Monday Updates.

One of the most surprising things that I have learned is that one of my late distant cousins was involved in the Normandy invasions during World War II. His name was Reverend Dr. Delaware Floyd Harris. He lived from December 15, 1921 to April 25, 2010. He was the fifth of nine children of Emma Jane Mason Harris and Andrew Harris. All of the nine children of Emma Jane Mason Harris and Andrew Harris were: Marian Harris Nottingham (whose daughter is Gloria E. Nottingham), Bessie H. Johnson, Robert Harris, Andrew Harris, James Hurley Harris, Delaware Harris, Henry Harris, Mildred H. Jenkins, and Evelyn H. Price. Rev. Delaware Floyd Harris and I share the common ancestor of Sarah Claud, who was the daughter of the heroic Zilphy Claud. Sarah Claud was my 4th great grandmother, her son was the Rev. James Thompson Claud, Rev. James Thompason Claud's son was Arthur Boss Claud, Arthur Claud's daughter was Ella Mae Claud, Ella's son was Robert (or my later grandfather), Robert's daughter was my mother, and then I came about. Sarah Claud's daughter was Susanna Sarah M. Hill (b. 1868). My 4th great aunt Susanna Hill, whose father was Tom Hill, married a man named Nelson Harris (b. 1861) on December 22, 1886 at Southampton County, Virginia. The couple had many children. One of their children was Andrew Harris (1892-1984) or my 1st cousin. Andrew Harris married a woman named Emma Jean Mason Harris (1893-1908). They had nine children. One of their children was my 2nd cousin Rev. Dr. Delaware Floyd Harris (1921-2010). So, I am related to many people in Southampton County, Virginia.

Rev. Dr. Delaware Floyd Harris was born in Courtland, Virginia which is next to Suffolk, Virginia. He lived in Southampton County, Virginia during his childhood where my maternal ancestors came from. He joined the United States Navy during World War II on the ship LST 520. He was a religious man and became a chaplain to the soldiers overseas. According to the published log of the captain of this warship, Delaware Harris and his shipmates participated in the Normandy invasion. He was awarded 2 medals of valor and distinguished service (i.e. The Victory World War II Medal and the European/African theater Medal with 1 Star). He received a Letter of Commendation from President Harry S. Truman for his "fortitude, resourcefulness, and clam judgement" during his service to his country. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Virginia Union University at Richmond, Virginia and a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Virginia Theological Seminary and College in Lynchburg, Virginia. He dedicated his life to the ministry. He worked in carpenter, insurance, and other churches like the Wilson Chapel Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Virginia and the First Nottoway Baptist Church in Crew, Virginia. Rev. Dr. Delaware Floyd Harris married Selena M. Ridley on July 17, 1943 at Norfolk, Virginia. They had one child named Dr. Delaware Floyd Harris II (b. 1946). Dr. Delaware Harris II lives in California, and he was born on April 21, 1946 at Norfolk, Virginia. He married Mary Frances Robinson (b. 1952) on June 24, 1972 at Prince George County, Virginia. Dr. Delaware F. Harris II and Mary Frances Robinson as a couple both live in the Los Angeles, California area. Therefore, this news is certainly very interesting.

The Crusades are part of world history during the Middle Ages that changed the world forever. It was a conflict of religions, ideologies, and other views that we deal with to this very day. In our time, we know a lot of the Crusades' origin, history, and legacy. It was initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Roman Catholic Church. The multiple Crusades were long from 1096 to 1271. The goal of the crusaders were overt. They desired to control the Holy Land from Islamic rule. Also, this era saw the Catholic Church used terrorism and violence to harm pagans, Gnostics like the Albigensians, and other dissident religious groups like the Waldensians. People have the right to agree or disagree with views, but no one has the right to murder people by virtue of someones' political or religious views. The Crusades represented an early form of European imperialism and war crimes on a mass scale across continents. The first Crusade started by Pope Urban II on 1095. This was when he proclaimed the First Crusade at Council of Clermont. He wanted military support for Byzantine Emperor Alexios I against the Seljuk Turks and an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Many people in Western Europe supported his action. Volunteers took a public vow to join the crusade. The Crusades were complex. Some of it existed for feudal reasons, opportunities for economic growth, religious extremism, etc. The Crusader states were in the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Country of Tripoli. The Knights Templar were involved in many of the Crusades. Christians and Muslims fought in the Iberian Peninsula. Muslims controlled it until 1492 via the Reconquista by Christians. That was when the fall of the Muslim Emirate of Granada came about. The 1147 campaigns in Northern Europe against pagan tribes existed. Pope Innocent III started crusades against what he deemed "Christian heretics" in 1199. By the 1200, crusading was done against the Cathars or Gnostics in Languedoc in France, plus in Bosnia, the Waldensians in Savoy (in Italy), and the Hussites in Bohemia. There was the targeting by the Vatican against Protestants by the 16th century. This crusading rhetoric ended by 1699 with the War of the Holy League.

The Crusades started and ended with religion. By the end of the Roman empire, Christianity was widespread in Europe. The first proclaimed Christian Roman Emperor was Constantine the Great in 324 A.D. The Western Roman Empire was gone by 476 A.D. The Eastern Roman Empire or the locations around Byzantium continue to flourish for centuries until the 1400's. Islam was created by the 600's A.D. by Muhammad. Islam expanded from 622-632 across the Arabian peninsula. By 661 A.D., the Islamic influence spread to all of the New East, North Africa, and other places. By the time of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661-750 A.D., this era saw Islam expanding into Spain. The Byzantine world and the Islamic world during the time of the Middle East had massive wealthy, cultural development, and military power. Western Europe was in a funk of lax power and influence. There was relative peace for a time among the Christian and Muslim world before the Crusades. Muslim Arabic people conquered territory from the Indus in the east to North Africa and Southern France in the West. Syria, Egypt, and North Africa were taken from the Byzantine Empire. Shia Islam grew. Shia followers believe that only the descendants of Muhammad's cousin and son in law Ali plus daughter Fatimah could be caliph. Sunnis disagreed with this view. Before the start of the Crusades, many events occurred. From 1040 to 1055, the Turkish people migrated from central Asia to southwest Asia. They conquered Persia, and they started to invade Armenia including Iraq. They captured Baghdad or the capital of the Abbasid capital city. From 1067 to 1070, the Turkish people invaded Byzantine territory in Turkey. Turkic forces take over Jerusalem from the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa. By 1071, Turkic forces defeated the Byzantine forces at the Battle of Manzikert and found the Sultanante of Rum in Asia Minor (Turkey). In 1054, the Catholic Church was divided. It split among the Vatican in Rome and the Greek Orthodox Church in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. From 1061 to 1091, Christian forces under the Normans invaded and defeated Muslim ruled Sicily. Yet, they retained Muslim cultural influence under Norman rule. The Turkic people conquered Antioch, Syria in 1085. The Muslim city of Toledo was captured by Christian forces under Alfonso VI.


To start, the First Crusade (1095-1099), started by the Byzantine Emperor or the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. He wanted the Pope to reclaim lands in Turkey that were lost to Turkic Islamic forces. The Council of Clermont on 1095 was when the Pope called upon the princes of Western Europe to rule Jerusalem. Crusaders were promised absolution of all sins. The problem was that Jerusalem wasn't originally owned or controlled by Europeans. The People's Crusade came about in 1096. The Pope called on the princes of Europe. Many people in Europe were followers of that call of invasion. In 1096, vicious peasants killed many Jewish people living in the Rhineland of Germany. The Fatimids retook Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks in 1096. in 1096, Crusader armies under Peter and Walter destroyed at Nicaea by Kilij Arslan. In 1097, the Crusades invaded Turkey and reach Antioch by October 21, 1097.  From 1096 to 1099, a group of 50,000 to 60,000 Europeans (including 7,000 knights) took the city of Jerusalem. They set up the Western dominated Kingdom of Jerusalem. On Spring and Summer of 1096, Jewish people were massacred in Europe. On October 20, 1097, there was the siege of Antioch. Crusaders took lands formerly belonging to the Byzantine Empire. They worked as a mercenary army. The city of Antioch fell about a long siege. By March 10, 1098, Edessa was formed as the first Latin settlement in the West under Crusade leader Baldwin after its Turkic leader flees. Muslims fight them or the Crusaders at Antioch on June 5, 1098. The Crusaders captured the city of Jerusalem in 1099. They or the Crusaders massacred many of the residents, including Jewish people, Muslims, and Christians. Godfey was elected ruler of the city. They divided the city into four sections. Later, the Knights Templar would work heavily in Jerusalem. By 1100, Baldwin was chosen as the first Crusader king of Jerusalem. The city of Acre was ruled by the Crusader leader Baldwin. It was a port city. In that same year, the Muslims defeated the Franks at Harran. It prevented them from moving further east into Muslim territory. The Hospitallers or the Knightly Order of St. John was founded as a Crusader force. By Spring of 1115, an alliance of Muslims and Franks in Syria were used to fight Seljuk Sultan Muhamamd ibn Malikshah. The Knights Templar was founded as a Crusader force by 1119 A.D. The Second Crusade was from 1147 to 1148. This was when Westerners wanted to retake the city of Edessa. It failed. The 2nd Crusade also included Crusaders in parts of Muslim ruled Spain, Eastern Germany, and the East. Spanish Crusaders take Lisbon from Muslim rule. The Crusader armies under Conrad of Germany and Louis VII of France besieged Damascus, but they are turned back by Nur al-Din's forces. By 1187, the Muslim soldier Saladin captured the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Saladin ended Fatimid rule in Egypt, and he formed the Ayyuid dynasty. There is competition between Nur al-Din and Saladin. Saladin ruled Damascus by 1174. After Saldin took over Jerusalem, Franks only retain cities of Tyre, Tripoli and Antioch. The entire army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was lost in the battles for the city. The Third Crusade lasted from 1189 to 1192. The Crusaders, who headed it, were Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and the Holy Roman Emperor Emperor Frederick I. Frederick I died en route to the Middle East by June 1190. This was when there was an attempt to conquer Jerusalem again by the Crusaders.

Richard the Lionhearted led the Third Crusade. He was from England. He controlled a small amount of land in Israel. Christians were allowed to visit the city of Jerusalem. By September 2, 1192, Richard and Saladin end their fighting with a treaty. Richard leaves for his home in England. Saladin died by 1193. His brother al-Adil rules. The Fourth Crusade was from 1203 to 1204. The Crusaders wanted to conquer Jerusalem again. They were involved in politics. They sacked Constantinople to form the Latin Kingdom of Constantinople. The Fifth Crusade was against Egypt. It lasted from 1218 to 1221. It was a costly failure. From 1209 to 1229, Albigensian people were massacred by the Vatican in Southern France. In 1212, the Children's Cruades begins and ends in tragedy. From 1217-1221, there was the Fifth Crusade. Pope Honorius III continues it. Cardinal Pelagius led an invasion of Egypt which was ruled by al-Malik al-Makil. The Muslim forces defeated the Crusader army. Al-Kamil provided bread and supplies to save the Crusader army from starvation. By 1219, a rare inter-religious dialogue happened between Sultan al-Kamil and Francis of Assisi. Francis preaches. al-Kamil negotiated with Frederick II over the control of Jerusalem by 1222. Byzantine retake Turkey in 1235. From 1236-1238, in Spain, Ferdinand III of Castile attacked the city of Cordova. The Christian army of Argon took over over the city of Valencia from Muslim rule. The Crusaders lost Jerusalem for good by 1244. In 1245, Pope Innocent IV sent missionaries to the Mongols to attempt an alliance against Muslims in Asia and the Middle East. In 1247, Louis IX planned another Crusade. His al-Mail's son Ayyub knows of the plan.  The Sixth Crusade lasted from 1248-1254. Louis IX of France invaded Egypt. He controlled Damietta, but is defeated and captured by the city of Mansurah. He was released for ransom and return of Damietta. By 1258. the Ayyubid dynasty ends, Mamluk rule again, and the Mongols under Genghis Khan's grandson Hulegu invaded plus destroyed Baghdad. The Seventh Crusade started with Louis IX in 1270, and forces attacked Tunis. Louis IX died in the same year. Mamluk sultans Qalawun and his son Khalil retake Tripoli and Acre from the Franks by 1289. 1291 was the end of the Great Crusades. Many Crusaders retreat to the island of Cyprus. Jerusalem was controlled by Muslim people until 1917.



By Timothy