" How much the Crusades were an aggressive act of Christian fanaticism and how much they were a defensive military intended to check the spread of Islam and reclaim Christian territory is still debated. What cannot be debated is that 1.7 million ordinary people, both Christian and Muslim, died as a result of the Crusades, and that loss of life cannot be considered chivalric in the slightest. "

― , The Crusades: A History From Beginning to End