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Cultural interchange between Islam and Christianity in Syria was not as deep and continuous as in Spain or Sicily. This may be due to the fact that the Kingdom of Jerusalem lacked a large scientific centre like Toledo and Palermo for Islamic knowledge that Christians could use.
However, some scientists, traders and warriors managed through observation to transmit some knowledge on agriculture, shipping and industry from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.
It is important to note that relations between Muslims and crusaders during the crusades were not completely hostile; they were friendly and amicable during periods of truce and peace. The cementing of these relations was due to the presence of the Christian colonies among the Islamic emirates such as Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Hama, in addition to the citadels and forts like Shezar whose ruins are still visible on the Orontes, in north Syria.
In order to secure their colonies in the Arab east the crusaders had to depend on the local natives, both Muslims and Christians, for agriculture and building and repair of fortifications and churches.
Of course they received aid from the west, but it was not adequate. So they had to depend on local help which encouraged a degree of peaceful relations between Muslims and Christians. Various aspects of daily life had an influence on the Europeans.
A significant number married Christian women from among the Maronites and Armenians, as well as some Muslim women captives. A new group called Pullani resulted from these marriages. Later on the crusaders did not hesitate to use these Pullani to form light cavalry groups known as Turcopoles. They also adjusted to the climate, by wearing oriental clothes with loose sleeves; they grew their beards and ate oriental food; and they lived in palaces and houses with spacious courtyards or patios, with fountains, flowers and roses.
Economically, the crusaders benefited extensively and some historians consider the crusades as economic wars. In agriculture, for example the crusaders learnt of new plants, vegetables and fruits that they have never known before and used their Arabic names such as sugar, rice, lemon, cotton and sesame.
In industry they were introduced to numerous Islamic products that they took back to their countries. Examples are embroidered silk textiles known as brocade; damask cotton fabric from Damascus and carpets from Baghdad; paper, soap, ceramics, glass, jewelry and medicines.
Trade also prospered between east and west as never before. Muslim caravans brought goods such as pearls, precious stones, ivory, perfumes and spices to the crusaders' ports.
Muslim merchants paid a small tax; they were well-received, and provided with their own inns, with enough room for their goods and animals. This trade did not even cease during the fighting as noted by the traveller Ibn Jubair "Caravan movement from Egypt to the Europeans in Syria is uninterrupted, with the warring parties engaged in their wars. But nationals and merchants enjoyed security both in peace and war".
As a consequence of this commercial activity between east and west, commercial towns emerged allover Europe. This in turn led to attracting peasants to the cities, and the feudal system collapsed. Banks also emerged and bonds, drafts and cheques were introduced.
In military architecture, the Islamic tradition added distinctive new design features. A few examples are arches, mosques, schools, palaces, bath houses and tombs. Muslims also designed entrances for cities and citadels with several winding curves in order to check attackers through these long and winding passages. The Romans and Byzantines had straight entries that lead directly to the fortress courtyard. The best example of the Islamic pattern is Baghdad whose exterior walls are not the same height as the interior ones, with alleys and curves separating them for defensive purposes. Hence Baghdad was also called 'Al Zawra'a'.
This military design was applied to the mountain fort (Al Mukattam) in Cairo during the rule of Saladin Al Ayyubid in the 6th century Hijri, to Aleppo castle in the seventh century and to the citadels of the Almoravids and Muwahids in the Maghreb.
This style was then seen in the fortresses built by the crusaders first in Syria and then in Europe. An example is the Crac des Chevalliers (the fortress of the Kurds) north east of Tripoli which was rebuilt by the Hospitaller Knights. The Muslims also introduced the Saqqata known in the west as 'Machicoli' which is a small window of stone or wood projecting from the wall with downward openings to allow defenders to pour hot liquid on attackers. This feature was borrowed by the crusaders in building their citadels in northern Syria and in Europe.
Cultural influences began with the mutual attempts of the two sides to learn about each other and in writing the history of the times. The crusades brought into being an elite of historians, both oriental and western, each presenting their own views on the war, thus providing an unprecedented amount of information on the period.
Modern European historians collected this copious material in a scientific encyclopedia entitled: 'Collection of the Historians of the Crusades' or 'Recueil Des Historiens Des Croisades' (Paris 1841-1906 A.D.). It comprises five volumes of oriental writings and five volumes of western writings. One of the Muslim writers who povides us with invaluable information on the Muslim-crusader relations was the Andalusian traveller Mohammed Ibn Jubair who visited Syria at the end of the 6th Hijri century (12C A.D.). He gives the following account of Muslim-Christian co-operation in the crusader lands: "The conditions of Muslims there were better than that of their brethren working in Islamic estates, and the crusaders deliberately treated Muslims tenderly to tempt them to work for them". Ibn Jubair was right because the crusaders realized that their continued presence depended on co-operation with the people of the region.
Another contemporary of Ibn Jubair who also provides us with information on these relations in Syria was the prince and poet Usama Ibn Munkiz (d. 583 A.H./1188 A.D.), a noble of the Banu Munkiz who built the Shezar fort. Living next to the crusaders, Usama has many tales of encounters to tell. He included them in his diaries 'Ketab Al 'Itibar' -which gives comparative pictures of the habits of Muslims and the Franks. Contemporaries of Usama and especially Saladin commended him for his courage. One of the Muslim historians of the crusades is Shihabuddin Abu Shama (d. 665 A.H./1268 A.D.) who is quoted as saying: "when fighting between the two groups before Acre went on for a long time, they became so used to each other that they stopped fighting to talk, and perhaps some sang songs and danced for a while, then went back to fighting after an hour. One day they got bored and said: The old (men) quarrel quite often with the young having no chance. We want two lads to fight: one from you and one from us. And so two Muslim boys came out to meet two Europeans; one Muslim boy jumped up and embraced the Pagan who fell to the ground and took him as prisoner. Some Franks bought him for two dinars and said: He is really your captive and he took the two dinars and released him."
Another historian Jamaluddin Ibn Wasil (d.691 A.H./1297 A.D.) included in his book 'Mufrij Al Kurub Fi Akhbar Bani Ayyub' some important details about Louis IX, the French King, during his campaign against Egypt and on Manfred son of Frederick II when Jamaluddin was ambassador for Sultan Al Zahir Baybars in the Italian city of Pauletta.
Another historian Mohammed Ibn Ali Ibn Nazif wrote a book entitled 'Al Tarikh Al Mansuri' in which he presented some of the letters sent by Emperor Fredrick II to Amir Fakhruddin Ibn Shaikh Al Shuyoukh, commander of the Ayyubid armies, narrating some of the vents that took place in his state after his return from Palestine in (626 A.H./1229 A.D.)
European historians who wrote on wars in the orient and on Muslims and their countries were numerous as well. William of Tyre (1130-1184 A.D.) was born in Jerusalem; he learned Arabic and Greek in Palestine. Then he became the educator for the sons of King Amori. He continued to occupy senior posts until he became the archbishop of Tyre. His book: 'Historian rerem in partibus transmarinis gestarum' on the crusades from 1096 A.D. - 1184 A.D. provides important information on Egypt and its domestic conditions during the late period of the Fatimids as well as its trade with India through the Red Sea.
We should also mention the French historian De Joinville (7th A.H./13th A.D.) who accompanied Louis IX in his campaign against Egypt and was taken prisoner with him. He wrote a book about him entitled: Saint Louis that contained important information on Egypt and the Mameluks.
From all of these examples, we may argue that there were some positive benefits of these wars. The image of the Muslims in the minds of the crusaders as cruel, cowardly and pagan was replaced by admiration. The crusaders observed the Muslims advanced civilization and courage in fighting; their piety and tolerance of other faiths. The British historian Hearnshaw expressed heir admiration saying:
' As Balaam went out to pray against the sons of Israel, he prayed for them; so did the crusaders who left their countries to fight Muslims only to find themselves at their feet learning their sciences and knowledge. The semi-barbarins of crusaders were stunned by the wordly Muslim civilization that outweighs their own so heavily that the comparison becomes impossible'.
On the other side of the Islamic World in the east, the cultural and commercial relations linking Muslims with Europe reflected on civilization continuity betweent he Islamic and Western civilizations. Constantinople was the meeting point for contact and interaction. When the Muslims were continuing their pressure on Constantinople as the key to eastern Europe, some scientists of Byzantium fled the city carrying their books and cultural awareness as a result of their cultural contacts with the Islamic World especially with Spain and the Syrian countries. They spread in Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean region. They contributed to the European renaissance. As an example, the Byzantine scientist Gemston Pletton founded the Platonic Academy in Florence on the Islamic pattern. He also classified the two books of Al Canon and the Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle.
The Byzantian scientist Manuel Chreysolaras lectured int he universities of Florence, Milan and Pavia and was considered outstanding in eloquence and philosophy. A third scientist, Bessarion of Nicaea and Milan, contributed to the Italian renaissance in his poetry and the manuscripts he collected from the east. They formed the first library in Venice, and later on formed the nucleus for St. Mark's Library.
When the Muslim Ottomans managed to conquer Constantinople and Istanbul became the focus of Islam, numerous craftsmen, carpenters, masons, building labourers, decoration, experts in carpet and the leather industry moved there in addition to numerous scientists, writers, poets and merchants. Their skills were reflected int he capital which now contained many scientific institutions such as schools, mosques, monasteries and hospitals. As a result, Europeans came to it to study, visit or trade. They benefited from what they had learned or witnessed and carried it back to their countries.
It seems commercial relations underwent some disruption in 857 A.H./1453 A.D. after the conquest of Constantinople. Some land and sea routes in Asia and Europe across the Black Sea were closed. It is noticed that this confusion was associated with the success of the Ottomans in consolidating Islam in its new regions. The necessities of conquest and the continued military acts obstructed, though temporarily, the continuation of trade. However, Europe ti made up for that by increasing and bolstering its commercial ties with the Mamluks ports in Egypt and Syria. The relations of the Italian Republic, Genoa, Piza and Venice achieved noticeable progress. When conditions in the Ottoman state stabilized, trade restored through the route connecting China, India and the Gulf in the south to Aleppo ; and Asia Minor in the west to meet with the caravans arriving by land from central Asia and to unite in Constantinople, and then to Europe. This was considered the alternative route for eastern trade.
There is also a land route from Central Asia and India across its mountains and passages to the River Athilles where it meets with caravans arriving from China. They merge at Bukhara to the ports of the Black Sea and Europe, with secondary routes to Aleppo and the Mediterranean Coast.
Merchants of the east carried to east Europe via Constantinople and Edirne the embroidered textiles, carpets, leather, fur, wheat, candles, precious stones and soap, etc. And as commercial centres are of necessity centres of civilization, they acted for cultural and commercial exchange. Istambul was the gate for eastern Europe to the Islamic world; it acted to transfer the elements of civilization through contacts and interaction and therefore had a tangible influence on forming European thought and paved the way for the European renaissance.