Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter

In the year 1101, I could have produced a number of graphs showing that Christianity had peaked in 1096–1099. My first graph would plot the number of killings perpetrated in the name of Christianity, which fell precipitously in 1100. Production of swords with cruciform hilts also dropped off, and the percentage of Europeans aged 18–60 who agreed with the statement “It is important to wage Holy War for Christianity” had gone down slightly from its historic high in 1095. Just look at the data, I would have said, before being burned at the stake.

The problem with my data-driven argument that Christianity peaked at the end of the 11th century is that it was missing the bigger context. The Crusade, which, unbeknownst to me, would later be known as the First Crusade, was fought from 1096–1099. It ended not because Christianity was on the wane, but because the Christian extremists had achieved victory and there wasn’t much left to do.

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