The story of Hattin and the Third Crusade is a very good read and it features a splendid duel, indeed almost a tournament, pitting Saladin against Richard the Lionheart. And to this exciting mixture is added a dash of sex
Two Rabbinic Views of Christianity in the Middle Ages
June 15, 2014 By
In the sessions of our section over the past decade, I introduced a significant distinction between two rabbinic attitudes in the Mediterranean countries during the Middle Ages of 12th and 13th centuries as to their view of Christianity.
Richard Lionheart: Bad King, Bad Crusader?
June 11, 2014 By
This paper analyzes the impact of King Richard Lionheart of England during his tenure as leader of the Third Crusade.
The Battle of Arsuf, 7 September 1191
May 24, 2013 By
Benjamin Z. Kedar asks what was Richard I’s plan at Arsuf, one of the key battles of the Third Crusade?
Muslim Perspectives on the Military Orders during the Crusades
April 15, 2013 By
What caused the particular enmity between Saladin and the Templars and Hospitallers? To understand this situation one must begin with examination of Muslim perspectives on monasticism in general.
Blood-brothers: a ritual of friendship and the construction of the imagined barbarian in the middle ages
January 15, 2013 By
My reflections are part of a broad stream of inquiries into the world of medieval rituals which has proved to be very fertile during the last two decades, but which also has its limits. For more than twenty years now, medievalists have discovered and analysed the importance of personal relationships for the organization of societies before the existence of states in a modern sense of the word.
The Evolution of the Saladin Legend in the West
November 18, 2012 By
William of Tyreʼs account of the history of the Crusades stops suddenly in 1184. As he lays down his pen he is in despair at the inevitable outcome which he foresees for the struggle with Saladin. It was fortunate for him that he did not live to see the triumph of Saladin at Hattin and Jerusalem. Williamʼs judgement of Saladin, there- fore, is one of fear and admiration but he is also able to criticize his faults, especially his ruthless ambition.
Nomadic Violence in the First Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Military Orders
October 8, 2012 By
That the threat posed by bands of marauders was taken seriously by the early crusader settlers can be seen by some of the barons’ brutal reactions to it.
The Massacre at Acre–Mark of a Blood-thirsty King?
April 24, 2012 By
The Christian forces in the Holy Land during the mid-to-late-1100s had, for many years, requested assistance to maintain their dwindling and increasingly challenged control in the Holy Land, but no help came. The tenuous rule of Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, in the mid-1180s, led to further internal conflict.
The Use of Fortification as a Political Instrument by the Ayyubids and the Mamluks in Bilad al-Sham and in Egypt (Twelfth-Thirteenth Centuries)
February 22, 2012 By
Beginning in 1170/1171, Salah al-Din built fortifications as the Fatimid vizier of Egypt. His considerations were primarily defensive in this period, following the Frankish campaign of 1168 that led to the siege of Cairo, and the Frankish-Byzantine naval expedition against Damietta in 1169.
How Eager He Was for the Victory of Islam!’: Saladin’s Strategy Against the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1171-1187)
July 28, 2011 By
How Eager He Was for the Victory of Islam!’: Saladin’s Strategy Against the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1171-1187) By Jan Vandeburie Paper given at the ISHA Seminar ‘War, Father of All – Warfare in History’, 7-12 June 2010, Nicosia Introduction: After Saladin assumed military command over Egypt as vizier in 1169, he took the opportunity to […]
The Byzantines and Saladin, 1185-1192: Opponents of the Third Crusade
July 26, 2011 By
The Byzantines and Saladin, 1185-1192: Opponents of the Third Crusade Brand, Charles M. Speculum, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Apr., 1962) Abstract On the eve of the Third Crusade the chief Christian state in the East joined with Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria, to further their common interests, which involved opposition to the Latins in the […]
The Artifice of War: Intelligence and Intrigue in the Third Crusade
July 25, 2011 By
The Artifice of War: Intelligence and Intrigue in the Third Crusade By Dana Cushing Paper given at the 33rd International Medieval Congress, Western Michigan University (1998) Abstract: Since I have always believed that the essential element of a successful military undertaking is right knowledge, even foreknowledge, based on communication, I became enamoured of a unique […]
The Massacre at Acre: Mark of a Blood-thirsty King?
July 22, 2011 By
Ultimately, when it became clear that the True Cross and ransoms were not forthcoming, Richard I was forced to make a military decision.
‘The Lord put His people to the sword’: Contemporary perceptions of the Battle of Hattin (1187)
July 22, 2011 By
‘The Lord put His people to the sword’: Contemporary perceptions of the Battle of Hattin (1187) Roach, Daniel (University of Exeter Undergraduate Thesis, University of Exeter (2008) Abstract Much scholarship has been written on the build-up, course and results of the battle of Hattin. Such studies have focussed on the tactical and topographical aspects of […]
The Debate on the Fourth Crusade
July 22, 2011 By
The Debate on the Fourth Crusade Harris, Jonathan History Compass, Volume 2, Issue 1 (2004) Abstract This article examines attempts over the past two hundred years to account for the diversion of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople and its sack of the city in 1204. While nineteenth-century scholars dreamed up far-fetched conspiracy theories, their successors […]
The Rise of Latin Christian Naval Power in the Third Crusade
July 21, 2011 By
The international conflict in the late twelfth century known as the Third Crusade usually holds a somewhat inconclusive place in medieval history, at least when one looks only at the results on land
The role of castles in the political and military history of the Crusader States and the Levant 1187 to 1380
July 18, 2011 By
This thesis deals with the various functions of Latin and Armenian fortifications in Cilician Armenia, Greece, Cyprus, Syria and Palestine between 1187 and c.1380.
Remains of Crusader / Templar army discovered in Israel
April 6, 2011 By
Archaeologists and historians working in northern Israel have discovered the remains of a Templar and Crusader army who were slaughtered by Saladin in one of the major battles of the Crusades. The results of the excavations are now being broadcast on the program “Last Stand of the Templars”, which is being shown this week on […]
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