Understanding the Pope’s quotation

I’ve always been fascinated by history. It was only because Bezerkley Marxist teaching sucked the life out the subject that I didn’t get a Ph.D. in history. I’ve therefore had a well furnished mental backdrop about Islam’s continuous incursions against the West, including its final conquest of the Byzantine (Christian) Empire in 1453. That kind of bone-deep knowledge, though, has led to my believing that this is common knowledge — even though I know it’s not.

Sadly, because the past is always with us, it’s now very important to understand Islam’s historical relationship with the West. Pope Benedict, by drawing on a 14th Century quotation, put that history firmly on the table. And The People’s Cube has created (and posted on YouTube) a video explaining the historical context. (Just a head’s up — on the map, Islam is represented using green.):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgiFvmGRdDQ]

Hat tip: American Thinker