09-05-2008, 05:59 PM
Quote:Are there any references of Byzantine military activity in the Levant during the crusades? (Ie. were the Byzantines actively engaging saracen forces alongside the crusaders?) I cannot think of a reason why they would pass one of their most well-kept secrets along to the crusaders, so if greek fire handgrenades were used during the crusades, they would have been used by Byzantine soldiers.
Regards,
HHornblower
The article - I read only the abstract - is about an Arab shop for manufacturing grenades in Syria. Greek fire is not like Greek fire, it was a generic term for a multitude of incendiary weapons then.
AFAIK, the Arabs copied the Byzantine use of incendiary weapons. Or rather, when the Arabs came out of the desert and occupied old civilization centre such as Egypt and Syria, they found a Christian military tradition which they employed for their own ends. Obviously, the secret of Greek Fire par excellence remained restricted to the capital Constantinople, but other - probably less efficient - variants were known throughout the Near East.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)