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Should we stop talking about The Crusades?

Should we stop talking about The Crusades?

Lecture by William Purkis

Given at the University of Birmingham on May 1, 2024

Abstract: Over the past fifty years scholarly understanding of The Crusades has changed dramatically, especially in terms of where, when and why medieval Latin Christians “took the cross” to engage in acts of devotional violence. Yet in spite of these significant historiographical developments, grand narratives of the crusading past – especially those that are presented to wider audiences or feature in educational curricula – often rely on frameworks and paradigms that were first formulated centuries ago and should now be regarded as more limiting than helpful.

In this lecture, William Purkis will argue that some of the most familiar aspects of the narrative and conceptual scaffolding for histories of The Crusades – including the idea of “The Crusades” itself – might fruitfully be dismantled and set aside, to clear the ground for a fresh and more holistic understanding of an innovative medieval devotional practice that might simply be called “crossing”.

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William Purkis is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Birmingham. His research focuses on crusading, pilgrimage and monasticism.

Top Image: The blessing of the crosses by Pope Urban II in 1095. St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 658, p. 25 –http://www.e-codices.ch/en/csg/0658/25

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