Fun_People Archive
23 May
QOTD - Terry Jones and Alan Ereira on the Crusades

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Thu, 23 May 96 13:12:19 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: QOTD - Terry Jones and Alan Ereira on the Crusades

[One of the very, very few humorous aspects of the Crusades...  -psl]

Forwarded-by: Keith Bostic <bostic@bsdi.com>
Forwarded-by: "John S. Karabaic" <jk@exnext.com>
Forwarded-by: qotd-request@ensu.ucalgary.ca (Quote of the day)

On the way to the coast, however, they fought what must be one of the most
curious battles of all time.  They besieged a castle that was defended
entirely by sheep.  The local inhabitants had driven their flocks into
the disused fortress known Hosn al' Akrad ('citadel of the Kurds').  When
the Crusaders attacked, the peasants rather craftily released a few of
the animals and the Christians -- predictably -- went chasing off in
pursuit.  This gave the locals a chance to slip away into the night,
leaving their flocks behind them.  When the Crusaders resumed the siege,
they couldn't understand why no one was fighting back.  They suspected it
was yet another peasant ruse, whereas in fact it was the purely technical
problem sheep have in mounting any sort of armed resistance.
	-- from _Crusades_, by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira,
	   c. 1995 Fegg Features Ltd and Alan Ereira.

© 1996 Peter Langston