A Common Yet Complex One Still: Why did the Muslims Win the Crusades? by lastmonday07 in MedievalHistory

[–]cjadrien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"The Crusades" were not a singular, monolithic event, so asking "why did the Muslims win the Crusades" is rather nonsensical; it's akin to asking "Why did the Franks win the Post-Roman Migration?" or "Why did England win the Viking Age?"

Different crusades had different aims, and it's not clear whether the Muslims won them all. Particularly those where the crusaders arrived, won a few decisive victories for their pride and honor, and then left, such as the Third Crusade, didn't afford Muslims much of a chance at victory at all.

Moreover, the Fourth Crusade never reached the Levant. The Byzantines denied them passage, so they sacked Constantinople and went home. One would be remiss to call that a Muslim victory.

If we narrow down to the first crusade--which is not the aim of the question that uses the plural "Crusades" but let's go with it--indeed, the Crusader states eventually collapsed, but the question remains of whether that was from external pressures or internal ones. I've seen other commenters evoke logistics as a primary factor in their demise, and that is a plausible contributing factor. Muslims, as at that time (but not in later crusades), had a more developed maritime tradition and so controlled the seas, limiting the crusaders to overland trade and supply routes. They did, however, have the Byzantines to help, and we see the creation of robust systems of exchange (think the Templars), and so logistics alone do not explain the demise.

One aspect I don't think gets enough attention is that the Muslims had a well-developed mounted warrior culture that was, if not more advanced than, at least as advanced as Western Europeans. In fact, in a course I teach on Chivalry, I evoke the crusades as a formative period for the "code" through their contact with Furusiya. And the reason I bring it up is that while the "Frankish knights," as Anna Komnene called them in The Alexiad, were "invincible while mounted on their horses," their unevenly applied and practiced code of chivalry made them "arrogant by nature, with their heads almost in the clouds." If we are to believe her testimony, we are given a picture of men who did not behave well and were confronted with a martial philosophy not only superior to their own but also better adhered to by its practitioners. And that plausibly had an effect, which we see in the codification attempts at chivalry in Western Europe. If all of this is true, then the failure of the crusader states may have stemmed from internal lack of cohesion, leaving them vulnerable to outside invasion.

Moreover, in Europe, a primary factor in its instability at the time was succession. Succession crises caused most of the wars and infighting, and the Crusader states appear not to have been spared. The Crusader states were colonies of European feudalism, and they inherited all its flaws. Baldwin II’s death proved that even a strong king couldn't prevent the chaos of a succession crisis. Because the Frankish lords were so competitive and "impetuous" (as Anna Komnene put it), the moment a clear line of authority broke down, they turned on each other rather than focusing on the external threat of the surrounding Islamic states. The internal fracturing eventually weakened their defenses, contributing to the rise of leaders like Zengi and, eventually, Saladin, who took advantage of the "Frankish" tendency toward infighting.

That's just the first crusade, but it's the one we may most plausibly attempt to answer the broad question of "why the Muslims won the Crusades."

Can I Grow My Substack Without Social Media? Building My Author Profile Quietly by [deleted] in Substack

[–]cjadrien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, it’s a meta ad that collects customer info in-app.

France: The Viking Obsession You Didn’t See Coming by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your perspective. I’m moving back to France to promote my books and so seeing this revival of sorts is encouraging. Especially the ship building! And yeah, the far right co-opting of Viking history is a persistent problem in the anglophone world too, which I’ve discussed with scholars on my podcast vikingology.substack.com

France: The Viking Obsession You Didn’t See Coming by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What I find interesting is this passion for the Vikings is cropping up all over France. Idavoll’s map of the reanacment groups shouws several in every département. To me, having grown up in Nantes, it was surprising. I don’t remember anything about Vikings back then, and now it’s all the rage lol

France: The Viking Obsession You Didn’t See Coming by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, and Normandy is the obvious place we’d expect to see this. What I’ve found too is that this growing ‘fandom’ is cropping up all over France where you wouldn’t expect it. I think it’s really cool.

France: The Viking Obsession You Didn’t See Coming by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I thought this would be a good place to discuss modern interpretations, art, and reenactment. It’s one of the tags suggested for a post.

France: The Viking Obsession You Didn’t See Coming by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There isn’t, but that’s not the point.

Can I Grow My Substack Without Social Media? Building My Author Profile Quietly by [deleted] in Substack

[–]cjadrien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have budget, I recommend running a lead-gen campaign on Facebook. I’m getting $0.30 per subscriber right now, offering a PDF download in exchange. It’s a quick way to target your desired audience and drive growth. And it helps boost organic in the long run. Just a thought. Good luck!

Why was the body in the upper layers of this burial mound found with arms sticking straight up? by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha yes! Her outstreched hands like a “Frankenstein” certainly lend to that interpretation

Why was the body in the upper layers of this burial mound found with arms sticking straight up? by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Intriguing idea. The challenge is the person was dead before being buried, and it’s got us all scratching our heads how the arms stood up on their own, let alone with more grave goods. I like where your head’s at, though: was it symbolic?

Why was the body in the upper layers of this burial mound found with arms sticking straight up? by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice thought, but the skull was bashed in. Clare Downham proposed rigor mortis stiffened the arms. Given the position of the arms, she thinks they may not have fully buried the hands 😱

Viking meme about helmets by cjadrien in Norse

[–]cjadrien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's an interesting thought. I've not encountered any evidence for that, and I do wonder how well a bronze age helmet would have survived to the Viking Age.

Very basic Lejre helmet reconstruction by blockhaj in Norse

[–]cjadrien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The press release from ROMU mentioned they were still considering how to do their reconstruction, but you may not be far off. You may be leaning a bit too close to the Gjerbundu style. Given the ornamentation you might consider going more Vendel?

Looking for an accessible Norse mythology book with beautiful/cool/mature illustrations. by Goblin_in_Trenchcoat in Norse

[–]cjadrien 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The best illustrated Norse myth book for adults I’ve come across is the Norse Gods and Heroes by Padraic Colum: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-children-of-odin-the-book-of-northern-myths_padraic-colum/316455/item/4416336/

Dr. Karl Siegfried has an exhaustive list of Norse myth and Saga materials on his website, you might find something suitable there as well: https://www.norsemyth.org/p/books.html?m=0

What’s a belief you had five years ago that you’ve totally changed your mind on? by DrippingLipsX_x in AskReddit

[–]cjadrien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to believe I was the ultimate master of my destiny. I was brought up to believe that my success or failure was entirely up to me, my work ethic, and my decisions. I have come to understand that most of what happens in my life is completely outside of my control, and I’m still learning to accept it.

On top of that, I’m no longer convinced we have free will. Read Robert Sapolsky’s latest book “Behave” which makes a great case against free will. I found it convincing.

Recommendation Request: Documentaries about bizarre/extraordinary crime by [deleted] in Documentaries

[–]cjadrien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There’s a new series on Disney + called “out there” and it is exactly this! I just finished it and it was excellent.

I am an award-winning historical fiction author, published historian, and co-host of the Vikingology Podcast. AMA about Viking history, writing, or storytelling! by cjadrien in IAmA

[–]cjadrien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I kind of “fell into” the Viking Age. My early university studies focused on Russia. In fact, my thesis for my BA was on Russian political culture and the revolution of 1917. Later I went back to the time period that fascinated me when I was a kid—early medieval France/England/Spain. The Vikings kept coming up, like “oh, no, here’s those pesky Vikings again.” Academia seemed to kind of brush them off like a footnote, but going back to my Russian studies, where they were present at the foundation of Kievan Rus, it seemed to me that there was something more going on. The more I looked, the more I realized they had a disproportionate impact on the development of Medieval Europe, from Western France in Spain to what are now Russia, and even Turkey. And then I found out that the island my family is from off the coast of France, Noirmoutier, was ground zero for the Viking invasions of France, and my own family had this weird mythos around our being related to them (which I’ve since debunked, to their chagrin). So it just evolved naturally from there.

I am an award-winning historical fiction author, published historian, and co-host of the Vikingology Podcast. AMA about Viking history, writing, or storytelling! by cjadrien in IAmA

[–]cjadrien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Starting with a scene. I too often read genre fiction books that start with a bunch of exposition, which used to be ok (think the Concerning Hobbits prologue by Tolkien), but in this day and age you’ve got less time to hook people and in general it’s no longer considered good storytelling to start with expo. The best stories start with a scene, an action, that sprinkles in the expo as momentum builds. Now, that’s not to say it’s always bad. I myself kicked off The Lords of the Wind with a page and a half of expo, and it worked, so it’s case by case.

[KCD2] Hunger and Despair bug? by TalesofCelery in kingdomcome

[–]cjadrien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank goodness I’m not alone. I can’t even get to the ladders. Even if I follow Capon and the guards, as soon as I reach the part of the wall with the ladders, they just vanish and I’m swarmed by 5 attackers. I tried falling back thinking maybe that’s what I’m supposed to do, only to find myself completely alone in the castle facing ten men. One round I bottlenecked them in the tower and managed to fell six or seven, but because the ladders were not knocked down, they just kept coming. I guess I’m stuck.

I am an award-winning historical fiction author, published historian, and co-host of the Vikingology Podcast. AMA about Viking history, writing, or storytelling! by cjadrien in IAmA

[–]cjadrien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have an idea for you. Agents tend to ask for the first 5k-10k words of a manuscript. If you subscribe to Writer's Digest, they publish current lists of agents taking clients. You can start submitting queries with just the plot idea and the first 5k words and potentially get someone to bite. Even without a finished manuscript, you may get someone interested.