| The Crusades, An Arab Perspective | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Created by | Al Jazeera |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
The Crusades: An Arab Perspective is a four-part series produced by Al Jazeera English, which first aired in December 2016. It presents the dramatic story of the medieval religious war through an Arab point of view. The series provides a new perspective on the history of the Crusades for a global, English-speaking audience, that has largely read about or studied the famous struggle from a primarily Christian and Western point of view. The series is heavily influenced by the 1984 book The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, by Amin Maalouf.
The series starts with the Catholic church council in Clermont in France in 1095, under Pope Urban II, and continues to the fall of Acre, the last Crusader foothold in the east, in 1291, covering two centuries of bloody battles, massacres, and conquering and reconquering of territories, including Jerusalem. The story also involves many famous names – Saladin, Richard I of England, Frederick II and Louis IX.[1][2]
Following is the complete list of episodes:
| Episode | Title | Episode Description | First Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shock | the first episode, explores the reasons behind the start of the Crusades, centered on Jerusalem, the holy city for Christians, Jews and Muslims.[3] | 7 Dec 2016 |
| 2 | Revival | the second episode, tells the story of the early Muslim resistance to the Crusades, led by the Zengids, a Turkic dynasty ruling the northern Levant.[4] | 14 Dec 2016 |
| 3 | Unification | the third episode, looks at how the famous sultan, Saladin, united Muslims across Egypt.[5] | 21 Dec 2016 |
| 4 | Liberation | the fourth episode, examines how the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt brought about the eventual destruction of the remaining Crusader states in the east. | 28 Dec 2016 |