Cannibalism Incidents in the Crusades


The crusades are seen as a struggle process which had been experienced between Western and Eastern civilizations. In this process, it is in question that has been the Christians' a total attack on the Muslim world. During these attacks based on completely unjustified reasons, Christians committed the most pitiless and brutal crimes of the history of the humanity. Meanwhile in addition to the usual crimes such as torture, rape, theft and plundering, the barbarously crimes such as the murdering of the pregnant women by getting incised their bellies, the throwing of people down from the walls while they were still alive, or their heads being cut off and on display also became commonplace. Sometimes people's noses, ears, lips, arms and legs were cut and mocked. However, the cannibalism incidents that took place during the crusades overshadow all other possible crimes of humanity. While the cannibalism occurrences in question showed the size of the barbarity of the crusaders, it became one of the reasons why Muslims viewed the Western civilization with suspicion. In the meantime, of course, some of the Christian historians ignored cannibalism, as Westerners are extremely aware of the crimes they committed in the crusades. And some alleged that the events of aforesaid cannibalism were in fact related to a tactical game planned to provide psychological superiority to the enemy. As for Western historians, who admited the cannibalism and openly mentioned it, tried to soften the blame of the crime by saying that the crusaders ate human flesh because of an extremely vital necessity like hunger. Nevertheless, it is not possible to explain the shame in question within the current humanity norms. In this study, the cases of aforesaid cannibalism which the Christians who try to cover up are discussed.


Keywords


cannibalism, Crusades, barbarism, crimes of humanity, Westerners

Author : Emrullah KALELİ
Number of pages: 217-231
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.29228/TurkishStudies.22912
Full text:
Share:
Alıntı Yap:
Atıf Sayısı: : 3
Turkish Studies - Historical Analysis
E-Mail Subscription

By subscribing to E-Newsletter, you can get the latest news to your e-mail.