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New Medieval Books: Laywomen and the Crusade in England, 1150-1300

Laywomen and the Crusade in England, 1150-1300

By Gordon M Reynolds

The Boydell Press
ISBN: 978 1 83765 224 2

The Crusades enjoyed widespread support in Western Europe, and efforts on the home front were focused on mobilizing fighters for the Holy Land. This book explores the role of women in England in encouraging men to take up the Cross.

Excerpt:

To be able to identify crusaders and supporters, we have to be able to define crusade itself. This, however, is a surprisingly difficult thing to distil. A huge amount of scholarship has been dedicated to characterising this medieval movement. There is no easy answer, and with that comes a raft of problems. To be as broad as possible, the general consensus is that a crusade was an armed pilgrimage. Yet, contemporaries and historians alike approached that idea in radically different ways. It is crucial to explore how a crusader can be identified before we can investigate who supported them and why.

Who is this book for?

Historians are increasingly turning their attention to the broader dimensions of the Crusades, including recruitment, preparation, and the logistical efforts that sustained these campaigns. This book contributes to that growing field by examining the Church’s role in rallying support, particularly through its engagement with women in England. It offers valuable insights for those interested in the Crusades and in the history of medieval women.

The Author

Gordon Reynolds earned his PhD from University of Edinburgh in 2021. Since then he has been specializing in the history of the crusades of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. You can also follow him on Instagram.

You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.

You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

 

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