The Crusades: What Was Really Going On?

2026-08-11

In this Conflicted Conversation, Nicholas Morton discusses his new book The Crusader Storm: A Global History of the Wars for the Middle East.

Associate Professor in History at Nottingham Trent University, Nicholas reframes the Crusades as one part of a much larger transformation of the medieval Middle East, driven above all by Seljuk-Turkmen expansion, Byzantine contraction, Fatimid decline and the fragmentation of political power.

Nicholas explains:


The Seljuk-Turkmen transformation of the medieval Middle East

Why the Crusades were not the region’s main event

Dandanqan, nomadic warfare and the rise of Seljuk power

Abbasids, Fatimids and fragmented government before the First Crusade

Manzikert, Byzantine civil war and the Turkish conquest of Anatolia

Frankish-Turkish rivalry, alliances and shared warrior culture

Crusader violence and Christianity’s uneasy relationship with holy war

Nizari Ismailis, Seljuk civil wars and competing Muslim priorities

Damascus and Byzantium as key powers in Crusader geopolitics

The Middle East as a crossroads of trade, ideas and cultural exchange


Follow Nicholas on X: https://x.com/NicholasMorto11

On Bluesky: @nicmorton.bsky.social

On Instagram: @Nicholas Morton

And his You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MedievalNearEast



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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews.
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2026-10-15

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An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.