Asterix and the Normans

Normans never feel fear—but they do believe that terror literally gives one wings, enabling a person to fly. Now they’re planning to test their theory on Vitalstatistix’s cowardly nephew Jusforkix by pushing him right off the edge of a cliff.

Normans: The History of a Dynasty

The first great city to which the Crusaders came in 1089 was not Jerusalem but Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Almost as much as Jerusalem itself, Constantinople was the key to the foundation, survival and ultimate eclipse of the crusading kingdom. It was the threat to Constantinople which led Urban II to preach the First Crusade, yet the Byzantines were extremely suspicious of this and subsequent crusades, often failing to provide looked for military and diplomatic support.