re: #46 EPR-radar

I wouldn’t give credit for that to the Crusades. The crusaders weren’t interested in books or civilization.

Peaceful contacts and the consequences of the Spanish Reconquista were probably more significant sources of knowledge getting into Europe.

Some things came back to Europe anyways. But ‘knowledge of the world’, means more than new technology or scientific ideas.

Those who returned from the Crusades and met many people who were different from them. And while massacres did happen, at other times they didn’t and those who had gone on a crusade normally returned knowing the world was a lot bigger than the place where they grew up. Visiting other places and meeting people who are not like you helps develop a frame of mind more open to commerce and new ideas.

The Crusades, brutal though they were, were an important bridge out of the Dark Ages for Europe.