Simon Mayall – The House of War: The Struggle Between Christendom and The Caliphate
20th October @ 18:00 – 19:00
From the taking of Jerusalem in the 7th century AD by Caliph Umar, to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I, Christian popes, emperors and kings, and Muslim caliphs and sultans were locked in a 1,300-year battle for political, military, ideological, economic and religious supremacy. Simon Mayall focuses on some of the most significant clashes of arms in human history: the taking and retaking of Jerusalem and the collapse of the crusader states; the fall of Constantinople; the sieges of Rhodes and Malta; the battle of Lepanto; the assault on Vienna, and the ‘high-water mark’ of Ottoman advance into Europe; and, finally, the Allied capture of Jerusalem in World War I, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the dissolution of the sultanate and the caliphate, and the formation of modern Europe, and the modern Middle East. The House of War offers a wide, sweeping narrative, encompassing the broad historical and religious context of this period, while focussing on some of the key, pivotal sieges and battles, and on the protagonists, political and military, who determined their conclusions and their consequences.
Simon Mayall is a former soldier in the British Army, and an acknowledged expert on the history of the Middle East, and of the Crusades. Much of his 40- year professional career was focussed on the Middle East, and he has strong family and academic interests in the region. His last appointments were as the British Government’s Defence Senior Adviser for the Middle East, and the Prime Minister’s Security Envoy to Iraq and the Kurdish Region. He is currently Chair of the Council of the National Army Museum.
