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Why Didn’t Most Middle Easternerns know the history of Cruades?
Because it was too little for them.
In this episode, I interview a scholar who wished to be an astrophysicit. But then, he read a particular paragraph about the Fourth Crusade and dedicated his career to investigating the answer to this question: why did Crusaders sack Constantinople — one of Christianity’s most magnificent cities?
About My Guest:
Dr. Thomas Madden is a professor of Medieval History at Saint Louis University. He is the Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Director of the Crusades Studies Forum and the former Chair of the Department of History.
His primary academic research interest is the history and culture of the Mediterranean world, and the bulk of his scholarly publications have focused on the crusading movement, the interaction between the cultures of Latin Christendom, the Byzantine Empire, and the Muslim Middle East.
He has authored many books on these topics, including the following that discuss during our conversation:
The Concise History of the Crusades, and
The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople.
