How Islamic Violence Provoked The Crusades

This video discusses the Islamic violence against Eastern Christians in the Syrian region during the Middle Ages, and how it provoked the Crusades as a defensive response. The idea that the Crusades were an unprovoked act of violence against Islamic civilization is simply nonsense and not historical. This video makes use of several important medieval primary sources from the Middle East, including Aristakes' 11th Century Armenian History, and the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imTY5izhTDo

Some important sources:
The full text of Aristakes' History
http://rbedrosian.com/a1.htm

Info on Michael the Syrian:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...

An article by leading Crusades historian Tom Madden
http://ignatiusinsight.net/features20...

An excellent book by an Egyptian scholar entitled "The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam"
http://books.google.com/books?id=C2Gg...