Book of the Month: Templars: The Knights Who Made Britain
Examines the Knights Templar and their activities in the British Isles. The military order was an important player in the Crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries, but their role in England, Scotland and Ireland is a story of politics, fundraising and managing an international organization.
Robert of Sablé: From British Templar to Video Game Villain
Templar master, trusted admiral and skilled diplomat, Robert of Sablé had a chequered past – but he does not deserve the parody reputation that has emerged as a product of modern video gaming.
On the Paths of Hugues de Berzé: A Repentant Crusader Knight
Hugues de Berzé and how is experience in the Fourth Crusade changes him.
New Medieval Books: Crusades and Violence
A look at how violence was viewed and remembered by those involved in the crusades.
The Templars in Britain with Steve Tibble
Myths and conspiracies aside, the real medieval Templars were indeed a formidable fighting force, as well as being financially savvy diplomats at many of the major courts of the time. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Steve Tibble about the Templars’ role in Britain and Ireland, their activities on and off the battlefield, and some of the major political events they were involved with.
The Templars in Britain: A Difficult and Ominous Beginning
The Templars went on to achieve great things and a high-profile reputation. But they came from very humble beginnings. In Britain, they got off to a very difficult start.
Could the Crusader States ever have survived?
So how then can we go about tackling a counter-factual question such as “Could the Crusader States ever have survived”?
True Crusader Crime: Criminality on Campaign
During the Middle Ages, maintaining discipline on campaign was always difficult – and commanders knew that criminality was a ‘gateway behaviour’ which opened up the path to an even greater breakdown of authority.
When Hundreds of Arabs came to Medieval France
The story of Louis IX and the Christian converts he brought to his kingdom.
New Medieval Books: Three Pilgrimages to The Holy Land
Translations of three texts from the twelfth century which relate pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Saewulf was English, while John of Wurzburg and Theoderic were both Germans. They offer interesting insights into how Jerusalem and the Near East region changed in the aftermath of the First Crusade.
True Crusader Crime: Petty Crime and Petty Quarrels
High-profile crime might be plastered across the chronicles, but it was just the visible end of a much bigger problem. Criminality was everywhere.
Women in the Crusades with Helen Nicholson
From supplying food and medical treatment, to lending emotional and financial support, to occasionally engaging in combat, women were to be found in and around every major conflict of the Middle Ages. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Helen J. Nicholson about the role of women in the most famous clashes of the medieval period: the crusades.
The Siege of Acre (1291)
It’s the event marking the end of the Crusader States in the Near East. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly talk about how the Mamluks conquered the city of Acre in 1291.
True Crusader Crime: Muslim Murder and Political Drama
The crusaders were tough – but they had no monopoly on political violence. Murders within Muslim hierarchies were relatively common too.
New Medieval Books: The Conquest of Santarém and Goswin’s Song of the Conquest of Alcácer do Sal
Part of the very influential Crusade Texts in Translation series, this book offers editions and translations of two accounts of Crusader conquests of two towns that are now part of modern-day Portugal
The Rhineland Massacres of the First Crusade
Around the mid-twelfth century, a Jewish chronicler named Solomon bar Simson penned an account of events that had happened 50 years earlier – events that were devastating for his fellow Jewish community in parts of Europe.
How to organize a museum exhibition – and bring the Holy Land home, with Amanda Luyster
A conversation with Amanda Luyster on how to organize a museum exhibition, from conception and design to securing the objects and planning events around it. We also talk about the famous tiles of Chertsey Abbey, a royal commission that evoked the Crusades with artistic allusions to Byzantium and the Islamic world.
Reasons for Going on the First Crusade: A Checklist
Why did people go on the First Crusade? A look at Pope Urban II’s speech in 1095 and how it helped convince people to take the cross.
True Crusader Crime: What Bloody Man is That? Murder, Government and Power
Violence in the crusading period was endemic – and even at the top of society, tragic accidents were suspiciously commonplace.
The Crusades and Apocalyptic Thought in the Middle Ages
My research is concerned with how medieval perceptions of the end times interface with ideas concerning the brand of pre-modern holy warfare known as the Crusades
The Rebuilding of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1192 – 1244)
By 1244 the Kingdom of Jerusalem had regained control over most of its former territories to the west of the Jordan river including the city of Jerusalem.
The Assassins in Fact and Fiction
Perhaps no other group from the Middle Ages has sparked modern-day imaginations like the Assassins. Viewed as mystical and deadly, they were said to be led in Syria by a charismatic figure known as the Old Man of the Mountain. What can we really know about them?
The Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
It was a city that was besieged 20 times during the medieval period, including its (in)famous capture during the First Crusade. John Hosler joins Michael Livingston and Kelly DeVries to talk about his new book Jerusalem Falls: Seven Centuries of War and Peace. This episode focuses on the siege of 1099
True Crusader Crime: The Murder of the Bishop of Acre
The murder of the bishop of Acre, however, which took place on the night of 29 June 1172, was something altogether more disturbing.