Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

the Ottoman Empire. Then, he set out to expel the Spaniards from Algerian
territory and contain their incursions on its coastal cities. The task, however,
proved to be difficult.
1. 1. From Crusades to Reconquista
In fact, Algiers was not fighting against a single enemy but against
Christendom, an anti-Islam Christian entity which origins can be traced back to
the early clashes between Crescent and Cross. 5
Since the early Medieval Ages,
a number of kingdoms from Central and Western Europe had joined in a Holy
Roman Empire which animosity towards Islam peaked during the Crusades.
Between 1095 when the First Crusade was launched, and 1291 when the
Crusaders were finally expelled from the Holy Lands, the chroniclers identified
eight different crusading expeditions. 6 Those were organized with the aim of
taking possession of Jerusalem but were transformed into conquest expeditions
that sought control of the whole Middle East area. All, however, ended either
inconclusively or in failure.
The Crusaders unleashed their hatred on the whole region and
committed atrocities that, even today, remain connotative of crusading
barbarism and cruelty. Irrational as it might seem, the crusaders—in addition to
systematic destruction and pitiless massacres of Muslim populations—resorted
5 For Christians, ‘Christendom’ is concurrently a polity, religion, and ideal; in its wider sense, it is used
to describe the “part of the world which is inhabited by Christians.” Urquhart, Francis, “Christendom,”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 3 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908). (Accessed 26 May
2008). http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03699b.htm
6 The Crusades are a succession of military expeditions launched by the Christian powers against the
Muslims in Palestine and the neighboring areas. For a full account based on Muslim sources, see Amin
Maalouf, Les Croisades vues par les Arabes (Paris: J. C. Lattès, 1983).
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