Acts of Valor During the Crusades 

Honestly most of us in Western Christendom just don't really think about Israel. We are in the cultural and economic centers of the world and we're too busy being happy to worry about you guys. I feel very good about life, getting to be involved in a strong Catholic community in which I can raise my family. Things are looking good, and we have definitely held on to our heritage and prize the Crusades as a key part of our story. I'm a young man with a lot of hope.

Obviously you haven't been to any of the traditional Christian churches in the West. I'm Catholic, and at my parish we have lots of kids and we're very proud of our heritage. And I don't own a TV. The conservative/traditional Christian movement is growing in the West. We're a minority, but a strong, resilient minority. You won't be rid of us any time soon, Mr hateful :) Deus vult!

My favourite acts of valour during crusades is in the 1396 crusade against the Ottomans. The French-Burgundian knights had rushed on ahead of the Hungarians, were forced to dismount and rip out a row of stakes, and ploughed through the Ottomans until, exhausted from battering down three of the Muslim battle lines and climbing a hill on foot, they were ambushed by mounted Turkish elites. Many tried to flee but some stood their ground and held. Chronicles speak of John the Fearless of Burgundy, Boucicaut the marshal of France and the constable Count d'Eu, admiral Jean de Vienne, the Trémoille brothers, and old Enguerrand de Coucy standing their ground with heaps of corpses around them. And my favourite of these is old admiral of France Jean de Vienne who carried the crusader banner and held it on the hill with only a handful of companions. Six times the crusader banner was knocked down and six times it came back up until finally the old admiral himself was killed, still holding the banner is his hands. Or else, in that same battle, an anonymous Polish knight who, after the wipe-out of the French and the retreat of the Hungarians, took position with his men on a hill that overlooked the crusader fleet where it was chaos with all the fleeing crusaders scrambling for room on the ships. They were killed to a man but their sacrifice prevented the Ottomans from getting archers up there and raining arrows on the crusader fleet from above.

Hahaha, I love comments like this. They are so entertaining. Please, come back any time and keep commenting!

There are always "good men" on both sides, just as there are always "scoundrels" on both sides. I enjoyed these stories.

Good one tuskin4. That would actually be a cool video in itself.

Absolutely correct, Loyal!

Billyslo87, that sounds like a fascinating story! I have actually never heard it. What exactly happened?

Great video. Keep em coming.

One of my favorite stories is the one of when Godfrey of Bouillon was captured and why the sultan let him go. I have met and talked to a man that is a direct descendent of Louis IX and that is one of his favorite stories to tell of his ancestors.

I have been reading The Book Of Contemplation for some time. It is a very entertaining book and thank you for sharing the stories.

@jrod2850 Thanks so much! I"m glad you enjoyed it!

@tuskin4 That would be an excellent one. When people talk about the Crusades they don't usually mention the Norwegians. That is an awesome suggestion.

Checked and re-checked.

Well neither are the Finns or Danes mentioned (I think) because all the Scandinavian nations along with Germany,France,Austria,Serbs ,Hungarians,Russians were called only "Franks". The best movie from a Christian viewpoint I ever saw is made by Scandinavians in Swedish called "Arn the Knight Templar" a 3 hour film in 2 parts made by Germans,Swedes,Danes & Finns. I read the books well researched & the film is so well made with good translation in English. The best film concerning both sides.

As far as I’m aware the term “Brave❤️heart”, comes from Scottish🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿crusaders campaigning in Muslim Spain 🇪🇸. Sir Jamie “ the Black “ Douglas ordered a charge to escape encirclement by an numerically 👳🏾‍♂️superior👳🏾‍♂️enemy👳🏾‍♂️. Robert Bruce king 👑 of Scots🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 whose heart was embalmed then incorporated into a mace had tasked the Black Douglas to take the relic on crusade . In the moment before impact the mace was launched at the infidel with the cry “lead on Brave heart”. Sir Jamie Douglas fell as the heart 💔 was retrieved by the earl of Loudoun🏰castle. Before the Hollywood movie Wallace was known as Gromit’s owner.

I love a good story and I am a believer in history for the sake of history, but it seems that you are trying to make a point here with the stories you are recounting. What is the message that we are supposed to derive from these tales?

As I agreed above, but in actuality Christian Europe is not getting it done,we have always relied on G-D to help us.

7th Crusade?

Actually, you lost the most important battle of them all - the Siege of Jerusalem.

You sure that the Muslims were all that nice to the Jews? I think you should check your sources on that one...

And stop obsessing about Jews. In this period, they were a non-entity in the region - at least politically and militarily.