[Bill Tsafa]

I came across the following information and I am not sure if it is true or a fraud. I invite everyone to look through these links and help me get to the truth of the matter.

Here what I have:

http://www.swordhistory.com/excerpts/crusaders.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khevsureti

Here is a quick vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaMKUPqz5Mk

They have a myspace page set up:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...=125323453

Pictures:

http://rolfgross.dreamhosters.com/Georgia-GE/...hemden.jpg
http://rolfgross.dreamhosters.com/Georgia-GE/...-1870s.jpg


I am trying to figure out if this is some sort of proprietary promotion or real living history. I am very skeptical that something like this would have gone unnoticed by the WMA community.

[Bill Tsafa]

I found some interesting discussion here on this subject:

http://forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?t=87401

I am getting the feeling that there is something to this.

[Sam Barris]

If memory serves, there is a chapter devoted to them in The Secret History of the Sword, by Christopher Amberger.

I seem to recall there being some ambiguity concerning their present whereabouts.

EDIT: You know, Georgia is right next door. When I read Amberger's book , I didn't give the matter much thought. Now I'm wondering if a field trip isn't in order and how bad the language barrier might be...

[Lafayette C Curtis]

I have the nagging feeling that the idea of the Khevsur people being descended from the Crusaders might be a bit...I don't know. Naive? After all, there was a strong native Christian kingdom in medieval Georgia that was known for its frequent wars against the Muslim principalities to the south (mostly the Seljuks), so there's no need to assume that mail-clad warriors in the Caucasus mountains must have been Crusader descendants. Of course, it's quite possible that some individual Western European Crusaders might have strayed into Georgia and taken residence there, but such individual cases would be hardly any proof for the "Crusader descent" hypothesis!