The heavy presence of empire surrounded Paul as he approached Philippi. ibid.
Lydia became the first European covert to this new religion. ibid.
Paul’s letters were written to specific churches. ibid.
Some of Paul’s letters have come under fire. ibid.
So was Paul a misogynist? ibid.
Paul faced an uphill challenge to convince Athenians of his message. ibid.
‘I have become all things to all people’. ibid.
The point is that there is tremendous hypocrisy among the Christian right. And I think that Christian voters should start looking at global warming and extreme poverty as a religious issue that speaks to the culture of life. Al Franken
Nero rounded up the Christians and had them publicly executed. Secret Access: The Vatican, History 2011
A mysterious pacifist cult born on its further fringes. Christianity should never have survived. Rome Revealed s1e8: Christianity Rising, National Geographic 2010
Roman justice is about humiliation and maximum cruelty. ibid.
Up to one thousand Christians died in Rome. ibid.
Rome: the eternal city. Today it is a place dominated by Christianity. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City I, BBC 2012
Its origin as a sacred site owes everything to its pre-Christian past. ibid.
A new generation of foreign sects was starting to gain popularity in the city. ibid.
In the earliest Christian art the cross doesn’t appear at all. ibid.
Rome: Holy City blessed by pagan gods. Earthly capital of a glorious empire with a divine mission to conquer and rule. But Rome was to cast aside its pantheon of idols to embrace a revolutionary new faith from the east. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City II: Divine Gamble
Justinian ousted the old pope and installed Virgilius. ibid.
At Christmas 597, 10,000 angels were baptised as Christians. ibid.
Popes became power-hungry players in the savage scheming of Italian politics. ibid.
The popes played a vicious game of power and pleasure. ibid.
The papacy and Rome sank to ever greater depths of moral depravity. ibid.
And began their vicious slaughter of the Muslim faithful, whether citizens or soldiers. The battle raged for hours. Crusaders killed everyone they could find in the streets and the alleyways. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City 2/3: Invasion, Invasion, Invasion
Some Muslims leapt to their deaths. ibid.
The toll was probably between ten and thirty thousand dead. ibid.
Islam resolved to win back the Holy City. And the man who would launch this new Holy War was Saladin. ibid.
A Holy City driven more by power than piety. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City III: The Rebirth of God’s City BBC 2012
A new Jerusalem – but the men leading the city would be far from saintly. ibid.
The most notorious family in the entire history of the papacy – the Borgias. ibid.
Cesare Borgia was the Pope’s flamboyant enforcer and henchman. ibid.
The papacy had turned sin into a business … the selling of Indulgences would prove one step too far. ibid.
The Inquisition was set up to enforce the doctrines of the Church. ibid.
St Peter’s – the largest church in the world. ibid.
The papacy and the kingdom would be in a standoff for sixty years. ibid.
Greek Constantinople became Turkish Istanbul. How the ancient capital of Christianity became the imperial city of Islam. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities II
They called it the Great Schism: the moment Christianity split into two rival camps. ibid.
The Crusades really were an extraordinary and enormous movement of people: 80,000 in them. ibid.
Istanbul: the refuge of the world. ibid.
Two warriors came to prominence. Two warlords who would use Jihad as their rallying cry. Nur-ad-Din was a powerful leader who in 1146 took control of parts of what are now Syria and Jordan. A deeply religious man he immersed himself in the study of the Koran ... Nurd-ad-Din’s interpretation of Jihad resonated with his subjects who were eager to defeat the Europeans ... His deputy: a young warrior who was also a devout student of the Koran: his name was Saladin ... The reins of power were taken by Saladin who began immediately to plan an assault on Jerusalem ... The night before the assault the Muslims set the grass around the Crusader camp aflame. By dawn the Crusaders were enveloped in choking black smoke. As the sun rose over the battlefield the Islamic army attacked. After half a day of fierce battle in the searing heat the Crusader army lay devastated. This was a turning point in the history of the Crusades. Emboldened by his victory Saladin turned his attention to claiming Jerusalem. Decoding the Past: The Koran, History 2006
Richard’s early encounter with Saladin’s forces resulted in decisive victories for the Christians. But taking Jerusalem proved much more difficult. Saladin’s armies were strong, and the open ground around the walled city made it difficult to mount an effective attack. The Muslims and the Christians were at a stalemate. On the 2nd September 1892 both sides agreed to a truce. ibid.
The Templar Army began its gruesome desert march towards Tiberius without water or shelter. Weak and disorientated. That evening was when Saladin’s forces closed in to surround them. In the attack that followed ... it was the worst single military disaster in the Holy Land. The surviving Christian knights were sold into slavery. Decoding the Past: The Templar Code
Saladin took the city a few months later. The Christians fought back under Richard the Lionheart, retaking the city in 1229. But held it only briefly. In 1244 the Turks recaptured Jerusalem, effectively bringing an end to Christian rule. ibid.
When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem the first thing that happened – there was a bloodbath of almighty proportions. They slaughtered everybody, Christian, Jew, Muslim alike. It’s not a pretty event. Dr Tim Wallace-Murphy, co-author Custodians of Truth
When the Christians captured Jerusalem there was a bloodbath. And the horses were knee-deep in blood. They slaughtered everybody – Muslim, Jew, Christian, without mercy. Dr Tim Wallace-Murphy
Jerusalem was stormed in 1099. The entire population of the holy city was put to the sword. Jews and well as Muslims. 70,000 men, women and children perished in a holocaust, which raged for three days. In places men waded in blood up to their ankles and horsemen were splashed by it as they rode through the streets. Desmond Seward, The Monks of War
Almost one thousand years ago Richard I, King of England, set out to war. Not for power or wealth but for God. This was a new kind of war. One that still casts its shadow today. For it would pit Crusader against Jihadi. East against West. Richard the Lionheart: Warriors
Saladin’s scorched earth tactics began to work like a cancer in the Crusader army, spreading dissension. Richard, as the only king among the commanders, led the crusade in battle. But he was not in political control. Important political decisions were taken by the Council of War, a body made up of all the different factions. ibid.
The retreat from Jerusalem was a humiliation for Richard. During the next six months he tried everything to make amends, moving down towards Egypt and attacking Saladin’s supply routes. But without the French he never had enough men to strike a decisive blow. ibid.
Two centuries of religious war. Dr Thomas Asbridge, The Crusades: Victory & Defeat, BBC 2012
These Christian outposts were ruled by bickering warlords. ibid.
The power and wealth of the Hospitallers. This is a monument to rival anything in the Middle Ages ... Like their Templar brethren, they embraced the Crusading ideal. ibid.
Commercial contacts between East and West blossomed. ibid.
Louis was determined to bring Jerusalem back into the Christian fold. ibid.
Louis IX was the perfect Crusader king. ibid.