Armenians are a native ethnic group of the Armenian Highland. They make up a large population of the Republic of Armenia. In addition, they make up a large population across the globe. Armenians played an important role in the Ottoman economy and government. Specific elite families in Armenian won the trust of the Sultans and were offered positions in the Ottoman economy and government. The rest of the Armenians were treated as second-class citizens. In the 19th Century, many Armenian families became architects, goldsmiths and bankers of the sultan. Moreover, since Armenians were Christians and that is where it started from after the death of Jesus, their role was to spread Christianity to other parts of the world to win the souls of many to Christ (Jackson, 2018).
The contemporary Armenians viewed crusaders as fellow Christians and people with common goal to end the Islamic conquest. Initially, the Armenians were apprehensive of the arrival of crusaders in large numbers. Later, they received crusaders with open arms after learning that they are Christians and they are not part of the Eastern Orthodoxy that broke ties with the Pope disgracefully during the Great Schism. Another reason why they were receptive of the crusaders was that they believed if they work together as Christians, they would be able to conquer the hostile Islamic armies surrounding them (Mallette, 2018). Therefore, the crusader presented the military support needed to defeat Islamic conquest. After the arrival of crusaders, the Armenians together with crusaders formed military and political alliances. Although general histories often portray crusaders to have invaded the Armenians territory and established a state by force, it is clear that it was not the case. It is evident that Crusaders were invited by the Armenian leaders and formed complex network of local alliances with Armenian elites, nobles, and warlords in order to defeat the hostile Islamic communities surrounding them ( MacEvitt, 2010). Therefore, they provided significant partnership needed to defeat the Islamic conquest.
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References
Jackson, P. (2018). Christians, Barbarians and Monsters: the European discovery of the world beyond Islam. In The Medieval World (pp. 88-105). Routledge.
MacEvitt, C. (2010). The crusades and the Christian world of the East: rough tolerance . University of Pennsylvania Press.
Mallette, K. (2018). The Mediterranean Is Armenian. In An Armenian Mediterranean (pp. 309-321). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
