Download Primary Sources: The Effects of the Crusades

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Primary Source: The Effects of the Crusades
A Muslim Describes European Medicine
They brought before me a knight on whose leg [a sore] had grown . . . To the knight I
applied [medicine] until the [sore] opened and became well . . . Then a [European]
physician came to them and said, “This man knows nothing about treating them. Which
would you prefer, living with one leg or dying with two?” The knight replied, “Living with
one leg.” The physician said, “Bring me a strong knight and a sharp ax.” A knight came
with the ax. Then the physician laid the leg of the patient on a block of wood and [told]
the knight to chop it off in one blow. Accordingly he struck it--while I was looking on-one blow, but the leg was not [cut off]. He dealt another blow, upon which the marrow of
the leg flowed out and the patient died on the spot.
-The Autobiography of Usmah
Source: Krey, August C. The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants. Princeton,
Princeton University Press, 1921.
As a group, write a short play that summarizes this passage and explains why it is
significant. Each character should have two lines. The narrator’s first line should
summarize the passage; the narrator’s last line should explain why it is significant. Use
the back of this paper if you need more room.
Narrator:
(Summarize the
passage.)
Narrator:
(Explain why the
passage is
significant.)
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