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The Situation in the Near East

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About the lecture

In this module, we consider the situation in the Near East in the years leading up to the First Crusade, focusing in particular on: (i) the situation in 1000 AD: the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and the Levant, and the Abbasid caliphate in the north; (ii) the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century, the nature of their rule, and their (un)popularity with local populations; (iii) environmental factors that impacted regional geopolitics: the extent to which the Turks were driven south as a result of climate change; (iv) the extent to which the Fatimid dynasty had been weakened by the Nile repeatedly failing to flood; (v) the rise of pilgrimage to the Near East – and especially Jerusalem – from Western Europe in the second half of the 11th century; (vi) the in-roads made by the Turks into Anatolia, especially following the Battle of Manzikert (1071); (vii) the death of the Seljuk sultan, Malik-Shah I, in 1092, the subsequent instability in the Near East; and (viii) the extent to which the crusaders were helped by the weakening of the Seljuk Turks in the years immediately before they arrived.

About the lecturer

Dr Nicholas Morton is a specialist in the history of crusading and the Medieval Mediterranean between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. More recently he has begun to focus specifically upon the theme of inter-faith relations between Christianity and Islam in this region. He has published extensively on topics connected to this subject area, writing a range of monographs and scholarly articles. He is also an editor for the Ashgate series Rulers of the Latin East.

Currently Dr Morton is completing a monograph exploring the First Crusaders' attitudes and behaviour towards the various non-Christian peoples they encountered during their campaign. This will be a highly revisionist work addressing many key scholarly and public orthodoxies surrounding the nature of Christian/Islamic interaction during the crusade.

Cite this Lecture

APA style

Morton, N. (2018, August 15). 1: History of Africa and the Middle East - The Situation in the Near East [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/options/history-of-africa-and-the-middle-east?auth=0&lesson=1273&option=5516&type=lesson

MLA style

Morton, N. "1: History of Africa and the Middle East – The Situation in the Near East." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 15 Aug 2018, https://massolit.io/options/history-of-africa-and-the-middle-east?auth=0&lesson=1273&option=5516&type=lesson