For several centuries, Bilād al-Šām was the scene of numerous military expeditions which brought about profound changes in the geopolitical balance of the region. From the end of the eleventh century, the countries of the Levant were confronted with two types of assailants: the Crusaders, who seized Jerusalem in 1099, then the Mongols of Iran who invaded Syria-Palestine in 1260. During Throughout this period, the political power and the indigenous populations were in the presence of an "Other" in all its otherness: religious, cultural and linguistic. Historians and literaries alike, the authors of the contributions collected here offer a cross-reading on the perception of the Other - whether it is an individual, an ethnic or religious group. |