In 1095, at the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II called for the Holy Land to be wrested from Muslim hands by force. “Let those people who are accustomed to fight against their fellow believers - Christians, come out against the infidels in battle, which should yield trophies in abundance... Let those who were previously robbers and fought against brothers and fellow tribesmen now become warriors.” Inspired by such a speech, the listeners vowed to free the Holy Sepulcher, and those who wished to go on a campaign sewed a red cross on their clothes. Thus began the era of the Crusaders. But what do we know about the Crusaders and the Crusades? When you hear the word “crusader,” a knight in armor on a horse, with a shield and sword, and in a white cape with the image of a cross appears in your mind’s eye. This is how we see the crusaders in numerous films, this is how they appear to us on the pages of novels. But films and novels, even the best ones, are not real history. A new book by Vyacheslav Shpakovsky lifts the veil of secrecy over the history of the Crusaders and the Crusades. Based on historical documents, without any embellishment, the author examines the history of the Crusades, starting with the First Crusade and ending with the defeat of the crusader army in 1444 near Varna, the weapons and equipment of the crusaders and answers the question - who really were the crusaders and why With the blessing of the Catholic Church, they decorated their clothes and weapons with the image of a cross...