Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

← The Crusades from the Muslim side (1099–1291) ·

The Crusades from the Muslim side (1099–1291)

Grade 11 · World History to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Grade 11, University/College Preparation (CHW3M) · Strand E · E2 · 75 min

Mapped by the museum, not endorsed by the Ministry.

A CHW3M pathway telling the two crusading centuries as Muslim historians wrote them: the fall of Jerusalem in 1099, Zangi and Nur al-Din, Salah al-Din, Hattin and the entry into Jerusalem in 1187, the Ayyubids and the Mamluks to the end of the crusader states.

Lesson goal

Students analyse interaction between opposed societies before 1500 from the side rarely told in class, and compare two accounts of one event.

What the lesson does, in the museum's words

The lesson studies one kind of interaction between societies before 1500, war, truce and trade in the crusading age, from the sources of the Muslim side, and asks students to show what each side gained and lost and to explain differing accounts by differing historical perspective.

The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Canadian and World Studies, 2015

Seventy-five minutes. Best taught after a European account of the Crusades so students can work on the comparison. The museum's battle descriptions follow the sources and avoid sensation; the museum's voice never says 'enemy'.

Lesson steps

  1. The crusading age — The frame in time and space: Syria and Egypt between 1099 and 1291. · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
  2. Jerusalem 1099 — What Muslim historians wrote about the Franks' entry into the city. · Jerusalem · The Franks Seize Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem)
  3. Zangi and Nur al-Din — Two amirs of Mosul and Aleppo unite Syria: unity before war. · عماد الدين زنكي · Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zangi
  4. Salah al-Din — From a Kurd in Nur al-Din's service to sultan of Egypt and Syria. · Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub)
  5. Hattin, 1187 — A one-day battle that decided a kingdom: how the Arabic sources describe it. · Battle of Hattin
  6. The entry into Jerusalem — The terms of surrender in 1187 compared with 1099: what the two accounts say. · Salah al-Din recovers Jerusalem
  7. The Ayyubids — Salah al-Din's house after him: truces, trade and treaties with the Franks. · Ayyubid dynasty
  8. The Mamluks and the end of the crusader states — The soldiers' state ends the crusader presence in Syria in 1291. · Mamluk Sultanate
islam.museum/en/learn/teachers/pathways/g11-chw3m-crusades-muslim-side/ Scan the code to open this page

Worksheet

Answer in your own words after each step; every question points back to a museum page.

  1. How do the Arabic sources describe the Franks' entry into Jerusalem in 1099, and how do the Frankish sources you studied describe it?

  2. What did Nur al-Din do before anyone could face the Franks, and why was it a precondition?

  3. Compare the terms of Jerusalem's surrender in 1187 with what happened in 1099.

  4. Give one example of trade or a treaty between the Ayyubids and the Franks.

  5. Why does the name of these wars differ between languages? What does the name reveal about the narrator?

Answer key

Each worksheet question is answered by one step; the number points to the step.

  1. How do the Arabic sources describe the Franks' entry into Jerusalem in 1099, and how do the Frankish sources you studied describe it?

    2 Jerusalem 1099 — What Muslim historians wrote about the Franks' entry into the city. · Jerusalem · The Franks Seize Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem)

  2. What did Nur al-Din do before anyone could face the Franks, and why was it a precondition?

    3 Zangi and Nur al-Din — Two amirs of Mosul and Aleppo unite Syria: unity before war. · عماد الدين زنكي · Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zangi

  3. Compare the terms of Jerusalem's surrender in 1187 with what happened in 1099.

    6 The entry into Jerusalem — The terms of surrender in 1187 compared with 1099: what the two accounts say. · Salah al-Din recovers Jerusalem

  4. Give one example of trade or a treaty between the Ayyubids and the Franks.

    7 The Ayyubids — Salah al-Din's house after him: truces, trade and treaties with the Franks. · Ayyubid dynasty

  5. Why does the name of these wars differ between languages? What does the name reveal about the narrator?

    1 The crusading age — The frame in time and space: Syria and Egypt between 1099 and 1291. · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks

Free and open: print, quote and adapt, with no account and no student data.