The Persian, people quite different from us, and quite alien to God, a race with inconstant heart and whose spirit had not been truthful to the Lord, has invaded the lands of those Christians, has devastated them with iron, with theft and fire (...) They perforate the navel of those who want to condemn to a shameful death, and pull their genitals away; they tie them up to a stick, and whipping them with a leash, they troll them around until when, with their guts pouring out, these Christians fall on the ground, shattered (...) Let any dissent between you and unfriendliness cease, now. Take the path towards the Holy Sepulchre (...) Jerusalem (...) is willing to be liberated.

Pope Urbano II, Clermont, esortation to the First Crusade (1095 a.C.)

Published in the Dec 2016 issue of BlowUp magazine.