Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West

by Raymond Ibrahim

When, oh when, therefore, [continued Bartolomeo] shall these miserable [Western] Christians be roused [to action]?… Where is the glorious kingdom of the Franks now, which in ancient times drove the Saracens from Hispania? Where is the great power of the English? These two have been consumed [fighting] against one another. Where now is the king of Aragon, terror of the infidel? Where are the other powers and Christian princes? The Germans are hateful to the Hungarians and Bohemians, the Hungarians fight with the Poles. The pastors of the Church are at odds with the pastors, the barons with the barons, and cities use themselves up against other cities, so that even if no other persecution is inflicted from the outside, they are more than enough for their own ruin.