The perception of Eastern Christianity in XII. century Crusader sources in the context of discourse analysis (Armenians and Assyrians)

The Crusades, which took place after Muslim Turks and Arabs demanded help from the West after the danger posed to Eastern Rome, was the first serious contact after the schisma (separation) in 1054. With this movement, which started at the end of the XIth century, Catholic Christians moved towards the "holy lands" in the East. In the chronicles written by the Catholic clergy and some knights on the campaigns for both propaganda and personal purposes, not only the expedition and the battles were recorded, but also Orthodox Christians, Gregorian Armenians and Syriacs belonging to the Jacobite Church, with whom they had been in conflict for many years, were also mentioned. Previously, he had limited information from pilgrims who visited the "holy lands" for pilgrimage, and from merchants and travelers in the East for trade and travel, but now, with his personal experience, he has the chance to have detailed information about native Christians. They changed the direction and content of their discourse according to the attitude they took in the face of these events. Although they initially established warm relations with the Latins due to the bad relations they maintained with the Eastern Rome, the fact that they could not stand the treatment they were subjected to while living under the rule of Catholic Christians and various restrictions on living their faith, and that they started to follow a policy against the Latins was reflected in the discourses of the chronicists. The reflections in the discourse, on the other hand, provided the formation of a perception / image about indigenous Christian groups in the West. In the first part of the thesis, the history of Christianity dating back to the XIIth century is discussed in the axis of christological discussions, while in the second part, the Orthodox Eastern Rome's request for help from the Catholic Roman Church and the birth of the "crusader" idea are revealed. In the third chapter, the concepts of discourse, hermeneutics and imagology are explained and the method and sources of the thesis are explained. In the fourth chapter, the common perception about the Armenians and Assyrians in the chronicles, in the fifth chapter, the Armenians are given separately, and in the sixth chapter, the perception about the Assyrians is revealed.