The Sixth to the Ninth Crusade, the Final One

 

In the previous blog we read from the Second Crusade till the Fifth Crusade and saw that Jerusalem was in the hands of Muslims since 1187 and the successive Crusades were notable to recapture it. In this bog we will check on the Sixth Crusade on until the final Crusade the Ninth one and see the further developments.

Sixth Crusade: 1228-1229

This crusade with the objective of recapturing Jerusalem commenced seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade. Gregory IX was the Pope and the king of Germans Frederick II who had earlier promised to take the cross, but couldn’t accompany the Fifth Crusade, for he was involved in a power struggle with the Pope who refused to crown him the Holy Roman Emperor. Finally he was crowned the Emperor in 1220 by the Pope. Thereafter the King tried to take up the cross, but again delayed it and the impatient Pope excommunicated him! Frederick by that time got married to Isabella II, the heiress to the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The King went ahead with the voyage despite the excommunication and set by way of sea with an army of 10,000 infantry and 4000 knights in June 1228. He reached Acre in September 1228.

Surprisingly no fighting took place, but Frederick got Jerusalem back! The Islamic Sultan of Egypt Al-Kamal, son of Saladin, was occupied with siege in Damascus, Syria by his own brother and thereafter by his nephew. Hence he was agreeable to the peace proposal of Frederick and ceded the possession of Jerusalem to the Franks, along with a narrow corridor to the sea coast. The King also received Nazareth, Sidon, Jaffa, Bethlehem and Nazareth. Muslims retained their control over the Temple Mount, Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock. Sultan also got a ten year no-war truce from Frederick. This treaty was signed at Jaffa in February 1229.

Frederick entered Jerusalem in March 1229; by that time, in May 1228 Isabella had died in child birth leaving the infant child Conrad. This did not prevent the King from crowning himself as the King of Jerusalem, which was disliked by the local lords and nobles and thereafter he returned to Europe in May 1229. That was the only Crusade to succeed without military intervention and papal support. It is called Frederick’s Crusade in honour of the king who accomplished this feat.

Seventh Crusade: 1248-1254

 In August 1244 Jerusalem was retaken by Khorezmians, allies of Ayyubid Dynasty, consisting of cruel nomadic tribes; they brutally murdered the Frankish Christians and desecrated the sacred sites. In October 1244 Ayyubid Muslims defeated the Franks in the battle near Gaza. Ayyubid dynasty was being ruled by al- Salih, the second son of al-Kamil, and grandson of Sultan Saladin. Except for the coastal strip of Levant, the Muslims controlled Egypt, Aleppo, Damascus, and half of Arabia.

The Latin East, the Crusader States in Levant appealed to the West for armed help. Pope Innocent IV responded and called for the Seventh Crusade. Church went preaching the crusade and many nobles, counts and knights responded; most of all King Louis of France took up the cross and led the army to the Holy Land. In a flurry to raise funds for the Crusade, tax hikes were imposed, churches contributed, Jews in France expelled, and their properties confiscated. The army left from the port of Genoa and food and provisions were stockpiled in Cyprus. Knights of Templar and Hospitaller and Teutonic knights joined them. They all added up to 18,000 men including 2500 knights and 5000 crossbowmen. The plan was to capture Damietta, then march to Cairo and having taken Egypt, thereafter to attack the Muslims in Levant and free Jerusalem.

The Egyptians had by now fortified Damietta well. Sultan Salih had the support of Mamluk regiment in Egypt, who belonging to Kipchak Turks and were kidnapped as boys from Russian steppe, and raised as warriors with strict military training and loyalty to the Sultan. Crusaders landed near Damietta and captured it easily in June 1249. If they had immediately attacked Mansourah and thereafter Cairo, they could have made it. But King Louis waited for his brother to join with his forces and it was only by November 1249, they moved against Mansourah, giving the Muslims adequate time to get prepared. The whole army with horses and provisions and tents moved slowly south and camped. An advanced party went to scout but it mounted full attack on the enemy before the other knights could join them. Further they pursued the fleeing enemy and went into the city of Mansourah where in the narrow streets and gullies they got stuck without knowing the terrain and the Muslims regrouped and attacked them and decimated them.

Louis retreated; his army was reduced greatly by disease, starvation and the attacks from the enemy and reached Damietta. There the army surrendered to the Sultan and the King himself was captured. He was ransomed at a heavy price of 400,000 livres tournoi, six times the annual income of the King of France in those days. Still the King, after his release stayed in Levant for four more years, spending the time refortifying Acre and other strongholds of Sidon, Jaffe and Caesarea. The Seventh Crusade was a great flop.

Eighth Crusade: 1270

The then international scene changed rapidly. Mongols were in the ascendency and had captured Baghdad, the seat of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258. They had taken Aleppo and Damascus from the Ayyubid dynasty. But they were defeated by the Mamluks under the leadership of Baybars in 1260 in Egypt. The Mamluks captured Caesarea, Arsuf and Antioch by 1268. The Latin East was at the point of obliteration and appealed to the West.

King Louis of France took up the cross again in 1267 and Pope Clement IV backed him up. A general call was made for the nobles and knights in Europe to join and help the Christians in Levant. Preachers went around preaching the crusade message and collected money for the cause. Ships were hired from Marseille and Genoa and in 1969 they boarded. The plan was to attack Egypt from North Africa and then proceed to liberate Jerusalem and the other Crusader States. Crusaders landed in Tunis in July 1270 and set camp at Carthage, but disease and lack of clean water and inadequate provisions ravaged the camp. Unfortunately for them King Louis himself died of dysentery in August 1270; so also his son John Tristan. His demoralized army returned to Europe. King Louis was made a Saint in 1297 for his religious fervo
r and leading two Crusades to free Jerusalem.

Ninth Crusade: 1271-1272

This was but an extension of the Eighth Crusade and the main actor was Lord Edward of England who took the cross in 1268. He and his army left Dover by ship in 1270. He arrived at Tunis in November 1270 with 1000 crusaders and 225 knights. There he learnt that king Louis had died and that his army had returned to Europe. However Edward opted to continue and reach the Holy Land. He arrived at Acre in May 1271. His presence made the Muslim forces to temporarily retreat. Edward made a truce with Muslims in May 1272 that they should protect the Christian held States. By that time he received news that his father, King in England had died and also his young son; so he returned immediately to England and was crowned the King of England in August 1274.

This was the last Crusade. In 1291 Acre, the last of the Crusader States, fell to Muslims and the Latin East or the Crusader States effectively came to an end. What was established as Crusader States in Levant by the European counts and nobles, mostly from France in 1095 came to an end in 1291. It can be described as the end of a major historical event with huge repercussions. Jerusalem will remain in the hands of Muslims till the Ottoman Empire disintegrated after the First World War, 1919. Mandate of Jerusalem was given to Britain and in 1948 under pressure from Zionist, and the Nation of Israel was formed as the homeland for the war-ravaged Jews. Effects of that event are still reverberating in the Middle East. 

We will see the repercussions of these Nine Crusades in the next blog.

Till then Good bye and God keep you blessed.

Pandemic of the 21st Century

 

The second wave of the pandemic that is sweeping through India, causing untold suffering to the people makes one to wonder what this pandemic is after all. Is it a once in a century event? Or is it new, peculiar only to our 21^st century? What do we do when it strikes us? How do we manage it? These questions and more drove me to read some material on it, especially two books, “The Age of Pandemics 1817-1920” by Chinmay Tumbe and “The Great Influenza,” by John Barry. Both the books touch another horrible pandemic that swept the globe much like our present pandemic, popularly known as “Spanish flu,” though it had nothing to do with Spain.

So what is a pandemic? When a disease, say for example, malaria suddenly affects many members of a community at the same time, it is called an epidemic. When that happens periodically and is localized it is considered endemic to that region. But when such an epidemic spreads across a wide geographical area, involving countries and continents, it becomes a pandemic. In north India it is called mahamaari, maari commonly referring to an epidemic; maha being big one.

In the ancient world and the middle ages, there had been at least two great outbreaks of pandemics. The plague! It ravaged at least some parts of the world once in 6^th century and again in the 14^th century. The first plague pandemic occurred during the reign of Justinian 1, the Roman Emperor of Byzantine around 540-550 AD. It originated in Egypt and spread through Alexandria to Palestine and to Constantinople, Byzantium. Then it travelled to Italy, Spain and up to British Isles. It was transmitted through rats-rat flea-human beings via flea bites. Only in 1894 it was discovered that plague was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. People died literally like fleas, thousands of people dying on a single day. This depopulation and economic devastation so weakened the Empire it was not able to stand up to Persian invasion that followed soon. The pandemic is learnt to have killed around 10 percent of the world population, the figures being higher in Europe to around 25 to 50 percent even. Its impact on Asia was marginal.

The second plague returned with a vengeance in the fourteenth century, between 1346 and 1353 AD and it devastated whole populations in Europe, Northern Africa, Western Asia, popularly known as the “Black Death.” Again mortality rates were high in Europe, where whole population was wiped off. It originated in Crimea in 1346 and reached Constantinople, then via Mediterranean reached Spain, France, British Isles, Germany, and Scandinavia. It came in waves, and reached Russia in 1353. It is said to have killed up to 50 million people, with 35 to 60 % in Europe and the Mediterranean world and 10 to 20 % of the world population that time. Though Europe was devastated, the healthy population soon rose and Renaissance, Protestant Reformation as well as anti-Semitism, all followed soon and sanitation improved in those countries.

Small Pox was introduced into the New World from Europe, the Americas after 1492, decimating the local populations like Incas, Mexicans and native Americans. Edward Jenner perfected the smallpox vaccine in 1790s and the disease was controlled and finally eradicated from the world. It is of interest to know that Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses V died of smallpox! Cholera outbreak, a water-borne disease, started from 1817, having originated from India and moved over to the other parts of the world, Western Europe, Americas, Russia and Egypt. Charles Dickens’s son died out of this plague around 1850s in London. Around 20 million people died worldwide by 1920. Discovery of ORT-Oral Dehydration Therapy brought down its severity. Improved sanitation and availability of pure and uncontaminated drinking water reduced the mortality considerably. An influenza plague started in China in 1894 arrived in Bombay in 1896 via ships and killed almost 13 million people in the world, 12 million in India alone, which tapered off around 1920.  

In 1918 the world saw influenza pandemic that was much more global than the above pandemics. It lasted only for 2 years but wiped out over 40 million people. In India alone 20 million people died of this flu pandemic. Over 2% of world’s population was wiped off. It was the deadliest of all the pandemics so far. It originated in Kansas, American Midwest in 1918 and coincided with the movements of large number of soldiers recruited to fight in the World War I, which America joined towards the end. From the soldiers in the cantonment area it passed on to the civilian population. In contrast to today’s Corona virus flu the American flu killed adults aged between 20 and 40, but very young and the elderly were not touched. Within two months it will finish off in one American city and then move on to the next. From May 1918 to October 1919, it killed some 8,00,000 people in America.

Spreading outward, it killed 2 million people in Iran; spread to India, Kenya, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Mexico, Philippians, Russia, Portugal, and Spain. Though death rate was not high in Spain, because it was a neutral country during the WW I and without censorship, press openly wrote about it that it got the name Spanish flu. In India it affected mostly the rural areas where not much medical facility was available. It killed Maharaja of Bagelkhand, Venkat Raman Singh. A severe drought in 1918 had already left the people of India malnourished and the flu caused great suffering and death among them. In Europe the flu claimed the life of German sociologist Max Webber in 1920 in Munich. Crown prince of Siam died of flu in June 1920. Another notable person to die of flu was Frederick Trump, paternal grandfather of Ex-President of America, Trump. The then President of America Woodrow Wilson contracted the flu in April 1920 in Paris in the midst of negotiating peace terms at the end of WW I. He was paralyzed later and died in 1930.

The 1918 flu affected the upper respiratory tract of the lungs, killing a person within 4-5 days, sometimes within a day; it spread through the population like fire; hospitals had no adequate beds to accommodate the sick; doctors and nurses who served the patients started to die; drugs were in short supply; the dead were piled up in the morgues and corridors of the hospitals; then in the houses, as there was no other place to store them; trucks picked the bodies and as even digging individual burial places became a strain, the bodies were buried in mass graves. As importance was given to the war, the news about the flu pandemic was suppressed and not given out. During this flu pandemic, scientists thought that a bacterium caused the influenza. But decades later it will be learnt that it was caused by a virus and it was separated only in 1930. Thereafter the scientists were able to develop a vaccine by 1945 to counter the virus. It took years, almost two decades and more to develop the vaccine.

Hundred years later we encountered another viral influenza pandemic. Covid-19, the China flu, which originated in Wuhan in China, was a repeat of the 1918 flu. On 30^th December 2019 a young doctor in Wuhan Dr. Li Wenliang warned about the serious nature of this flu which resembled SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). He was silenced by the authorities and he died as a victim of the same disease on 7 February 2020. WHO named the flu as COVID-19, or corona virus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. On 11 March 2020 WHO termed it as a pandemic. By that time it was too late and it had spread all over the world. The rest is history. Though in China itself it was stamped out by rigorous quarantine and lockdowns, in the West it ravaged. This was only the first wave. This time it affected mainly the elderly and not the youth or the young children. Then by October/December, 2020 it came as the second wave in Europe, America and England, more virulent than the first wave. The virus has mutated and had become more virulent strains in UK, South Africa and Brazil and continued to spread.

The first wave came to India by March 2020 and in the start itself the government unnecessarily shut the whole country in lockdown for 21 days, ruining the economy and making millions of migrant workers from the less developed states like Bihar and Utter Pradesh jobless and homeless; thousands started to walk home 1000s of kilometres away, as the lockdown was sudden with no arrangements for them to return home. Many died on the way. Economy shrank by 23%. The second wave came to India by February middle via England and caught us napping. By April it has caused havoc among Indians, especially in Maharashtra, Delhi, and UP and Karnataka in the south. The leaders of the country prematurely congratulated themselves that India has overcome the virus, and went ahead with election rallies and Kumbmela, when the virus incubated and burst the seams April 20^th onwards. As the government lulled the people into believing that the worst was over, people also relaxed without using mask and congregating for all sorts of purposes. The political leaders and officials relaxed and made no effort to improve the health infrastructure to face the onslaught when it would come. And today people are dying without oxygen, without drugs and even without hospital beds for the sick. Though a vaccine has been invented and India has the capacity to produce large quantities of this vaccine, being the so-called ‘factory of the world’ in pharmaceuticals, the country is facing shortage of vaccines to vaccinate her people. She was not prepared to face the emergency.   

The second wave in India was really a man-made disaster. It could have been handled efficiently if only the leaders had some humility and forethought. Had they cared about the people and not so much of winning the elections and pandering to the religious sentiments of some of the communities, it would not have boiled up to this state now.

When this pandemic hit the world, people had no memory of the 1918 flu pandemic. Science had not developed much then. So they struggled. People died. But in the 21^st century with the development of science and technology we need not have suffered so much. Vaccine was developed within a year; it took more than 25 years to develop the vaccine for the Spanish flu. The death rate and the absolute numbers are much less compared to the Spanish flu; still it could have been managed better if only the political leaders led their countries in the right path. That was not to be.

Why does the Lord permit such pandemics at all? Is it to remind humankind of our own limitations and instil in us humility and fear of God? Many had returned to the Lord during this pandemic confessing their sins, due to fear of death and fear of going to hell. Or is it that the end of the world – apocalyptic way of interpreting such events? But this is not the first time a pandemic has come, nor will it be the last time. It came in 5^th century, then in 14^th century, then in 19^th and 20^th centuries; now again in 21^st century. How do we face such emergent situations? The fear of God induced by a pandemic, won’t it disappear once the pandemic goes away? Then what is the point? Isn’t it like a sizzling cracker without fire!

We need to be god-fearing in our everyday life and lead a life as if, either our Lord Jesus Christ is returning to earth immediately or we may die before that. Either way we need to live as if it is tomorrow. Then we will be prepared when the actual ending of the world as per the time designated by God the Father happens. Till such time let’s live in the joy of the Lord, being confident that He is still on the throne.

 

The Second Crusade up to the Fifth Crusade

 

We read about the First Crusade and how the Latin Christians from the Western Europe wrestled control of the Holy City from the Muslims and established four Crusader states, Antioch and Edessa in Syria, Tripoli and Jerusalem in Palestine by 1099. This miraculous victory of the crusaders might have fuelled the subsequent crusades spanned over the next two centuries; they could have reasoned that by God’s mercy a spectacular and miraculous victory was always possible. Most of the Crusaders from the first episode returned to Europe in 1099 and only some 300 knights and 2000 infantry men were left with King Godfrey to defend Jerusalem. By July 1100 Godfrey died of food poisoning, a foul play or an accident. His brother Baldwin of Boulogne took up the reign. Baldwin, to be appointed as king, required anointing by the Pope or the Patriarch who would pour over the holy oil on the ruler’s head. This would set the ruler apart from other men, endowed with power of divine sanction! This ritual was carried in December 1100 by the Patriarch. There were internal rivalries within these four states and civil wars between them weakened their strength.

By 1119 two religious military orders came to be organized out of the knights, combining both the ideals of knighthood and monasticism, taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. One, composed of French knights known as the Order of the Temple of Solomon or the Templers and the second, the Hospital of St. John, or the Hospitallers, dedicated to John the Baptist, in whose name a hospital was being run in the Holy Land with the support of the Italian merchants. These two orders were to take care of the pilgrims to the Holy Land, but would become increasingly involved in the crusades over for the next two centuries.   

The Second Crusade: 1147-1150

In 1144 Muslims under Zengi, leader of Seljuk Turks recaptured Edessa in Syria and on the request of the Frankish Crusader States Pope Eugene III in Europe announced a crusade in 1145 which was preached by Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. The protection of the Eastern Christians in Levant was the objective and the assurance of the remission of sins of those who take part in the Crusade or die in the process was promised by the Pope and the families and properties left behind were to be protected and safeguarded by the church. Some 60,000 crusaders assembled, led by King Conrad III of Germany and King Louis VII of France. This is the first time kings would lead the Crusades.  As they reached Constantinople in 1147 troubles began due to mutual suspicion between Eastern Byzantine Christians and the Western Latin Christians, though the Byzantine Emperor Manuel had made all arrangements of provisions for the Crusaders and provided guides to navigate the troops through the difficult terrain. But the Latin armies proceeded separately without following the advice of the Emperor and were decimated by the Muslim forces of Zengi. Germans retreated to Constantinople and King Conrad returned to Europe in 1147; so also the French in 1148.

The Crusaders who came from England by sea in a fleet of 200 vessels in 1147 landed in the Iberian Peninsula and helped the King of Portugal to recapture their city Lisbon from the Muslims and also helped the King of Spain to push the Muslim conquerors to a large extent. That was the only successful outcome of the Second Crusade, which was fought on multiple fronts. Muslims in Levant had become stronger in the last 40-50 years, united under strong leaders and they had captured Damascus in 1154 and Egypt in 1168 and had become much more powerful and resourceful with Egypt serving as their bread basket.

The Third Crusade: 1187-1192

Muslims had become stronger under Sultan Saladin of Ayyubid dynasty, who had taken Jerusalem from the Franks in 1187 in the battle of Hattin, which was a major debacle for the Crusader king. They lost the Holy City and the Holy Cross to the Muslims. Sultan also took control of cities like Acre, Tiberius, Caesarea, Nazareth and Jaffa. Saladin had won Damascus in 1174 and Aleppo in 1183 and had become a formidable enemy. Third Crusade was called in response to the loss of the Holy City. The call was given by Pope Gregory VIII in 1187. Three monarchs responded this time; Frederick I Barbarossa, King of Germany and the Holy Roman Emperor; Philip II of France and Richard I the Lionhearted, the King of England.

On the way King Barbarossa accidentally fell into a river while crossing it on horseback near Cilicia and drowned in 1190. The German army decimated by dysentery and the loss of their king returned to Germany. King Philip and King Richard arrived by sea. Richard the Lionhearted was an experienced warrior and known for his personal courage and was wise in his decisions. On his way to Sicily to bring some 60,000 horses he took 100 ships and in the process took possession of Sicily. He conquered Cyprus by 1191, which will remain in Crusaders’ hands till the end and was of great support to them in the subsequent Crusades. Philip also joined Richard with his own troops. They attacked Acre and wrestled it from the hands of Muslims in July 1191. Philip returned to Europe after this due to some emergencies in his kingdom in Europe.

Now the mantle of leadership fell solely on Richard. They besieged and won the battle of Arsuf in September 1191. Richard suggested that they should attack and take Egypt first, then with that strength retake Jerusalem. But others were not agreeable. Hence they marched to Jerusalem but turned back after coming quite close to Jerusalem. Again they came close to Jerusalem, having fortified the forts in between, but due to differences of opinion they turned back. If only they had attacked they could have easily captured Jerusalem. But Richard was not entirely in favor of it, for he reasoned that it would involve loss of many lives and even after recovery, the Franks in the kingdom of Jerusalem were not in a position to protect it from the assaults by the Muslims. 

The Third Crusade ended in failure for Jerusalem was not taken, but Richard negotiated and made a peace agreement; Acre and Tyre were kept by the Franks; Ascalon was given up to the Muslims; safety of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem was ensured. In spite of all the amazing stories woven around Richard the Lionhearted and Saladin the Sultan, little was achieved and it is surprising to learn that both never met, either in war or in peace negotiations.

Fourth Crusade: 1202-1204

This Crusade was called by Pope Innocent III with the objective of getting back Jerusalem from Muslim’s hands, where was lost in 1187. Indulgences were announced, sins forgiven not only for the participants of the Crusade but also for those who contributed money to the Crusade. Here are sown seeds that would grow into a huge scandal of the Catholic Church, which drove Martin Luther to nail his 95 theses to the church door of Wittenberg, Germany in 1527 initiating Reformation. Saladin had died in 1193 and Richard the Lionhearted in 1199.

Many nobles responded to the call and the armies set sail from Venice to Egypt, now that the idea sowed by Richard that the Ayyubid’s dynasty should first be attacked at Egypt and from there to capture Jerusalem. However, troubles beset the Crusade as the rapacious traders of Venice insisted that the armies pay for the fleet before they embarked - silver marks of 85,000 for 240 ships. This amount was double the income of the French kingdom at that time! When the Crusaders could not pay this amount, as the number of promised crusaders did not turn up at Venice, the Venetians made a deal with them, suggesting that they capture first the city of Zara on the Dalmatian coast for the Italians, so that Venetians could rule the waters, overtaking their competitors from Pisa and Genoa, the other Italian cities. The Crusaders sacked the Christian city of Zara in November 1202. Pope summarily excommunicated both the Crusaders and the Venetians for this sacrilegious act of attacking Christians.  

Venice merchants also wanted to depose the ruling Emperor of Byzantine Empire and install someone who was more favorable to them and grant special privileges in trade within the Empire and to get ahead of Pisa and Genoa. The Crusaders ignominiously turned on Constantinople, may be due the desire for money and loot or due to the goading of the Venetian merchants, or to take revenge for the unhelpful attitude of the Emperors to the previous crusades. They attacked the city in June 1203, with 4500 knights 14000 infantry and 25,000 Venetians. Emperor Alexios III fled the city and Constantinople fell in April 1204. What his great grandfather Alexios of the First Crusade feared had come true.

The Crusaders installed the Latin count Baldwin of Flanders as the Emperor, the first Latin Emperor of Constantinople. They slaughtered the 4,00,000 inhabitants of the city, raped, massacred, torched buildings, desecrated churches, stole religious relics, melted the gold and carried it all as war booty to Europe. That much for the Crusaders’ avowed goal of supporting the Christians in the East from their enemies Muslims! In reality they became their enemy and sacked the city mercilessly. Christians turned against Christians; so much for Holy Wars and their religious fervor. 

After fifty years the Byzantines took back their kingdom, but it was a shadow of its former glory.  

Fifth Crusade: 1217-1221

Call for this Crusade was given in 1208 by Pope Innocent III and his successor Pope Honorius III to avenge the Christians in Levant and to free Jerusalem which was still in the hands of Muslims. A crusading army led by King Andrew II of Hungary and Duke Leopold II of Austria in 1208 came to nothing. In 1218 a German army led by Oliver of Paderborn and a mixed army led by Count William I of Holland took up the arms. Their plan was also to attack Cairo, the capital of Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt and then march to free Jerusalem. On landing in Egypt they first attacked and occupied the port of Damietta on the mouth of the river Nile. Then they marched towards Cairo in July 1221 and laid siege to Al-Mansoura, a town en route. When a section of the knights in the vanguard charged forth without orders from the leaders; they were annihilated by the Muslims and the entire force was forced to retreat to Damietta, where they sued for peace and signed truce for eight years with Kamil, son of Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. This Crusade also ended in utter failure.

Let’s see the fate of the other four crusades in the next blog. In all these the fate of Jerusalem, the Holy City of the Christians hung in balance and still in the hands of Muslims. 

The Medieval Crusades

My interest in Crusades led me to read two very fine books written quite recently, “The First Crusade: The Call from the East,” by Peter Frankopan, 2012 and “The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land,” by Thomas Asbridge, 2010. Not that I fully understood the nuances of the Medieval religious fervor and the blood thirsty massacres carried out in the name of religion and holy wars both by Christians and Muslims. Still it was a fantastic read and I wish to share some of the historical details and my own impressions of the Crusades with you all.

The Crusades raged for almost two centuries, from 1095 to 1291. There were eight to nine crusades with Latin Christians (mainly French) travelling all the way from the West to Constantinople, Asia Minor and Palestine to fight a war against Muslims. We will go through these crusades starting from the first. It is a marvel that religious fervor could motivate people to do that for two centuries, in spite of the dangers involved and heavy casualties.  

The First Crusade actually started as a response to the urgent appeals by the Alexios I Komnenos, Emperor of Byzantium, the East Roman Empire with its capital at Constantinople. Alexios, the Greek Emperor, called for assistance from his Christian contemporaries of the Western Latin kingdoms to help him tide the onslaught of the Muslim Turks, as they were in the process of swallowing the territory of his Kingdom, having already taken possession of Asia Minor. The very existence of the Christian Byzantine Empire was in danger. The knights of the West were well versed in sustained siege, attacking large fortified targets, a technique the Eastern counterpart were not very good at, another reason for Alexios to invite armed assistance from the West.

Pope Urban II, who was in a limbo in France, took up the call of the East seriously and started to work on it by writing to the nobles and aristocratic families of France, Germany and England. His famous speech in Clermont in France in November 1095 that Christianity in the East was in dire straight and that the Holy City of Jerusalem was in the hands of Muslims, the enemy, moved many people to take up the cross to help their brothers in the East and also to deliver Jerusalem the Holy City from the clutches of Muslims. The Pope also toured extensively in Europe propagating this venture of Holy War. He assured that those who take up arms to defend Christianity will have all their sins remitted. Their religious fervor kindled, hundreds and thousands of people took up arms to free the Holy City and also to assist the Byzantine Christians. Many nobles of reputed families took up the cross, important ones being, Robert the Duke of Normandy; Hugh of Vermandois, brother of Philip I, King of France; Count Raymond of Toulouse; Italian Norman Bohemond of Taranto; Godfrey Bouillon from Lorraine; his brother Baldwin of Boulogne;  Tancred of Hauteville and also many knights. Many of them mortgaged their properties to raise money for themselves, their knights and soldiers to fight the war. It was not an organized army, with one leader at its head, but in bits and pieces the foot soldiers and people marched on along with their knights and nobles in different groups. They held a war council as situation demanded and took decisions through group discussions.

The land route taken to Constantinople was highly dangerous and treacherous. Many perished on the way. One group, consisting of the poor rabble, under the leadership of Peter the Hermit, a preacher, called the People’s Crusade went early and on the way carried out a terrible massacre of the Jews as the enemy of Christ as it passed through Germany. Anti-Semitism ruled high. Bishops and the Pope and Kings and the Emperor warned the people against it. On the way, this group fell a pray to the Turks who murdered the clerics, monks and infants mercilessly. People were slaughtered and the whole venture of People’s Crusade ended in chaotic defeat in October 1096.

Others more organized and arms bearing started to arrive. Alexios was worried that these warriors and nobles might target Constantinople itself and made elaborate arrangements to meet the food requirements of the crusaders on the way, took the soldiers separately to a spot away from the city of Constantinople and met the leaders separately in the city, giving lavish presents and money for taking part in the Crusade. He made them swear that they will obey his directions in waging the war, though he couldn’t personally lead them in the war and to hand over the cities and towns won from Muslim Turks to the representatives of the Emperor to govern.

In spite of all these elaborate planning when the crusade was on its way, things went awry. First major town to be targeted was Nicaea. There by February 1097 assembled some 75,000, including 7500 mounted knights, and 35,000 lightly equipped infantry. The city fell to the Crusaders by June 1097. It was handed over to the governor representing Alexios. The next stage of the campaign was to go through Asia Minor to Antioch requiring three month’s march. Drinking water was running low; many died of thirst; food supply was getting exhausted; people starved; they started to eat horses, asses, camels, dogs and even rats; some of them even hide of the dead animals.

En route Smyrna, Ephesus and other coastal towns including Philadelphia, Sardis, Laodecea, Tarsos were taken one by one by 1098 and quickly handed over to Byzantine governors. Next important town to be taken was Edessa. By this time ambitions among the nobles leading the crusade started to raise its ugly head. Why fight the war and give the prizes to the Byzantines? Why not carve out a kingdom or a principality for themselves? Baldwin was not willing to hand over Edessa to Alexios’ men. This became the first Crusader State in the Near East, with a ruler of its own.

The Crusaders reached Antioch by September 1097; it was the seat of one of the five patriarchs; the place where Paul preached and the followers of Christ were first called Christians. To demoralize the Franks (the Latin Christians), Turks hung the Patriarch of Antioch upside down over the walls and was beat him with iron rods. Food shortages, hunger, disease took many lives. The Greek guide who was travelling with them on behalf of the Byzantium Emperor left the city never to return. The knights were urged to fast for three days, to march around the city, holding the Crusaders’ flag, without wearing footwear even. Mass was celebrated, psalms recited and pious prayers were sent to Christ. Finally by March 1098 food arrived by a fleet sent by Byzantines. Due to split in the ranks of the enemy and a betrayal by a Muslim, the Franks took a daring assault on the city and breached the walls and by June 1098 the city fell. It was a miracle and a stunning victory. They also recovered the Holy Lance from under the floor of the Church of St. Peter in Antioch. Prayers and thanksgiving were offered to God. But the nobles and knights decided not to hand over Antioch to the Greek Emperor. This would become the second Crusader State to be formed. Bohemond remained back claiming it for his rule, as he had led the frontal attack. Thereafter no other town would be handed over to the Emperor.

The crusaders won Kerbogha, Arqa, Tripoli on the way by May 1099 and pushed onward to Jerusalem, the Holy City by June 1099. They passed through Tyre, Acre and Caesarea without much trouble. They were jubilant. People burst into tears of joy on setting their sights on the Holy City. They held a solemn procession, knights bearing crosses and walking barefoot round the walls of Jerusalem imploring God to help and His mercy. By now they have travelled some 2000 miles. With their incessant bombardment by the siege machines and assault towers, they breached a wall and the city of Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders in July 1099. They did not forget to give thanks to their God in tears for this miraculous victory. But what followed was horrible. These pious Christians massacred some 10,000 and more people, Muslims and Jews, including women and children, in what is known as Jerusalem Massacre. They sacked the city and looted it for days. But the Holy City has been redeemed from the hands of Muslims. Godfrey of Bouillon was declared the ruler of this third Crusader State.

Three big cities in the Near East, Nicaea, Antioch and Jerusalem had been conquered by the Crusaders within two years. There were celebrations. Jerusalem lost to the Christians in 637 along with the whole of Levant, was back in Christian hands after some 450 years. The First Crusade was a success; miraculous may be, but still a success. Alexios recovered Nicaea and the towns in the coast of Asia Minor. His kingdom had become quite strong now through the help of crusaders and their victories. Turks had been subdued at least for the time being. The Crusaders formed small crusader settlements in these cities and started to reign as individual kings and monarchs. The main reason for their success was disunity among Muslims who did not have a strong ruler or leader among them. But the pious intention of the Crusaders to help their Christian brothers of Byzantine and to deliver the Holy City from the hands of Muslims, and the privation they went through to achieve these goals were all good enough reasons for the victory of the First Crusade.

In the next blog we will go through the other crusades, second one to the last and see how the Crusaders and Muslims fared in these medieval wars. Hope this was interesting and informative. Do let me have your opinions and suggestions so that I benefit from your feedback. Thank you and God keep you all blessed.

Corruption in Methodist Church in India (MCI)

 Today is the D Day. As I type this blog time should have been out for our very beloved Bishop N.L. Karkare (NLK). But did it happen? Did he resign and go as he had given in writing that he will take VRS on 15^th Jan, 2021 and leave the office? This was his undertaking given on 24^th November 2020 as a compromise to avoid being placed under suspension pending enquiry, may be as persuaded by his other colleagues in the COB (Council of Bishop), who thought, a bit naively that he will stay true to his words and go. But not our beloved Bishop! He and his coterie had other plans. Since that day his supporters have been felicitating him and celebrating his victory over the COB and the system. He has been heard boasting that he will stay for two more years as Bishop and serve the people! I know along with me you also must be wondering whether these so called bishops had divine call and came into MCI to serve the Lord or did they hear their belly rumbling and came into the church and started making money as the opportunity presented itself! 

A huge disappointment with COB. Even though I knew it was no use and that even the enquiry instituted by COB was only an eye-wash, still when Col. Dayal requested me to speak to the President COB, Bishop Philip Musih and Secretary COB, M.A. Daniel, and also because I came to know that a group from NLK was going to Hyderabad on 5^th January to meet with the Secretary, and that all the other 5 bishops are going to be there, I spoke to both of them regarding NLK demitting his office on 15^th January 2021. On 4^th January, I spoke to Bishop Phillip Musih, President of COB who tried to explain to me they could not suspend NLK on 24^th November 2020, because there was no unanimity among the bishops. So they went for the VRS option. But he was firm that the corrupt NLK has to go and that he has told the Secretary to convene a emergency meeting of the COB on 16^th to take a decision in the matter. As for the 5^th January meeting, he said if we want we can always come and explain our stand in the meeting as I had requested. He also clarified to me that the Enquiry Committee will be submitting their report by 11^th January.

When I spoke to Bishop Daniel the same day, he explained that it was an informal meeting, mainly to sort out this problem of NLK who is now claiming that he signed the letter under duress and is filing cases against all the bishops harassing them. When I asked him about NLK leaving on 15^th as he had promised, Daniel said that NLK has to do that and that COB cannot force him to go. When I pointed out that President has asked him to convene the meeting of COB he feigned ignorance and said he was not aware of it. Still I continued to argue with him that if NLK did not leave on 15^th the COB will face worse consequences than that threatened by NLK. Then he said, please talk to the President and that we can come another day and not on 5^th because it might create confusion.

I could sense that Bishop Daniel has changed. When I had spoken to him before the October and November meetings in 2020, he was very supportive of our demand that COB has to take action against NLK. But how did he change now? He gave any number of excuses why no action can be taken on NLK. Did NLK book him also with his resources? God alone knows. Col. Dayal was also closely following my discussions and was calling them and insisting his point of view that COB must take action against NLK. We both exchanged notes and as he had indicated that the whole matter be kept confidential, I did not even inform Mr. Alexander Samuel, who is the other member of our Task force of three, based on the 12 member Core Group formed to fight corruption in MCI. But we met Pastor Mathew George and also Bishop Sampathkumar and kept them informed.

Again I spoke to Bishop Daniel to give us (Col. Dayal and myself) time to come and represent before him at Hyderabad. When I pointed out all the corrupt deals of NLK and that COB has to take action as directed by the High Court, Bangalore and the Supreme Court, he was still dragging his foot pointing out to the stay given by Bombay High court and the other case filed by one Guruprasad in Bangalore. When I assured him that Bombay case stay order can be vacated and our Bangalore Advocate can do that and also tackle the case filed by Guruprasad, he was still not eager to do anything solid. He was suggesting that only General Conference could send NLK home and that they are trying to do that. He said he might be coming to Bangalore on 13^th and that we could meet him there. By now I knew the direction in which the wind was blowing and that Secretary will not do anything being afraid of NLK’s machinations, still I persisted.

I took it up with President Bishop Musih on 8^th January again. He again said in spite of several reminders and instructions Secretary has not issued notices to convene the emergency meeting of COB. He further said there is a move to isolate him and to convene a regular meeting of the COB giving 21 days notice to pass a resolution in that meeting to remove Bishop Musih from President-ship and to have the next senior and more pliable Bishop Daniel appointed as the President. Two bishops Anil Servant from Bombay and Yesurathnam from Chennai have given such notices. Though I sensed his own stand in COB is weakening because he is standing firm on punishing NLK, I requested him to call for COB if necessary directly and take action. Of course he can count only on Bishop Mondal for support. The other three will be against him.

On 11^th Col. Dayal sent to the President a draft as from the President quoting Rules 384 and 455, where by President can call for the emergency meeting if just two members ask for it and if Secretary for any reason will not call for the meeting, President himself can call for such a meeting. We both called the President to follow it up with him. Bishop Musih was very defensive and said two members have already asked for a meeting, not an emergency meeting but a regular meeting, its one agenda being removal of him as President COB. He requested us to take up Guruprasad’s case, as it was mainly against Bishop Phillip Mushi saying that he is tainted and had no moral right to appoint an enquiry against NLK.

It transpires that the entire lot of Bishops, all the six of them are corrupt and are involved in some case or the other. Of course nothing to beat our man in Bangalore, NLK, who is the king of all! The others cannot hold a candle to him. So within the COB lines have been clearly drawn between Bishops Musih and Mondal on one side and Daniel, Anil Servant and Yesurathnam on the other. Two against 4 (including NLK), and nothing much could be expected from such a divided COB, with all of them reeling under corruption cases. Anyway we both were getting ready for the 13^th meeting with Bishop Daniel who informed me on 12^th evening that he is coming with Bishop Yesurathnam from Chennai and one Mr. Williams, the Assistant General Secretary, Executive Council on 13^th and will be staying at Hotel Pride and that we could meet them there and present our case. We agreed.

Meanwhile a huge drama was getting played at KMC (Koramangala Methodist Church) under Pastor Mathew George. When Bishop Daniel told the Pastor they will be coming on 13^th the Pastor wanted them to meet the PC. He told us that we can meet them after the PC, for he wanted the Bishops to feel the heat from the PC! Well, we both agreed. But it later turned out that the Pastor wanted them to come to KMC if they wanted to meet the PC. Though Bishop Daniel was agreeable to that, the other two did not agree. Then the PC KMC decided that since the bishops are not interested in coming to KMC to meet them, they are also not interested to go and meet them in the hotel. Then I told the Pastor, in that case Col Dayal and me will go and meet them in the hotel, because they have come after all because of our requests. Pastor agreed with it. Next day early morning I informed the Pastor that we are going to the hotel to meet them at 11.30 the time given to me by Bishop Daniel. A little later pastor called me and said, the PC has also decided to meet the bishops and will also be coming to the hotel to meet them! Pastor has told Bishop Daniel in the meanwhile that Shanthakumari is not in the PC and that she is in a group formed by some people and only that she is representing.

On 13^th when we met Bishop at 11.30, some 8 to 9 PC members of KMC were already there and the Bishops as appraised by the pastor, wanted to meet the PC members first and then may be they will give Col. Dayal and me time. I was shocked! Till I organized the meeting Pastor never told me why are you doing this as you are not even a member of the PC. After my persistent talks with the President and Secretary, COB and the meeting date and venue fixed, I become an outsider, not to be given importance to. Is this a use and throw policy practiced by some very clever beings on this earth against trusting people? Let God be the judge.

Well, you know the rest. As the meeting with PC had just started, me followed by Col. Dayal barged into the meeting and with their permission joined the discussions. You know what went in the meeting from our reports posted on the WhatsApp groups. It was clear at the end of the meeting though all of us insisted for the removal of NLK in 15^th January as he had given in writing, the Bishops wanted to convene a General Conference (GC) within six months in which NLK will have to go. But knowing their conduct so far, there is no guarantee that GC will be held even after six months. True to his boastings NLK might stay for another 2 years, empty all the coffers of the churches in Bangalore and Karnataka, sell more church properties and accumulate money for another three generations of his, like politicians do, unless the Lord in his mercy to us strikes him down before that.

But God is the creator of the church. It is His church and does not belong to any Bishop, or District Superintendent or Pastor, corrupt or otherwise. Lord has prophesied in Ezekiel 34:2-10, that “Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.” “My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek them.” So the Lord says, “I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep.” Verses 11-16 says, He Himself will search for His sheep, rescue them, feed them with good pastures. Yes, when the bishops and clergy who are the shepherds do not take care of the people, the sheep, God Himself will take care of them and punish the evil doers.

Habakkuk cried to the Lord, “Why are you silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?” (Hab.1:13) The Lord answered “there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”(Hab. 2:3).  So let us wait, there will be an end to this looting of churches and inaction by the COB. End will come and till that time “the righteous live by their faith.” (Hab.2:4). But a warning to the shepherds who are fattening at the expense of the Lord’s churches, a time will come when Jesus will return and judge between the goats and sheep, the sheep separated from the goats and gathered into the kingdom of God, whereas the goats will be cast into the eternal fire. (Matthew 25:31-41). So “repent and do the works you did at first;” return to your first love, if you had one. Or else Christ “will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”(Rev.2:4-5)

There is always hope at the end of the tunnel, with the Light of the world, Jesus Christ showing us the way out of darkness. Let’s trust in him and wait. Amen.

Corruption in the Church

 

Corruption in the church? How can that be? One can understand there is corruption in the secular field, in the Government, among politicians and bureaucrats, but corruption in the church? Sounds oxymoron! To understand this phenomenon I decided to dig a bit deeper.

The first three centuries after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the nascent church struggled for existence. In the beginnings Jews persecuted the Christians, due to jealousy and aversion of including Christians in the family of God. To a Jew God is his exclusive property and they were not willing to share it with the Greeks and other non-Jews who claimed to be Abraham’s children by faith in Christ. They were not willing to extend the privileges they enjoyed under the Roman rule to the Christians.

Then the local pagan population started to oppress the Christians, for in their eagerness to show their loyalty to the Roman rulers, the conquered populations including Greeks, erected statues of the Caesars and instituted temple worship for them, even though the Emperors themselves were reluctant in the beginning to get such worship from their subjects. But the subjects were keener to address the Caesar as their Lord, and expected the Christians to play along to show their loyalty to the Emperor. Unfortunately a Christian could only call the resurrected and glorified Christ as Lord and they refused the worship of Emperors. It was taken as a mark of disloyalty to the Roman Empire and the local population persecuted them. Many lost their livelihood as the guilds had their own patron gods and celebrations were held in their honor and the Christians refused to participate in these revelries. This further angered the local population and they made life hard for the Christians.

Very soon the Romans caught up with the game. There were periodic and violent persecutions launched by the emperors themselves, starting with Nero in 65 AD. Peter and Paul lost their lives in this mayhem. It was followed by Domitian in the 90s. This could be the time when Revelation (Apocalypse) was written. These were sporadic and limited to the local areas. Empire wide persecution was launched by Decius in 250 AD and Valerian in 253 AD. Properties were confiscated, titles stripped off, and lives lost. Romans could not understand the traditions of Christians like eating the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood. Population spurred the rulers saying neglect to worship Graeco-Roman gods will bring their wrath and disasters on the Empire. Loyalty to the State religion was demanded from them. When it was not forthcoming persecution followed.

When Constantine came to power the tide turned. Edict of Milan in 313 AD put an end to persecution of Christians and permitted them to worship their God without molestation. Under Emperor Constantine the persecuted religion became the most favored religion and very soon would become the State religion. In all these three centuries the Christian population was poor, without a voice in the government, hated and were looked down upon. There was no corruption among them, for what was attractive in a religion whose adherents were persecuted and lost their livelihood, properties and even lives? Only the genuinely faithful were sticking to Christianity, but, with Constantine things began to changes. Bishops became powerful and started to imitate the power and prestige of the Roman Emperors and the governors. The exclusive purple of the royalty came to adorn the bishops as well. Corruption and misrule and entered into the church slowly but surely. Still majority were true Christians and many bishops like St. Augustine fought against heresies that tried to corrupt the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. They succeeded in halting this effort of heretics to corrupt the New Testament Scripture and in 390 AD in Synod of Milan, the Apostolic Creed was accepted by the Church, which we still proclaim in our churches.  

The Western Roman Empire fell under attacks by barbarians; Alaric, king of Visigoth in 410 AD, sacked the city of Rome. The last emperor who was a puppet was deposed by Odoacer, a leader of Germanic origins, who assumed the title of Emperor in 476 AD and the Western Roman Empire was completely wiped off. The empire itself was divided and ruled by many barbaric kings who had invaded and succeeded in establishing their rule. Roman rule continued in the East as Byzantium with Constantine as its capital for another thousand years, but it fell in 1453 AD conquered by Ottoman Turks. The period between fifth century AD when Western Roman Empire fell and fifteenth century AD when Eastern Roman Empire fell is generally known as Dark Ages. The light of the cultured and the unifying power of Roman Empire was extinguished and barbarians ruled the land.

The fate of Christianity also changed drastically with changes in the political scene. Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 AD, but the empire was still mainly pagan. In 391 AD Theodosius banned much of paganism, public sacrifice and even private worship of images (idols). Justinian (527-565 AD) banned pagan cults, enforcing baptism on pain of confiscation and execution. The tables had turned now and it is the turn of Christians to persecute the pagans who still worshipped the Graeco-Roman gods!

There were five prominent Episcopal Sees in the Roman world by fifth century. Roman See being in the seat of power of the Empire became preeminent and tried to rule over the other Sees, Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople. By 661 AD Muslim Arabs had overridden Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem, which lost their pre-eminence. Constantine in 330 AD shifted the capital of Roman Empire to Constantinople built on old Byzantium. The main rivalry now on would be between Roman and Constantine Sees, which led among other reasons to the East-West Schism in 1054 AD. In due course history will witness the Roman See becoming Catholic Church and the Constantine See becoming more of Greek Orthodox Church.

Well history apart, let’s see how corruption crept into the church once the Western Roman Empire fell and Roman See started to become pre-eminent. As the Roman Empire became more and more anti-pagan and pro-Christian, the church grew not only in power and prestige, but also in wealth due to pious gifts. By fifth century the church had an elaborate structure, hundreds and thousands of clerics, more than the civil administrators and grew in power. The church by 500 AD was the largest local landowner and had become partners with the emperors and administrators of the secular world. Because of its independent organization, Church survived the political fragmentation of the fifth century. The stable Roman See looked as if it represented the Roman Empire! Still in the fifth century Christian piety, its charity works, and beginnings of ascetic life all could be evidenced. But Bishops imitated victory procession of the emperors and started their own formal processions between urban churches as a show of their power and prestige.

With the fall of Western Roman Empire, the Roman aristocracy also dwindled in power, prestige and landholdings. Some went into military service under the conquerors. Aristocrats started to look to the episcopate for a career. In a political world that was falling apart, the church was standing solid. The conquering barbarians took up the estates of the Roman aristocrats. The only alternative left was church. In Gaul (modern France) for the first time aristocrats became bishops. The church was rich in landed property and so it was attractive for the aristocrats who had lost their lands to get into the church and become leaders to dominate these properties. For the first time, clerics and bishops entered the church for reasons other than piety. Conversion and spiritual experience of the soul were not given any importance. Being a bishop sometimes became a retirement option, but mostly a good career choice, when the choice was between swordsmanship and Bible. Gregory, Bishop of Tours in Gaul (538-594 AD) was an active political bishop, also a historian. By seventh century, rich aristocrats who owned land founded monasteries to keep the land under their control. Bishops by this time were overwhelmingly aristocratic, often leading a military lifestyle, keeping armies. Monasteries were closely associated with the aristocratic families who founded them and even less depended on the bishops of the jurisdiction.

By the seventh century the king was appointing the bishops and bishops had to represent their cities politically. Bishops developed local autonomies, called ‘Episcopal republics’ and had to attend the court offices along with their secular counterparts, the counts. He has to keep abreast with the latest political affairs to survive. In the city of Rome when its senate faded away in the late sixth century, popes emerged as the authority best equipped to rule Rome, as recoded in the writings of Pope Gregory the Great in the 590s. In the eighth century the entire imperial infrastructure in Rome steadily became papal. Bishoprics were wealthy and had more elaborate infrastructure and hierarchies than the Roman kingdoms. They were power brokers among the divided kings and their coteries, as did Pope Gregory II (715-731 AD). Under Charlemagne in the ninth century, the state and the semi-autonomous church were knit in a tight partnership, which became a norm the West for the next two centuries.      

Well, we have seen now how church came to be infested with money minded and career oriented political clerics. No wonder as in the secular world corruption and intrigues of power entered the church. We still need to see how corruption increased during the Middle Ages and finally led to Reformation. But this in the next blog!

Till then, good bye. Wishing you all a very happy and God's grace-filled New Year. Amen.

“A Consecrated Life is a Lonely Life”

I have always been enamored by the life of Katherine Kuhlman. She was so filled with the Holy Spirit and overwhelmingly anointed that miracles happened and people lay ‘slain in the Spirit.’ She was an evangelist, a lady at that, a first in many matters. Let us go through her life and ministry.

Katherine Kuhlman was born to German parents in 1907 in a small place called Concordia, in Missouri, USA. She was one of the four children and strangely her father was a Baptist and her mother a Methodist. Her father rose to be the Mayor of the town, but died early in an accident. Katherine was very fond of her father whom she called ‘papa,’ and when young clung to his legs and not let go when he returned from work. It is that love that she transferred to the heavenly Father later on in her life.

When she was just 14 years old as she was attending the service with her mother in the small Methodist church, she came under the experience of being born again. As the last song was being sung, her hands holding the hymnal book began to shake; that she was a sinner came clearly to her and leaving the hymnal at the pew, she went to the front row and sat there weeping and involuntarily shaking and trembling. Something had happened to her; she was born again. Though she did not recognize the Holy Spirit that time, she never forgot the moment when the Holy Spirit came upon her and she had the experience of the new birth.

Katherine’s sister and brother in law were in the itinerant healing ministry and wanted her to come along with them to help with their children as they traveled from place to place preaching. Katherine became a nanny to her sister’s children for the next five years and traveled with them all over USA. When her brother in law brought the message, people were slain in the Spirit, a new experience then. All these must have given her a background in itinerant ministry and when her sister wanted her to return home, she started her own ministry.

She preached only about salvation, her own experience of being born again. In 1933, she started her ministry in Denver and held meetings in abandoned truck garages and paper company’s warehouses and in such small places. Her ministry was doing well and she had started radio ministry and was travelling around the country. In 1937 she met another itinerant preacher Waltrip, who was married with two boys. But he divorced his wife and abandoned his children and proposed to Katherine. She took the plunge in 1938 in spite of people warning her not to. Very soon she realized that it was a mistake and did not know how to correct it. Evangelic ministry along with her husband was not fulfilling, for her husband would not let her preach. It was his show.

One day as she was weeping and walking in a dead end street in California, Los Angeles, she took the decision and gave herself fully to the Lord. She would say later that Katherine Kuhlman died that day to herself. She cried to the Lord to take her and use her, though she was without any talent and any merit on her own. She would tell her Lord, she had nothing to give Him, except her love, which she gave with all her heart and her body she offered to Him as a living sacrifice. She filed for divorce in 1947 and started her own ministry. She was divorced by 1948.

Though it was a turning point in her life and ministry, it was not all a bed of roses after that. She was not accepted in the Christian circles. In one of the meetings as she was preaching, the Pastor having learned that she was a divorcee, came to the stage, took the microphone from her hand and made her leave the stage and the very town itself. She met with such treatments in many places and was shattered, but she continued her ministry. A small church in Ohio, where she was conducting meetings desired to make her their pastor; she objected saying she is a divorcee but they told her that her past was not of interest to them and that in the present people are coming to the Lord, are being healed by her ministry and so they would like her to be their pastor. She became their pastor in 1948.

The last 10-15 years of her life were a blessing to many. It is said that nearly two million people got healed during her services. She started and ran a Television ministry called “I believe in miracles,” from 1966 to 1975, which became very popular throughout America and Canada. She was a charismatic evangelist, and embraced all denominations including the Catholic church. People thronged to her meetings and many were healed. Katherine developed a heart condition, but she would not rest or slow down her ministry. She died in 1976 following an open heart surgery, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Katherine resented being called ‘faith-healer,’ for she was not doing anything by her own power. She said that she had no healing power, but it was God who acted through her. She made it clear that she was not a psychic healer, who mastered the art of mind over matter. Her case was simple for she was a yielded vessel, which God used mightily to manifest His power through the Holy Spirit to heal people. 

A consecrated life is a life set apart for God; such people are married to the Lord, and place themselves at the disposal of His Will and pleasure to be used as He would wish. She lived in the world but had consecrated her life to her Lord. She would say that such a life was not easy and that it had a price tag on its head. A consecrated life could be lonely for she had no social life, and no personal life. Her life was entirely devoted to the Lord, her Master. She would remind her audience that she was human and she was a woman, but her life was totally devoted to her God, who is a jealous Husband!

God bless such people and multiply such devoted lives for His glory.