The crusades had quite an impact on the Middle East and the Islamic culture/religion. Islam and Islamic History in Arabia and The Middle East provided an in depth analysis on the crusades and the results from the conquests. Arab scholars look at the crusades as more of an irritation than anything else, and the crusaders were not very successful because of unfamiliar territory and hostile environment. Although the crusading armies were able to capture the holy city of Jerusalem, they were not successful, all-in-all, in converting the so called "barbaric" Muslims into Christians. In fact, Saladin, who proves to be quite and interesting character, is the While the long term effects of the crusades as far as a military stand point were unsuccessful, there was a lasting effect on trade, governmental relations and the integration of western culture into the Middle East. The Encyclopedia of the Orient also provides interesting information on the present effect of the Crusades today, claiming that,"the work that conservative Christians, led by Jerry Falwell, and extremist Muslims, led by personalities like Osama bin Laden do for provoking a religious war with Israel/Palestine as the epicenter is clearly a modern time crusade. The idea of jihad got a revival through the crusades. As the Christians fought a holy war against the Muslims, captured the 3rd holiest Muslim city and even attacked Medina and Mecca during a campaign. " It is interesting how similar the current war we are dealing with in the Middle East is very similar to the Crusade conquests that occurred 1095.


The Decameron was an interesting piece of literature. While there was a great deal of description and thought behind Novel IX, the language and grammer used made it a bit difficult to read, and I found myself wandering off in different directions while I read it. The honor of Saladin is similar to the wikipedia article we read, and he is quite the noble knight, allowing Messer Torello to be reunited with his wife only days before she is to be remarried. The tale is a bit of a fanatsy, involving black magic, but can be linked to many modern day love stories in that the man comes back to save the one he loves.