northern Syria, exceptionally long-lived, well-connected, widely-acquainted, has left us a vivid account of his experiences in his anecdotal memoirs. They furnish an especially valuable record of his encounters with the Franks of Outremer. Usāmah regarded the Franks as enemies, of course, but worthy ones. He routinely referred to them as ‘The Franks – God confound them!’16 He was contemptuous of some aspects of their culture, for instance their ignorance of medicine, and bewildered by others, for example the social freedom of Christian women. On the other hand, during periods of truce you could be friends with the Franks and find shared interests. Usāmah was a passionate sportsman and a keen observer of wildlife. This was a bond with the Frankish aristocracy: there are several casual references in his memoirs to hunting and hawking expeditions with Frankish friends. His father had entertained the Frankish king of Jerusalem at Shaizar, and Usāmah himself was a regular visitor to the royal court, sometimes as a diplomat but on at least one occasion, intriguingly, as a litigant in a civil action against a Frankish baron concerning grazing. A courtroom dispute about herds of cattle sets Christian-Muslim relations in the crusading states in an unexpected light: it is right to keep our expectations open. Usāmah’s work stands alone, and presents therefore the usual problems about how far we may generalize from it. It is prudent to be cautious. Yet when all is said and done it is hard to believe that Usāmah’s attitudes were wholly unique.

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