To help restore the zeal and spirit of Christendom, I wrote a very in depth book, entitled Christianity is At War: The Manifesto For Christian Militancy. This book will be the most detailed and exhaustive study on Christian militancy. To give you an example of the book, here is excerpt from it, a section on how the French fought the Turks during the First Crusade:

THE CHRISTIANS FIGHT WITH ALL THEIR HEART 

The Christian fighters rode on swift horses toward Anatolia; the silence of the day brought comfort to the minds of the meditative warriors. Those who accompanied Bohemond turned and saw with startled eyes an army of three hundred thousand warriors, bearing the crescent as their banner, crying forth to the skies a savage shriek in a language unknown to the Christians of France, bringing forth to the eye an awe-inspiring sight. Not only were these Muslims, but Publicani or Cathar heretics who, because of their equal hatred for the Cross, joined the Muslims in their aspiration to uproot the Holy Faith. 

The men looked upon a force and the thoughts of an unsettled soul rushed throughout their minds, and a number of them were not sure on whether to fight or to fly before the Asiatic horde. Bohemond commanded the mounted troops to pitch camp alongside a certain river. Before their tents were erected, one hundred and fifty Turkic warriors treading the earth upon swiftly rode to the men, bent their bows and shot poisoned arrows. 

The Christians rushed to these barbarians without trembling, and with arms faster than the hooves of the enemy’s horses slew every one of them. They continued on and met the Turkish army, eye faced eye, and spirit faced spirit. So great were the numbers of the Turks that they could not flee from the fierce army of God. One moved his massive sword in one direction, and cut a Turk asunder, another did the same and his blade ripped through the human wall of Muslims. They tried to use their arrows, but the distance was so close to the Christians that the very thought remained useless. The men struck hard their lances upon the Turks, and so numerous were there blows that these lofty weapons broke upon the bodies of their enemies. 

And how many was the sight of men without limbs, and bodies lying on the floor without heads; the beholders of such carnage looked with the temperament of a warrior, neither knowing if the dead man in their presence had family, or who his parents were, or for how much time their mother and father raised them up.       

THE TURKS ATTACK THE CHRISTIAN CAMP

Another army of Turks saw from across the river the bloodshed taking place, and they rode with their horses across the river, not to partake in the intense display of valor and arms, but to rush inside the Christian camp. A mother cleaved her infant, and she saw with sheer terror the Turks ride on their robust horses. 

Her grip grew tighter as maternal love heightened and the presence of pure evil lingered about. They wrested ahold of the little one, hacked his infant body to pieces, took the mother and spilt her blood. They went about the village like the ancient pagans of antiquity, esteeming themselves as holy but exemplifying nothing but the actions of a heathen. They took each of the mothers, slew them; upon their infants they indulged in their cruelty, and neither were the others of the camp exempted from this violence. The cries of the slaughtered arose to heaven; they pierced the sharpest winds, the highest shrieks of the Turks, the manliest war cries of the Christians. They pulled Bohemond’s ears and went through his soul like daggers stabbing the bark of the hoariest redwood tree. He turned as the swords of heretics and saints clashed, gave orders to the Count of Normandy to lead the fray, and sprinted with all his might toward the camp. 

The Turks, still engaging in their wanton madness and drunk off the blood of the saints, turned a quick eye, saw this lion of Christendom with numerous of his men, and fled. The Christians ceased to run, stopped and beheld the gore, the wailings of the wounded, the mournings of the living for the dead, before their sights. Tears rushed down the widened eyes of Bohemond, and he lamented to God, and implored Him to be a refuge for those alive and those deceased.       

THE BISHOP STRIKES AND THE SONG OF MOSES IS SUNG BY THE CHRISTIANS 

Bohemond returned and the battle still raged on. The tendons of the Christians burned with unendurable exertion, as the Turks unceasingly rushed on with energy and fresh spirits. Under that cruel summer heat, they fought; though fatigued they hammered their swords upon the breastplates of the enemy, and with each blow did their minds wonder as to whether or not they should fight and die, or flee and live. 

Christian women, who came to accompany their husbands in the crusade, and fill that dismal void of loneliness, brought water from the nearby river to refresh their bodies and cool their ligaments. But not even this could settle their spirits, and some of them began to retreat. But lo, the Count of Normandy, with awe-inspiring valor, turned his horse around, lifted heavenward his standard, and cried out with inspiring fury, “God wills it! God wills it!” The fleeing men turned around and beheld their commander with Bohemond. 

The cry of Christian war restored their spirits, brought high their hopes and brought low their worries of death, and with regained courage they made their decision to fight and die rather than flee. The Turks attacked with such great fury, with one pushing the other in front of him. No empty space was there, just men, one with crescent scimitar, the other with cross-shaped sword. As the intense slaughter went on, arrows descended and ripped through torsos and heads. No one stood idle, not one was free from action. 

The men collided, bodies were ripped open, limbs were severed, cries to Allah rang the ears, cries to God emanated throughout the air and ignited their hopes; the priests and the clergy with hands raise to heaven intently prayed for victory; women wailed for the fallen and dragged the dead to the camps.      

 Above their heads was a dark cloud of merciless arrows, and as these descended and cut life from the earth, there was seen from a distance two knights, Duke Godfrey and Hugh, and with them was forty thousand troops. When death was the plan of many a knight, and eternity the hope of them all, there came this force to the rescue; for many were they in that battle, whose times for perishing did not yet come. 

Like descending eagles they rushed down upon the Turks to cries and wild shrills of the womenfolk who watched nearby. They drove into the thick of opposition burning with rage and anger. 

No man there could fully describe the sounds of clashing arms, of splintering lances; the dying gave a great cry, but the victorious–how joyful was their rejoicing, how exhilarating their praises which reached the topmost summits. 

The living pounded the earth as the dead watered the grass with blood and tears. The enemy looked upwards, their chests heavy with the pains of the defeated, and saw to their despair more Christians rushing forth from a distant mountain. The crusaders looked up, their hearts relieved by the hope of victory, and cried the sounds of bliss as they saw the newly arrived force of Christians led by the Bishop of Le Puy and Count Raymond. So terrified were the Turks that they thought their enemies were coming down from heaven.  The earth was crimson with blood, and a river of this thick red substance of life flowed down the terrain by the swords of this military might of Christ.  

The sun descended, and in the cool silence of a young evening, this militant hymn, with lyrics from the Song of Moses, was heard from the elated but sore knights, 

“Thou art glorious in Thy saints, O Lord, and wonderful in majesty; fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy, and in the greatness of thine Excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. But Thou, Lord, wast with us as a strong warrior, and Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. Now we realise, God, that Thou art guiding us in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation, Thy Holy Sepulcher.” 

Several lines of this hymn are directly from the Song of Moses, sung by the same prophet after the Egyptians were crushed underneath the waves of the Red sea. For these men never looked with contempt upon the Pentateuch, nor did they ever reject or ignore its militant lessons, but embraced them. Nor did the clergy undermine them, as they do today, with empty words and say “we are now in the age of grace, these martial lessons do not apply to us,” but they instilled them into the hearts and the minds of their congregations in every parish in Europe. This is that militant Christian spirit which we have long forgotten, and it is the hope of this book to restore it.  

 THE BATTLE FOR ANTIOCH

In order to end the Islamic persecution over Christian lands in the East, it was necessary for the crusaders to take the city of Antioch in Syria which had fallen to the Turks only ten years before Pope Urban II commenced the First Crusade. Syria acted as a bridge by which the western and eastern legs of the Islamic empire would communicate and bring armies behind the Crusaders’ radar. It provided a free passage for Muslim armies going north from south and vice versa, and it connected Mesopotamia, Persia and all Muslim lands even unto the Indus, with the religious center of Mecca. Should this link be broken, the Muslim power would have bled to death by such a wound. 

So crucial was Syria in this war that Hilaire Belloc wrote that “Islam would not have survived had the Crusade made good its hold upon the essential point of Damascus.” To control Syria is to control the Muslim world, and the same applies to today despite of our technology; our airplanes and petrol. Such is the reason why that Turkey even till this day, in reviving its wounded Islamic empire, wants to take Syria. The Syrian revolution was praised at its beginnings, but the end result will only be a revival of the Ottoman Empire, and a pool filled with the blood of the saints.   

THE MUSLIMS KILL A CHRISTIAN WOMAN AND THE CHRISTIANS RESPOND WITH THE SWORD OF JUSTICE 

So infamous was Antioch for its great fortifications and immensely thick walls, and so great was this siege that it provoked a medieval monk, Robert, to write a poem so vivid and evocative that it would be an injustice to try to emulate it:

“The rising star of morning had preceded the beams of dawn 

So that dawn itself might shake out its shining dew

And the sun make the world gorgeous with its flaming light.

The lords rise hastily, their troops with them,

And seize their arms and run to the walls. 

Right arms fought a hard battle inside and out:

Those inside defend, whilst our men throw darts

And weapons, sticks, and indeed stones and stakes. 

The effort was immense, but in vain. 

So they retreated, unable to overthrow

The towers and walls, susceptible to no force.

Seeing that their efforts were in vain, our men

Stop fighting, but carry on the siege.”  

The Turks were so confident in the strength of Antioch, that in the evening darkness they opened their gates and let loose archers who came under the shadow of night and fired their arrows toward the Christians. A woman was walking before the tent of Bohemond, and in one moment an arrow pierced her gentle body and her life was gone. The Franks responded by quickly posting watchers throughout the camp to eye the lurking enemies, and by building a castle to safeguard them from the stealth killers. 

A large body of Turks rushed from the castle of Harim from a close distance and ambushed the men. The Christians sent a thousand of their men into a valley, and when they were met by the Turks they fled and so the chase began. The Turks, like good Asiatics, spurned their horses on, and the Christians took refuge with their army. Now the two forces were nigh between each other; the Turks trusted in their numbers, the Christians their God. Swords were unsheathed; cries to bloodshed were unleashed from the viscous mouths of men, while the shouts of war for God was heard on that side of the army whose standard was the Cross. 

Two Christians were slain in the battle, and countless Turks were taken prisoner, and their heads were cut before the Muslim warriors who stood watching from the walls of the famous city. After this victory, the Armenians were free to approach the crusaders without fear and sell food to them.

THE CITY OF GOD VERSUS THE CITY OF SATAN 

A greater battle was forged in due time. One can only imagine the site of this battle: tens of thousands of Muslims, efficiently ranked, all from the lands ruled under the crescent–Persians, Arabs, and Medes, men from Damascus and Aleppo. And before their deceived eyes stood a force of thirty-thousand knights and soldiers, all hand-picked for this fight. The Muslims were overjoyed, thinking their enemy ready to be taken by Turkish hands and taken in chains. As their hands were shaking with the desire to kill, the hopes of the two armies were unto themselves engaged in a war: one was that of the City of Satan, striving for the obliteration of the Faith, the massacre of the faithful, and the complete triumph of falsehood; the other was that of the City of God, aspiring for the Truth to conquer all error. 

The two armies rushed with the greatest intensity, with the knights cutting down the Turks as the scythe rips through the harvest. Turkish horsemen fell into the presence of foot soldiers who cut them down and made a great slaughter. The second column of Muslims came, and immediately were their ears taken by the sounds of battle and cries, the clash of armour against armour, the hooves of horses beating desperately on the cold earth. The newcomers saw, and sheer terror grabbed hold of all of them. The Muslims ran, and the Christians pursued after them, only to take the victory. 

Bohemond later went before his armies and declared to his weary and starving troops:

“You men have been distinguished up to now as outstanding soldiers. God has upheld you through the many dangers of various battles and given you victory. You have an impressive track record. So why are you muttering against God simply because you are suffering from pangs and famine? When he stretches out his hand to you, you exult; now he withdraws it, you despair. It seems as if you love not the giver but the gifts; not the one who is generous but the results of their generosity. When he is generous God is treated as your friend; when he ceases to give, you seem to consider him unworthy and irrelevant. Right now he is testing you through the deprivations of famine and the incessant attacks of your enemies. If they had inflicted as many injuries on us as we have on them, if they had killed as many of us as we have on them, if they had killed as many of us as we had slaughtered of them, any of us who remained alive would have every right to complain — but not one would be able to complain because not one would remain alive. So do not lose confidence, but keep your courage up. Whether you live in him or die for him you will be blessed.”  

With such great words came great elation of the spirits and aspirations of the soldiers. But yet hunger did not leave, nor did it refrain from its cruel travails. And to their help came a number of Armenian and Syrian Christians, with that hospitality common to the East, they found whatever food they could find and gave to the crusaders. 

THE CHRISTIANS OVERRIDE HUNGER FOR VALIANCY BEFORE AN ARMY OF THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS 

But soon, from famine, desperation, anguish and hopelessness, came valor, valiancy, and the urge to war against the enemy of the Cross. A messenger arrived and reported that innumerable thousands of Turks were on their way, marching with the confidence that the Christians were now to be vanquished. Men who were unable to walk now stood upright and ready to quarrel; they raised their hands to heaven and praised God as though victory was already theirs. 

To them death under the scimitar was superior to perishing under the torments of hunger. To such men, with mouths dry as deserts, stomachs as empty as the pockets of pilgrims, and hearts as swelled with the spirit of hope as the wandering preachers of ancient Europe, to die for something was greater than dying of something. The battle was between those who say with Paul, “I discipline my body and keep it under control” (1 Corinthians 9:27) and those “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” (Philippians 3:19)

THE CHRISTIANS MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS BEFORE THE SLAVES OF THE CRESCENT 

 The sun went low and darkness overran the land, and the Christians made ready their ambushes. The sun had arisen, and just as dawn brought the first light to the world, they set their sights upon the enemy, and never before had they seen such numbers of enemy troops, riding upon their horses, swift like lightning, and arms strong but light like feathers to shoot off arrows into the cruel air that hovers in the midst of brutish battles. The knights made the sign of the Cross, outstretched their hands toward heaven and gave themselves up to God–all with might, mind, strength and heart–to the God who crushed the devil upon Calvary.     

In moments all that could be seen were men clashing like waves smashing into imposing summits in the midst of a mighty tempest. Turks rode on their horse; they were struck by lances and violently fell off to the ground. Other Muslims rode around the fray and with speed and agility fired arrows into the knights. The men fought, with the Christians crying out to God and the Turks barking like dogs to bring fear into their enemies. The saints heard such growls, and they were not afraid; they laughed in scorn and in mockery.

Bohemond leaped into the ranks of Muslims, and with his men fortified the courage of the others. When the Muslims looked up and saw so close to them the banners of the Christians hovering above their heads, and the swords of the saints slashing all around them, all their fortitude dissipated like the fragile foundations of their heresy. The victory was to the horror of the Muslims, and to the joy of the native Christians who brought their congratulations to the crusaders. Many of the Eastern Christians loved the crusaders, dissipating the myth that has been taught of so long, that the Eastern Christians hated the Western knights.

THE HEADS OF MARTYRS INFLAMES THE ZEAL OF THE WARRIORS

When the crusaders were besieging Antioch, the Turks, in hatred of the Gospel, began to throw at them the heads of Greek, Syrian, and Armenian Christians. The crusaders, upon seeing this, went into great grief and trepidation, but they still continued on. At a place called the “Iron Bridge”, the crusaders stopped an army of Turks from oppressing Christians living in the lands surrounding Antioch.

Before the city the men began to construct a castle, and as they toiled and built they were ambushed, and a thousand were slain. The news was brought to the attention of the crusaders, and so filled with rage were they, that they rushed toward the enemy with great speed. 

The numbers of the Christians were seen, but quickly they increased, and so numerous did they become that the Turks fled toward the bridge. So narrow was their path that they could not escape from the ferocity of the knights. Poisoned arrows did not work, and nor could their arms outmatch the skill of a Frankish fighter. 

Fight nor flight was possible, only death. Countless Muslim heads were struck off, vengeance was made for all of the Christians they beheaded, and no matter how tired the Christians grew, they did not cease in cutting down the enemy. 

Godfrey, set ablaze with tremendous fury, struck an enemy with one blow, and the body of the slain was found cut in two. One Turk, riding upon his horse with a body lofty and robust, charged at Godfrey and hammered down his sword toward his neck. Godfrey blocked the strike with his shield, and in one move of agility plunged his sword into the left side of his shoulder-blade with such ferociousness that his chest split down the middle, his spine was severed by the blade, and his head slipped right down. The horse of this giant rode away with the remains of the body into Antioch, and upon its arrival all that was heard were the screams of the people, for he was their emir. 

The ruler of Antioch, as he fought with valor, was struck down, and twelve other emirs never saw life again in that day. The Turks flung themselves into a river only to be struck by lances and slain. Five thousand were killed upon that bridge; blood tainted the water like black ink shooting forth the fleeing octopus, and in moments the water turned red like when the Nile turned crimson. No longer did the crusader hear the insults of the Muslims coming from behind the walls of the city, all that he heard was the silence of fear. 

THE CRUSADERS FOUGHT NOT A CARNAL, BUT A SPIRITUAL BATTLE 

During the siege, the Count of Flanders rushed impetuously into the phalanxes of some of the enemy which was so shocking and unexpected that these Turks ran away in search of refuge. The Count did not sheath his sword until he removed a hundred jihadists from life. In returning to his companion Bohemund, the Count saw twelve thousand Turks coming from his rear, and rising up on the nearest hill was a countless multitude of enemy foot-soldiers. He quickly informed the army and with a small number of men fiercely attacked the immense wave of Turks who then attempted to encircle the whole of the crusaders. The saintly fighters, thanks to their foresight, prevented this strategy from succeeding. Turks, accompanied by Arabs, attempted to use arrows, and in response the knights utilized their swords in close quarter combat, which made the archers useless. In the midst of the siege of Antioch, as arrows darkened the air, the tall and brawny Bohemund made this profound command to his constable Robert:

“Go as quickly as you can, like a brave man, and remember our illustrious and courageous forefathers of old. Be keen in the service of God and the Holy Sepulcher, and bear in mind that this battle is not carnal, but spiritual. Be, therefore, the bravest athlete of Christ. Go in peace. The Lord be with you everywhere.” 

These words beautifully illustrate how the crusaders did “not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) The war was spiritual because it did not war against humanity itself, but against Satan, and in so doing did they have no choice but to fight against the servants of the devil, for the aid of humanity. 

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