The references to the Crusades by high-profile people like the pope who 'asked forgiveness' for the Boudreaux (2000) and former US president Obama (2015) who referred to the 'terrible deeds' done in the name of Christ during the Crusades also ensure that the term and the historical events are still part of current discourse and debates. This could be linked to the fact that the term 'Crusades' is still used in popular discourse, often with a loaded and emotional connotation. The movement started at the Council of Clermont on 27 November 1095, when Pope Urban II called on Christians to liberate the Holy Land 2 from a Muslim 3 hoard (Mastnak 2002:115 Murray 2006:xxxi).Д¬oncerning the impact and global relevance of the Crusades, it is not surprising that the historical revision of these events is still developing. The Crusades 1 represent one of the most interesting, yet most controversial eras in the history of the church. These comments made by Tyerman in the Introduction of his renowned book, The Debate on the Crusades, 1099-2010, also apply to this discussion of the literature being published on the Crusades since the 16th century. All history is revisionist, a response to what others have written вЂ¦ Revision is, or should be, as inherent in the study of history as interpreting evidence. The history of history is increasingly fashionable. Two examples will suffice: (1) Mommsen (2009:74) called the changing historical perspective by the Germans on events focused around the Nazi dictatorship a 'generational shift' that needed time and distance and the disclosing of large volumes of previously unknown evidence in order to change the general public's interpretation of the past and (2) South Africans are still too close to the 'collective traumas of the past' (Nytagodien & Neal 2004:376) for the generational shift to have a positive effect (cf. Reinterpretation of historical events from different perspectives can also occur because of the discovery of new evidence or when time brings distance and greater objectivity about traumatic events. This statement referred to the practical implications of the concept of historical revisionism that implies that history is written from the perspective of the dominant class (Gundani 2004:76). George Orwell, in his famous publication Nineteen Eighty-four (Orwell 1949:37), declared that those who control the past also control the future, while people who control the present are the ones who are controlling the past. After the background to the historical setting of the Crusades, this article provides an overview of the changing viewpoints on this movement by describing the perspectives of the most prominent authors (exponents) who aired their views on the Crusades between the 16th century and the first part of the 21st century, finding that the negative perception runs like a thread through the last five centuries. These wars were both lauded and criticised and currently these two opposite perceptions still persist. These 'holy wars', fought by members of the Roman Catholic Church, mostly against infidels ('unbelievers'), including the Muslims of the time, lasted for several centuries and had varied levels of success.

The notion and consequences of the Crusades are still influencing the modern Christian (and Muslim) pattern of thinking. Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, University of South Africa, South Africa

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