The Truth About The Crusades [Remastered]

Stefan Molyneux

Were the Crusades an unprovoked act of aggression on behalf of bloodthirsty Christians? Did the First Crusade mark the beginning of close to a millennium of hostility between Christianity and Islam, or did the conflict begin centuries earlier?  Stefan Molyneux takes a closer look at the historical background of the Crusades and presents shocking information that is often hidden from the general population. What is the truth about the origins of the Crusades?  Sources: https://fdrurl.com/truth-about-crusades  The Truth About Slavery: Past, Present and Future - https://fdpodcasts.com/2620  The Truth About Empire - and Western Colonialism! - https://fdpodcasts.com/3097  Originally published December 17, 2015  0:00:00 History’s Perspective 0:01:24 Islam’s Early Conquests 0:04:23 Constantinople and Europe 0:06:51 Italy Under Siege 0:11:12 Spain and the Reconquista 0:13:33 Taxes Under Muslim Rule 0:15:45 Byzantine Desperation 0:18:23 Comparing Empires 0:20:50 Ottoman Slavery in Europe 0:22:06 The Slave Trade Record 0:27:05 Europe’s Historical Guilt 0:28:48 Culture Without Roots 0:29:42 Defending Western Civilization  Support philosophy! https://freedomain.com/donate/  GET FREEDOMAIN MERCH! https://shop.freedomain.com/  SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON X! https://x.com/StefanMolyneux  Follow me on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@freedomain1  GET MY NEW BOOK 'PEACEFUL PARENTING', THE INTERACTIVE PEACEFUL PARENTING AI, AND THE FULL AUDIOBOOK! https://peacefulparenting.com/  Join the PREMIUM philosophy community on the web for free!  Subscribers get 12 HOURS on the "Truth About the French Revolution," multiple interactive multi-lingual philosophy AIs trained on thousands of hours of my material - as well as AIs for Real-Time Relationships, Bitcoin, Peaceful Parenting, and Call-In Shows!  You also receive private livestreams, HUNDREDS of exclusive premium shows, early release podcasts, the 22 Part History of Philosophers series and much more!  See you soon! https://freedomain.locals.com/support/promo/FREEDOMAIN2026

Transcript

00:00Hi everybody, Stefan Molyny from Free to Main Radio. Hope you're doing well.

00:02Wouldn't it be great if when society faced a real crisis, it could just shine out the big H flashlight,

00:08the searchlight?

00:09We need a historian, we need a historian out here to give us some perspective.

00:13Well, of course, there are a lot of Middle Eastern people on the move, of course, the majority of them

00:18Muslims.

00:19This is not the first time in history this has happened.

00:21I'm not saying this is exactly the same as the past.

00:23But those who do not understand the past are condemned to repeat it as the saying goes.

00:31So we need to put things in perspective because there's this kind of general historical principle which goes like this.

00:39Europeans, bad, bad Europeans, slavery, colonialism, smallpox blankets, genocide, bad Europeans.

00:47And historically, it really doesn't hold up as well as you'd think.

00:53So let's dig back into history, figure out how Europe and the Muslims have got along in the past and

01:00see if we can untangle some potentials for a different future from the past.

01:05That's really the point of history, to take us off the train tracks of ignorant inevitability and give us some

01:11free will in the matter.

01:13So this is an important and essential presentation.

01:16This is the truth about the Crusades, really the truth about Christians and Islam in history.

01:25So Islam, of course, developed in the Middle East in the early 17th century, 622 to be exact.

01:32Now, it's kind of weird because not a lot of history in Europe in the Dark Ages.

01:37And so we kind of start in the Quattrocento, we kind of start in the 11th, 1200s.

01:41So it's kind of weird.

01:42I mean, when I say 622 rather than 1622, it almost feels like a stardate.

01:46But let's just swallow that and keep going.

01:51Now, early in the 7th century, Islam developed.

01:55By the end of the 7th century, it had conquered most of the Middle East and North Africa.

02:00This was not the most peaceful conversion the world has ever seen.

02:05So let's get started.

02:08See, before Islam, the Middle East was populated by millions of Christians and Jews and Zoroastrians and Arab polytheists.

02:16It was home to some of the largest centers of Greco-Roman civilization and Christianity.

02:21Zoroastrianism, the greatest religion, because it gave us Farouk Bulsara one Freddie Mercury.

02:26Nonetheless, the Christian church back in the day had five, count them, five major jurisdictions or patriarchates,

02:33whose capitals were the following cities.

02:35Alexandria in modern-day Egypt.

02:38Antioch, located in modern-day Turkey and known as the Cradle of Christianity.

02:43Constantinople, yes, it's a tongue twister of a song, and is located in modern-day Istanbul, Turkey.

02:49Jerusalem, of course, the holy ground of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

02:53And, number five, Rome.

02:55So, this is where it started.

02:58Now, in 613, Zoroastrian Persians captured Antioch in modern-day Turkey.

03:04Several decades later, the Persian Empire was conquered by the Muslims, and Antioch came under Muslim rule.

03:11637, Jerusalem was captured by invading Muslims, creating great fodder for Christa Burke songs.

03:17In 641, Alexandria fell in Muslim hands, into Muslim hands, during the Muslim conquest of Egypt.

03:26Now, Christianity, kind of a Middle Eastern religion.

03:31Not really Christian countries left in the Middle East.

03:34You could argue Lebanon with its sort of split power, but Christianity is kind of fading there.

03:39So, one historian has noted, quote, less than a generation after the prophet's death, Christian North Africa, home of theologians

03:46such as St. Augustine and martyrs, like Saints Felicity and Perpetua, who were central to the development of Christian tradition

03:55and thought, and rich with Christian history, had fallen to Islam.

03:59Right?

04:00Christian North Africa.

04:02Think of Christianity in North Africa.

04:03Not anymore.

04:04In short, North Africa, from Egypt to present-day Morocco, is a vibrant part of the pre-Islamic Christian world.

04:11How many Christians are there in North Africa today?

04:15And what happened to all the millions of the rest?

04:23So, let's get into Constantinople.

04:27Sieges, plural, of Constantinople.

04:29Constantinople, the capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire, was first besieged by Muslim forces in 674.

04:35After four years of fighting, the Muslims were finally repelled.

04:40Quote, from one historian,

04:41The Arab attack was the fiercest which had ever been launched by the infidels against a Christian stronghold.

04:47And the Byzantine capital was the last dam left to withstand the rising Muslim tide.

04:53The fact that it held, saved not only the Byzantine Empire, but the whole of European civilization.

04:59So, Roman Empire 101, of course, there was an eastern part and a western part of the Roman Empire.

05:06The western part, of course, fell with the fall of Rome.

05:08The eastern part lasted several hundred years longer.

05:13The Muslims returned to Constantinople with vengeance.

05:16Apparently, they'd left their keys and scimitars behind in 717 and laid siege to the city once more.

05:23The Byzantines, aware of the Muslim threat, had signed a treaty with the Bulgarian Emperor Turvel the previous year.

05:29Under terms of the treaty, Turvel was bound to help repel the Muslims at Constantinople.

05:34And so, the Bulgarian army attacked the invading Arabs and forced them to fight a war on two fronts.

05:41As happened to Germany in the First World War and again in the Second World War.

05:47Not a very easy thing to survive.

05:50Now, Bulgarians, by the way, did convert to Christianity two centuries later.

05:55Largely because of the strong cultural influence of the Byzantine Empire.

06:00Now, sandwiched between the walls of Constantinople and the Bulgarian forces,

06:04the Muslims were gradually worn down and eventually lost to a Bulgarian onslaught.

06:10The successful defense of Constantinople was one of the two great victories of the 8th century.

06:15And the barbarian-Christian alliance prevented Muslims from entering Europe.

06:20And doing to Europe what they had done to the Middle East and North Africa.

06:25Indeed, when the Byzantine Empire was finally conquered by the Muslim Ottomans in 1453,

06:30there were Muslim armies at the gates of Vienna in the heart of Europe within less than a century.

06:36Within less than a century.

06:39So, this idea that you kind of got to keep them out, otherwise they're going to overrun you.

06:43Well, it was proven true in 1453.

06:47After 1453.

06:51So, Italy.

06:53Muslims first invaded southern Italy, which was then a part of the Byzantine Empire, in 667.

06:59And relentless raids continued until the island of Sicily was eventually fully conquered in 902.

07:05An Islamic state, the Emirate of Sicily was established on the island,

07:08and Muslims would remain in control of it for 264 years.

07:18Now, when the Muslims get an island or get access to the sea, at least at this point in history,

07:25well, they kind of went raiding and took millions of Europeans into absolutely brutal slavery,

07:31which we'll get into more of in a few minutes.

07:33So, using Sicily as the base of their operations,

07:36Muslims began to raid the southern parts of the Italian peninsula for hundreds of years.

07:40The islands of Corsica and Sardinia were also repeatedly ravaged by Muslim raids.

07:47In 846, the Muslims launched an attack on Rome,

07:50but were stopped by Emperor Aurelian's walls around the city.

07:55I guess he was the Trump of his day.

07:57Muslims back then clearly weren't as proficient in the use of ladders

08:00as modern-day Mexicans along the southern U.S. border.

08:04The invading Muslims sacked the outskirts of the city,

08:09killing men and women regardless of their age,

08:11but most importantly, with regards to Christianity at least,

08:14they looted St. Peter's and St. Paul's basilicas.

08:16A basilica is a kind of church where you go as a pilgrimage.

08:20These basilicas were located outside the city walls.

08:23Not only did the Muslim invaders desecrate the burial sites of St. Peter and St. Paul,

08:27but they also pillaged two of the holiest places in all of Christendom.

08:31I don't know where you are in your Christian theology.

08:34St. Peter and St. Paul are kind of up there in terms of importance.

08:41So, a second attack on Rome was thwarted in 849

08:44after a coalition of maritime cities joined the papal forces

08:47to defeat an invading Muslim fleet.

08:50The Muslim occupation of Italy posed a serious threat to Rome for centuries.

08:55The last Arab strongholds in southern Italy fell in 1091.

09:00Ah, look at that.

09:02Four years before a pope preached about the First Crusade.

09:06I wonder if that's a coincidence or not.

09:10In the early 10th century, a Christian alliance,

09:13an early precursor to the Crusades,

09:14was formed between Rome, the Franks, the Byzantines,

09:18the Lombards, who are a Germanic tribe,

09:20and the Italian city of Naples.

09:22Well, the reason you probably haven't heard about it

09:25is because the goal of the alliance was to repel the Muslim invaders of Italy.

09:30Indeed, Christian forces led by Pope John X

09:35successfully destroyed a key Muslim fortress in central Italy in 915.

09:39This is one of the few times in history

09:42when a pope has led an army into battle.

09:46Pope X, of course, Pope X, I imagine a forefather of Malcolm X,

09:51or Malcolm X, I guess I'll look that up later.

09:55So, let's just do a quick brief summary here.

09:57We talked about five key Christian capitals.

10:00Well, by the end of the 7th century,

10:04three of the five Christian capitals were under Muslim control.

10:08Constantinople was besieged twice by Muslims,

10:11and Rome was attacked and had its holy shrines pillaged and desecrated.

10:15So, you could see why the Christians might be rather upset

10:21by these continual Muslim onslaughts and predations

10:25and the stealing of wide swaths of populations

10:27and selling it into brutal slavery.

10:29But wait!

10:31There's more.

10:33Let's get into it.

10:35And the reason why this is important

10:36is that the Europeans, you know,

10:39have gone through a fairly self-critical phase,

10:41at least since the beginning of the 20th century.

10:44You know, let's review colonialism.

10:46Let's see whether it's a good idea.

10:47Let's look at our participation in slavery

10:49and see whether that was a good idea.

10:51Kind of gone through a self-critical phase.

10:53I'm not sure,

10:54actually I am quite sure,

10:55that Islam has not gone through the same phase of saying,

10:58gosh, I wonder if repeatedly assaulting and attacking

11:01and desecrating Christian neighborhoods and lands

11:04and people and basilicas was really the right thing to do.

11:06Guess we're kind of sorry.

11:08What about slavery again,

11:09which we'll get to in a minute or two?

11:12In 711, Muslims invaded Spain,

11:15which was inhabited by Christian Visigoths,

11:17and they conquered most of Spain in about nine years.

11:20And they established the first Islamic state

11:22on European territory,

11:24the Emirate of Cordoba.

11:27The Reconquista,

11:28or the period in which the Christians

11:29tried and tried to retake Spain and Portugal

11:31in an endless series of bloody battles

11:33lasted for approximately 770 years.

11:38Indeed, the Muslims' stranglehold

11:40over the Iberian Peninsula and Europe

11:42didn't loosen until the 12th century.

11:46And the Muslim rulers were not fully expelled

11:48until 1492.

11:51So, of course, when ISIS and so on,

11:53they talk about going to take Rome,

11:55well, they're referring to historical attempts

11:58that have happened in the past.

12:00See, they have a history.

12:01Europeans have self-hatred,

12:03but everyone else gets a history.

12:05Now, once the Muslims secured control

12:06over the Iberian Peninsula,

12:08they tried to conquer the rest of Europe.

12:10However,

12:11oh, look, it's Muslims and French people again.

12:13The Franks stood in their way.

12:16In 732,

12:17one of the most important battles

12:19in the history of the world

12:20took place near the city of Tours, France.

12:25Frankish forces led by Charles Martel

12:27defeated an invading Muslim army

12:30and put an end to Muslim expansions

12:32into Europe from the Southwest.

12:35For the Southeast,

12:36they had to wait for Angela Merkel,

12:38who apparently now is kind of on their side.

12:41Western historians regard the Battle of Tours

12:43as the battle that saved

12:46European Western Christian civilization.

12:48The victories at Tours and Constantinople

12:50halted Muslim conquests in Europe

12:52for several centuries.

12:57Ah, let's break it up with a little visual,

12:59shall we?

13:00This is the end of the Reconquista.

13:03Battle of Tours.

13:05I think there's a woman in there

13:06somewhere in the middle.

13:08Perhaps it's an angel.

13:10And, last but not least,

13:11let's have a look at the spread

13:13of the Muslim caliphate

13:14from 622, the founding of Islam,

13:16to 750.

13:17That's not a lot.

13:18It's not a big time slice

13:20in history.

13:22And, that's quite a lot

13:23of non-gray in the map here.

13:27So, there were, of course,

13:28this is a caliphate,

13:29just basically means empire.

13:33So, what was life

13:34under Muslim rule?

13:37Well, for the Christians

13:38in the Middle East

13:39and North Africa,

13:40and perhaps soon to be Europe,

13:43well, quite brutal,

13:44I think is the phrase

13:45we're looking for.

13:46So, here's how it worked.

13:48If Christians somehow

13:49survived the Muslim onslaught

13:50and weren't forcibly

13:52converted to Islam,

13:53they were given the status

13:54of Zimis,

13:55non-Muslim second-class citizens,

13:57and were required

13:58to pay exorbitant taxes.

14:02The most common method

14:04of subjugating

14:04the Christian population

14:05were the Jizya,

14:07a religious head tax

14:08imposed on non-Muslims,

14:09and the Karaj,

14:11a non-Muslim land tax.

14:13So, if you want a Muslim,

14:14you have to pay these taxes.

14:15Many Christians chose

14:16to convert to Islam

14:17to avoid, say,

14:19starving to death,

14:20the crushing tax burden.

14:21The Jizya alone

14:22was more than 20%

14:23of a person's wealth.

14:24This is back when

14:25there really wasn't

14:26that much wealth in the world,

14:27well above the norm

14:28of taxes for the time.

14:29And, of course,

14:30this particular tax

14:31could be set much higher

14:32depending on the whim

14:33of the Muslim rulers.

14:37Now, of course,

14:38it was a slow train of news

14:40in the middle-to-ancient world.

14:42So, news of the Christian suffering

14:44reached the West

14:46in the late 10th

14:46and early 11th century

14:47when a Muslim emperor

14:48ordered the persecution

14:50and forced conversion

14:51of many Christians

14:52in his empire.

14:53The oppression of the Zimis

14:55culminated in the destruction

14:57of the Church

14:57of the Holy Sepulchre

14:59in Jerusalem,

15:00the most revered Church

15:02in the Christian world.

15:05So, the Church

15:06of the Holy Sepulchre

15:07is the site

15:07of Jesus' crucifixion,

15:09burial,

15:10and resurrection.

15:12Kind of key,

15:13kind of important,

15:14kind of central.

15:15A historian has noted,

15:16word reached the West

15:18fairly quickly

15:18of the Christian suffering

15:20and vulnerability,

15:20of the destruction

15:21of the Church

15:22of the Holy Sepulchre,

15:24and of the difficulties

15:25encountered by pilgrims

15:26to the Holy Land.

15:28You've got to go

15:28make the pilgrimage

15:29for a lot of these people.

15:31That news would color

15:32and inform

15:33Western attitudes

15:34towards Jerusalem

15:35and Muslims

15:35throughout the 11th century

15:37and into the era

15:38of what we call

15:39the Crusades.

15:43So,

15:45even though

15:46the Christian Byzantines

15:47repelled the second

15:48Muslim attack

15:49on Constantinople,

15:50the fight for the survival

15:51of their homelands

15:52was far from over.

15:54Indeed,

15:55the bloody battle

15:56between the Byzantines

15:57and the Muslims

15:57continued for centuries

15:59and both sides

15:59had various degrees

16:00of successes

16:01and failures.

16:03Despite their

16:04desperate attempts,

16:06the Byzantines

16:06never succeeded

16:07in recapturing

16:08their territory.

16:09As devout Christians,

16:10they tried to reclaim

16:11Jerusalem

16:12but failed repeatedly.

16:14Of course,

16:15Jerusalem incredibly

16:16important to the

16:16Christian world,

16:17so as one historian

16:18puts it,

16:18quote,

16:19the Byzantines

16:19were demonstrably

16:21trying very hard

16:22to recover it

16:23more than a century

16:24before the first

16:25crusade.

16:27In 1071,

16:29the Christian Byzantines

16:30suffered a crushing

16:31defeat by the Muslims,

16:32lost a large part

16:33of their territory,

16:34and even allowed

16:35their emperor

16:36to be captured.

16:38Between 1073

16:39and 1095,

16:40the Byzantines

16:41desperately begged

16:42members of the

16:42Western nobility

16:43and Christian leaders

16:44for military aid.

16:46And remember,

16:47if the Muslims

16:47get through the Byzantines,

16:48they're at the gates

16:49of Vienna

16:50before you know it.

16:52In 1095,

16:54ambassadors sent

16:54by the Byzantine

16:55emperor

16:56appeared before

16:57Pope Urban II

16:58to request

16:59Western help

17:00in dealing with

17:00the Muslims.

17:02Later that year,

17:03the Pope

17:03put forward

17:04the idea

17:05of a Christian

17:05crusade

17:06for the first

17:07time

17:08in history.

17:09So,

17:10big picture time.

17:11We have over

17:11four centuries

17:12of Muslim aggression

17:13towards Christians

17:14and their territories.

17:16Three out of the

17:17five Christian

17:18centristes

17:18are in the

17:20hands of

17:21dominant Muslims.

17:22Rome was attacked.

17:23Two of its holy sites

17:24desecrated.

17:26Finally,

17:26Constantinople,

17:27one of the last

17:27remaining capitals

17:28of Christianity,

17:29is facing a Muslim

17:30threat that is

17:31almost impossible

17:32to contain.

17:32So,

17:33given this

17:33background,

17:34the idea that

17:35the Christian

17:36crusades were

17:36some unprovoked

17:38act of random

17:39aggression on

17:39behalf of

17:40bloodthirsty

17:41Christians is

17:41madness.

17:43It's blowback

17:44for 400 years

17:45of ever-expanding,

17:47ever-invading

17:48Islam.

17:50Now,

17:51ask your Muslim

17:52friends,

17:52what's their view

17:53of the crusades?

17:54Is this view

17:55at all accepted?

17:57Not really.

17:58In general,

17:58nobody mentions the

17:59fact that Jerusalem,

18:00whose capture was

18:01the goal of the

18:01first crusades,

18:03was first conquered

18:04by the Muslims,

18:05and the Christian

18:06crusaders just

18:07wanted to take

18:07back what was

18:08theirs to begin

18:09with.

18:09You know,

18:09it's funny how

18:10400 years of

18:11throwing endless

18:12waves of people

18:13at the Christians

18:14will eventually

18:15get blowback.

18:16And I'm telling

18:17you,

18:17when Europeans

18:18get annoyed,

18:19they get very

18:20annoyed.

18:24So,

18:24you've heard a lot

18:26about Western

18:26colonialism.

18:27You know,

18:27one of the

18:28interesting things

18:28about Western

18:29colonialism,

18:29and we've got a

18:30whole presentation

18:31about this,

18:31which we'll link

18:32to below.

18:33Generally,

18:33the life expectancy

18:34went up,

18:35the rule of law

18:35was established,

18:36and generally

18:38corruption diminished

18:39and so on.

18:39And, you know,

18:41when the British

18:41left, for instance,

18:42in Pakistan,

18:43a lot of people

18:44fled because the

18:45Muslims were coming.

18:46So,

18:47have you heard

18:48much about

18:49the Muslim

18:50colonialism,

18:51the Muslim

18:51imperialism,

18:52Islamic

18:53caliphates,

18:54the empires?

18:54Well,

18:55at the height

18:55of its power,

18:55the first Muslim

18:56empire,

18:56the Rashidun

18:58caliphate spanned

18:59a territory of

19:009 million square

19:01kilometers.

19:02That's close to

19:02the size of the

19:04modern United States,

19:05so not particularly

19:06small.

19:07The second Muslim

19:08empire,

19:09the Umayyad

19:10caliphate,

19:10was one and a half

19:11times larger,

19:12clocking in at

19:1315 million square

19:14kilometers.

19:15That's close to the

19:16size of modern-day

19:17Russia,

19:17which, if I remember

19:18rightly,

19:19is a little bit

19:19tough to pogo-stick

19:20across in one week.

19:22So,

19:23let's compare the

19:23Roman empire,

19:24which, of course,

19:25most Europeans have

19:25heard of.

19:26The Roman empire

19:27in its prime

19:27encompassed only

19:285 million

19:30kilometers square,

19:31the kind of thing

19:31that you lick

19:32and put on a

19:32postage stamp.

19:33Now,

19:34after 800 years,

19:36the Roman empire

19:36had 5 million

19:37square kilometers.

19:39The Umayyad

19:40caliphate became

19:41three times larger

19:42than the Roman

19:42empire in less

19:43than 130 years

19:44after Muslim

19:45conquests began

19:46in the Middle East.

19:47So,

19:47it took less

19:48than 130 years

19:50for the Muslims

19:50to do three

19:52times what the

19:53Roman empire

19:53took 800 years

19:54to do.

19:54So,

19:56it was spreading.

19:58That's kind of

19:59what I'm saying.

19:59I guess they were

20:00just very convincing.

20:03Now,

20:03Muslim conquests

20:04weren't limited

20:05to the pre-Christian

20:06crusade times.

20:06They continued

20:07well into

20:09the 17th century.

20:10The Ottoman

20:11or Turkish empire

20:12captured Constantinople

20:13in 1453,

20:15putting an end

20:16to the Christian

20:17Byzantine empire,

20:19conquered the

20:19Balkans,

20:20and eventually

20:21attempted to

20:21capture Vienna,

20:22located right in

20:23the middle of Europe

20:24in both 1529

20:25and 1683.

20:29In 1878,

20:31after Russia

20:31won a

20:33Russo-Turkish war,

20:34Bulgaria was the

20:35last European territory

20:37to be freed

20:37from Muslim rule.

20:39Ah yes,

20:41those counting,

20:42that's

20:421,122 years

20:45after the

20:46Emirate of Cordoba

20:47was established.

20:50And again,

20:52to get a sense

20:52of what life

20:53was like,

20:54for Christians

20:54under the Muslim

20:56rule,

20:57take a look

20:57at the history

20:57of the Balkans.

20:58Not only

20:59were Christians

21:00massacred

21:01every time

21:01they opposed

21:02their Muslim

21:02overlords,

21:03but they were

21:04also forced

21:04to pay

21:05this religious

21:06tax,

21:07the jizya,

21:08in exchange

21:08for keeping

21:09their religion

21:09and, say,

21:11what they were

21:12sentimentally attached

21:13to,

21:13which was their

21:14heads

21:15still being on

21:16their bodies.

21:17Now,

21:18interestingly,

21:19ISIS is currently

21:20forcing Christians

21:21in Syria

21:21to pay

21:22this jizya,

21:23this particular

21:24religious tax.

21:26And the Turks

21:27also imposed

21:30what is not

21:31euphemistically

21:32called

21:32the blood tax.

21:34Now,

21:35under the

21:35Turkish

21:36Muslim

21:37Ottoman rule,

21:39the Christian

21:41boys aged

21:428-18

21:43were routinely

21:44abducted

21:45from their

21:45parents,

21:45forcibly

21:46converted

21:47to Islam

21:47and then

21:48enrolled

21:48in the

21:48Ottoman

21:49military,

21:50which formed

21:51the elite

21:52Janissary

21:53Corps.

21:54So,

21:54stolen from

21:55your parents,

21:56forcibly

21:56converted to

21:57Islam,

21:57thrown into

21:58the military,

21:59that is

22:00quite a tax.

22:01It's a little

22:02tough to put

22:02that on

22:03your 1040.

22:06Now,

22:07of course,

22:08every time

22:08you hear

22:09about Europeans

22:11in sort

22:11of the

22:13mid-last

22:14millennia,

22:15slavery,

22:17domination,

22:17imperialism,

22:18slavery,

22:19you European

22:20bastards.

22:21Well,

22:22did you ever

22:22hear about

22:23Islamic slavery?

22:23You should

22:24have,

22:24because it

22:25was really

22:26quite a lot,

22:26very big,

22:27and exceedingly

22:27brutal.

22:28And we've got

22:28a whole

22:28presentation on

22:29this channel

22:29called

22:29The Truth

22:30About Slavery.

22:30We'll go

22:31into this

22:31in more detail.

22:32But Islam

22:33dominated the

22:34slave trade

22:34between the

22:357th and

22:3615th centuries.

22:38The Christians

22:39entered the

22:39market of human

22:40flesh much

22:40later.

22:411519 to

22:421815 is

22:43the period

22:44of Christian

22:44slave trading.

22:46The death

22:47toll from

22:4814 centuries

22:49of the

22:50Muslim slave

22:51trade in

22:51Africa is

22:52estimated at

22:53over 112

22:56million souls.

22:58Now,

22:58the Muslim

22:59slave trade

22:59typically dealt

23:00in the sale

23:01of castrated

23:02male slaves

23:03called

23:03eunuchs.

23:05eunuchs,

23:06later to be

23:07renamed as

23:08an operating

23:08system,

23:09were created

23:09by completely

23:10amputating

23:10the scrotum

23:11and penis

23:12of 8 to

23:1312 year old

23:13African boys.

23:15As you can

23:15imagine,

23:16the survival

23:16rate of this

23:18savage mutilation

23:19was very,

23:20very low.

23:21And

23:23Africans,

23:24of course,

23:24in Africa,

23:25are constantly

23:25complaining about

23:26Western imperialism,

23:27European imperialism,

23:28even though life

23:29expectancy more

23:30than doubled

23:30when Europeans

23:31took over

23:32South Africa.

23:33Do you see

23:34a lot of

23:34people from

23:35Africa going

23:35to the

23:36Islamic countries

23:36complaining about

23:37the much

23:38longer and

23:39much more

23:39brutal

23:40Islamic

23:41slave trade?

23:42No!

23:42Because

23:43Muslims are

23:44not self-critical.

23:46Europeans

23:47have gone

23:48from self-criticism

23:49to pathological

23:50civilization and

23:51soul-destroying

23:52self-hatred,

23:53but not a lot

23:53of people going

23:54out to Saudi

23:54Arabia saying,

23:55hey man,

23:55you owe us

23:56reparations for

23:57slavery,

23:57because they'd

23:58be like,

23:59hey,

23:59you'd be a

23:59good slave.

24:01Um,

24:03historian Robert

24:04Davis estimates

24:05that North

24:06African Muslim

24:07pirates abducted

24:08and enslaved

24:09more than a

24:09million Europeans

24:10from coastal

24:11towns between

24:111530 and

24:131780 alone.

24:14The practice

24:15of kidnapping

24:16Christians to be

24:17sold to slaves

24:17dates back to

24:18the 7th century.

24:19Now, of course,

24:19when Christian

24:20Europeans went

24:21to Africa,

24:22they couldn't

24:22go inland

24:23because they

24:23couldn't survive

24:24the bugs,

24:25right,

24:25the viruses

24:26and so on.

24:27And so they

24:28bought black

24:30slaves from other

24:30blacks who'd

24:31captured them

24:31and who were

24:32selling them

24:32to the whites.

24:33But the

24:35Muslims

24:35bypassed the

24:36middleman,

24:36went directly

24:37and caught

24:37the slaves

24:38themselves or

24:38simply stole

24:38them from

24:39Christian families.

24:42One historian

24:43noted,

24:44quote,

24:44it was the

24:45perpetual raiding

24:46of Muslim

24:46pirates and

24:47slave traders

24:48that brought

24:49about the

24:49abandonment

24:50throughout

24:50southern Europe

24:51of the

24:51scattered

24:52settlements

24:52of classical

24:53times and

24:53the retreat

24:54to defended

24:55hilltop

24:55fortifications,

24:56the first

24:57medieval castles.

24:58The same

24:59raiding led

24:59to the

25:00abandonment

25:00of the

25:00old agricultural

25:01systems with

25:02their irrigation

25:02dikes and

25:03ditches.

25:03So, hey,

25:04if you ever

25:05wondered why

25:05there were

25:06castles originally

25:06in Europe,

25:07it's because of

25:08Muslim slave

25:08traders.

25:09And this

25:10meant, of

25:10course,

25:11couldn't do

25:11any fishing,

25:12couldn't go

25:12down to

25:13the shore,

25:14couldn't spend

25:14a day at

25:14the seaside,

25:16and also

25:17couldn't engage

25:18in the kind

25:18of large-scale

25:19irrigation and

25:20agriculture that

25:21helped stop

25:21Europeans from

25:22starving to

25:23death in the

25:23winter.

25:24Guys are the

25:24Muslim slave

25:25traders.

25:25This is one of

25:26the things that

25:26Jefferson had to

25:27deal with when he

25:27became president,

25:28was, yes,

25:29that's right,

25:30Muslim slave

25:30traders constantly

25:31infesting the

25:32sea lanes.

25:36So the barbaric

25:37slave raiding

25:37activities of

25:38Muslim pirates

25:39continued to have a

25:40telling effect on

25:41Europe throughout the

25:41centuries.

25:42France, England, and

25:43Spain lost thousands

25:45of ships, devastating

25:46to their seaborne

25:47trade.

25:48Long stretches of

25:48the coast in Spain

25:49and Italy were almost

25:50completely abandoned by

25:51their inhabitants until

25:52the 19th century.

25:55It's a long time,

25:56people.

25:59Now, the Ottoman

26:00penetration into

26:01Europe in the 1350s and

26:02their capture of

26:03Constantinople later in

26:041453 opened new

26:06floodgates for the

26:08slave trade from the

26:09European front.

26:10In their last attempt

26:11to overrun Europe in

26:121683, the Ottoman

26:14army, although defeated,

26:15returned from the

26:16gates of Vienna with

26:1780,000 captives, an

26:21immense number of

26:22slaves flowed from

26:24the Crimea, the

26:24Balkans, the steppes

26:25of West Asia, to

26:27markets in Islamic

26:29countries.

26:30Historian David

26:31Brian Davis laments

26:32that, quote, the

26:33Tatars and other

26:34Black Sea peoples had

26:36sold millions of

26:37Ukrainians, Georgians,

26:39Circassians, Armenians,

26:40Bulgarians, Slavs,

26:41and Turks.

26:43Have you known much

26:44about this slave trade

26:45which vastly dwarfed

26:46anything that happened

26:47in the Atlantic?

26:48No.

26:49Crimean Muslim

26:50Tatars enslaved and

26:52sold some 1,750,000

26:56Ukrainians, Poles, and

26:57Russians between 1468

26:59and 1694.

27:01And again, we've got

27:01the truth about

27:02slavery on this

27:03channel.

27:03You've got to check

27:04it out.

27:07So, the reason why

27:09we want to talk

27:09about this is that

27:12like racism, like

27:14sexism, colonialism is

27:16all Western badness

27:17and slavery, ooh,

27:18Western badness and

27:19so on.

27:20But before Western

27:21colonialism, there was

27:22Muslim imperialism.

27:23Before the Christian

27:24Crusades, there were a

27:25myriad of Muslim

27:26Crusades which were

27:27enormously successful and

27:28kept battering down the

27:29door of Europe and

27:30taking over vast swaths of

27:32Europe, Sicily, Portugal,

27:34Spain, and so on, which

27:35took sometimes upwards of

27:36half a millennia to

27:38dislodge.

27:39And what bothers me so

27:41much about all of this

27:42is that the Europeans

27:44seems to me are the

27:46only culture left in

27:47the world that is

27:48never allowed to have

27:49a history.

27:50The only thing they're

27:51allowed to have is

27:52guilt and self-castigation.

27:54What utter nonsense.

27:55Next time someone comes

27:56to you and complains

27:57about slavery, just ask

27:58them, hey, how about

27:59Muslim slavery?

28:00Ever hear of that?

28:01Ever care about that?

28:02No, because the

28:03Muslims don't self-attack

28:04on it and therefore

28:05nobody wants to install

28:07the big giant guilt

28:08button that people

28:08repeatedly pound so

28:10that Europeans cough

28:11up money and resources

28:12so you'll stop making

28:13them feel guilty about

28:14things they never did

28:15individually and which

28:17European civilization

28:18such as slavery

28:19actually ended.

28:21It was a European

28:22civilization, particularly

28:23the British, who spent

28:25immense amounts of

28:26blood and treasure to

28:27end slavery around the

28:29world.

28:29So this is a history

28:31that you need to know.

28:32There's an enormous

28:32amount to be incredibly

28:33proud of in European

28:36history and that of

28:37course is a great

28:38challenge to the world

28:39who don't want a

28:40confident Europe

28:41because then they

28:42can't come on the

28:44welfare state and

28:46slowly infiltrate the

28:47society as a whole.

28:48So Christianity kind of

28:49became a European

28:50religion in many ways

28:52because it was driven

28:52out of its home in the

28:53Middle East.

28:54And when it tried to go

28:55back and get some of

28:56its home, oh, evil

28:57Christian crusades of

28:58nastiness.

28:59And people, I mean,

29:01this is true for

29:02everyone.

29:03You have a history.

29:05This history is

29:05important.

29:07Europeans, by hacking

29:09at the roots of their

29:09history and destroying

29:11any respect for the

29:12source of their

29:13culture, if you don't

29:15have a history, you're

29:16like a tree without any

29:17roots, just plopped down

29:18there on the ground.

29:19The first breeze or a

29:20guy leaning against you,

29:21you're just going to

29:21fall over.

29:23And it's hard for people

29:24in Europe and even in

29:26North America to some

29:27degree, but particularly in

29:28Europe.

29:28It's got kind of secular.

29:29It's got kind of lazy.

29:30It's got kind of like,

29:31hey, am I going to get

29:32that promotion?

29:33I wonder if that new

29:33video game is coming out.

29:34There's this girl that

29:35really liked it, the

29:35cafe.

29:36It's become very sort of

29:37small-minded and personal

29:38and hedonistic.

29:39Eh, it's a place for all

29:40of that.

29:41But because Europe has

29:43become so secular and

29:44has become so self-hating,

29:47it really doesn't have

29:48much luck understanding

29:51the mindset of religious

29:53people who believe they

29:54are genuinely hooked

29:55into a much larger plan,

29:57who have a much deeper

29:58sense of history, and who

29:59have a much bigger

30:01purpose.

30:01That is a big, big

30:04challenge.

30:05And if there is to be a

30:07civilization in the future,

30:08in other words, if we're

30:09going to keep what largely

30:12white Western European

30:14Christians have developed,

30:16you know, scientific method,

30:18the free market, philosophy,

30:20reason, evidence, you know,

30:22equality for women, a

30:23separation of church and

30:24state, rule of law,

30:26innocent until proven

30:26guilty, you know, all those

30:28nice little things that make

30:29life worth getting out of

30:30bed for, if we're going to

30:33keep that, I have a

30:34message to all Europeans

30:36and even those of us in

30:37North America, stop

30:39apologizing.

30:40Please, dear God, you've

30:42got to stop apologizing.

30:43By any objective standard,

30:45Europe ranks very low on

30:47the list of criminal

30:48enterprises throughout

30:49history.

30:50And, as I gave off a

30:52brief list off the top of

30:53my head, has an enormous

30:54amount to be incredibly

30:55happy and proud of.

30:57So the next time someone

30:57starts talking to you about

30:58slavery or colonialism and

31:00so on, say, hey, how does

31:02Europe rank relative to all

31:03of the other cultures

31:04throughout history?

31:06And they won't have a

31:07clue.

31:07They pick on the

31:07Europeans because Europe

31:09has a history of self

31:11criticism and revisionism

31:13and a willingness to own

31:14up to that which was

31:15wrong in history and work

31:16to make it better.

31:17Now, if you're self

31:19critical among healthy

31:20people, that's really,

31:22really good.

31:23How wonderful, how

31:24helpful, how great.

31:25However, if you are, say,

31:28awash in a world of

31:29pretty sociopathic and

31:30destructive cultures,

31:32self-criticism is a giant

31:33weakness and those

31:34cultures will pound you

31:36down until you bounce

31:38back hard or go right

31:40through the bottom of

31:41the earth.

31:42Let us stop apologizing.

31:44It's so ridiculous.

31:45It's so embarrassing.

31:47And it's so unnecessary.

31:49If Europe is so bad, if

31:52North America is so bad,

31:53why is everyone trying to

31:56get in?

31:57Because there's great

31:58wealth and great value

31:59and great civilization and

32:00great treasure that for

32:022,500 years since the

32:03days of the pre-Socratics

32:05has been slowly evolving

32:06and pushed along by the

32:07West, by Europe, by

32:09North America.

32:12Stop apologizing.

32:14Stop defending.

32:16Start pushing back.

32:18Everything that we have

32:20inherited, we will lose

32:22if we continue to attack

32:24ourselves.

32:25And the light in the

32:26world so briefly sparked

32:29over the past 2,000 years

32:31will be gone.

32:36Possibly.

32:38Forever.

32:40This is Stefan Molyneux

32:42for Freedom Aid Radio.

32:43Please help us out.

32:44Freedomainradio.com

32:45slash donate.

32:46To help out the show,

32:48please help us get this

32:49essential message to the

32:50world and to the future.

32:52And thank you so much

32:53for watching.

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