Scientists Tested Crusader DNA and Found Something Unexpected

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What do we know about the DNA of the Crusaders and did they leave a lasting genetic mark on the Middle East? Now the Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between the late 11th and 13th centuries, mainly between Christian kingdoms in Europe and Muslim powers in the Middle East. They were largely driven by the goal of reclaiming Jerusalem and other holy sites, though they were also influenced by politics, wealth, and power. Thousands of knights, soldiers, and civilians travelled from Europe to the Middle East, leading to the creation of short-lived Crusader states.

But what do we know about the DNA of these Crusaders and did they leave a lasting genetic legacy? Well the good news is that there has been some proper academic research into this. A 2019 paper published in the American Journal of Human Genetics looked at the genetic impact of the Crusades, and had some fascinating and surprising findings. Now at first glance, the answer seems obvious. Large migrations and invasions often reshape the DNA of populations. The Mongol expansions spread distinct male lineages across vast parts of Asia for instance, while European colonisation dramatically reshaped the genetic landscape of the Americas.

So surely the Crusades—lasting nearly 200 years—must have left a similar imprint? Well this 2019 study looked at this question, and sequenced the whole genomes of 13 individuals from what is now Lebanon. Now 9 of these people lived during the medieval period and were from a site in the city of Sidon—a mass burial known as the “Crusaders’ pit.” This pit contained the remains of at least 25 individuals, many showing signs of violent death.

Archaeological clues—including European-style buckles and a Crusader coin—strongly suggest these were soldiers killed in battle during the 13th century. They also analysed 4 other people from another site in Lebanon who lived around the Roman period, to help give them a representation of the local ancestry before the time of the Crusades. They also compared these 13 samples to databases with thousands of modern people and hundreds of ancient individuals.

And when the genomes were analysed, the results were striking. Now all of the individuals in the Crusader burial were male.

Sources:

Haber M, Doumet-Serhal C, Scheib C ... A Transient Pulse of Genetic Admixture from the Crusaders in the Near East Identified from Ancient Genome Sequences The American Journal of Human Genetics, 2019; 104, 977-984 A Transient Pulse of Genetic Admixture from the Crusaders in the Near East Identified from Ancient Genome Sequences: The American Journal of Human Genetics

Crusades | Definition, History, Map, Significance, & Legacy | Britannica

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