Women and the Crusades
Did women support crusades? Did women go on crusades? If they did, did they fight?
Medieval Geopolitics: The Counterfactual History of the Third Crusade
What would have happened if Richard had defeated Saladin and taken Jerusalem in early 1192?
Medieval Geopolitics: Could King Richard have captured Jerusalem during the Third Crusade?
What if Richard had pressed his attack in December 1191? Would the city have fallen to the crusaders? Or would the Christian host have smashed itself to pieces on the walls of the Holy City?
900-year-old treasure hoard discovered in Caesarea
The Israeli Antiquities Authority has announced the discovery of a medieval treasure hoard, consisting of a small bronze pot holding 24 gold coins and a gold earring.
Medieval Geopolitics: Richard the Lionheart and the Third Crusade
Why did King Richard decide to abandon his attempt to liberate Jerusalem in 1192?
Medieval Geopolitics: The Crusades to the Holy Land – Phase 1
In my next few columns, I’m going to explore the way in which crusading manifested itself in the Holy Land.
Medieval Geopolitics: The Institution of the Crusade
How did the crusades emerge as an institution in the medieval world?
Linking Seas and Lands in Medieval Geographic Thinking during the Crusades and the Discovery of the Atlantic World
If medieval writers understood the interplay between land and sea similar to modern research, what role did the complementary character of land and sea routes actually play in medieval geographic thinking?
The impact of the Franks on the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
Frankish impact on communities was investigated through an exploration of the medieval landscape and seigneurial obligations, two attributes that affected all rural sites in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, regardless of other settlement characteristics.
The Fourth Crusade and the Problem of Food Provision in The Accounts of Robert De Clari and Geoffroy De Villehardouin
The analysis discusses their account of food provision and how Crusaders managed to provide for themselves during their journey from Venice to Constantinople in the period between June 1202 and May 1204.
Who were the Templars?
The idea of the Knights Templar looked good on paper. Have knights from across Europe join a monastic order that would defend the Holy Land from non-Christians. They would be devout warriors fighting on behalf of God, an example for all of Christendom. What could go wrong?
The Square “Fighting March” of the Crusaders at the Battle of Ascalon (1099)
In this paper I will examine a number of theories about the origin of this particular marching formation, based on the manuals attributed to the Byzantine Emperors Maurice (582–602), Leo VI (886–912) and Nicephoros Phocas (963– 69) and several anonymous Byzantine military treatises of the sixth and tenth centuries.
Were Christians and Muslims Allies in the First Crusade?
In this article, we present the case that an alliance existed between the Crusaders and the Fatimid rulers of Egypt, and it was only when that alliance broke down that Jerusalem would become the target of a military attack.
Warriors and Civilians in the Crusade Movement: Military Identities and Status in the Liberation and Defence of the Holy Land (1096-1204)
The canonical definition of crusades as penitential pilgrimages meant that most expeditions during the first century of the movement included large numbers of non-combatants, which caused significant problems with regard to discipline and logistics.
Natural Disasters and the Crusades: Framing Earthquakes in Historical Narratives, 1095-1170
This thesis explores perceptions of earthquake causality in the accounts of twelfth century Syria and the ways that medieval views of natural disasters influenced historical writing.
Nature during the Crusades: Physical and psychological affects from the environment in crusader narratives
As the crusaders were highly affected by their religion so also were these encounters with nature interpreted within the religious framework. Therefore, it is interesting to see how the crusaders wrote about these encounters with nature.
The Experience of Sickness and Health During Crusader Campaigns to the Eastern Mediterranean, 1095–1274
This thesis proposes the reading of medieval chronicles, specifically those of the crusades, for their medical content. The crusades left a mark on the historical record in the form of dozens of narrative sources, but texts such as these are rarely considered as sources for medical history.
Time Loves a Hero: Alarcos, Alfonso IX, and A Lost Crusade (from 1197)
There are few kings that get such a consistently bad rap in medieval Iberian studies as Alfonso IX of Leon.
Inventing Saladin: The Role of the Saladin Legend in European Culture and Identity
Legends can forge cultural identities, yet they can also be the bane of historians. All too frequently legend is mixed with enough fact that it misleads historians and laymen alike.
Did Crusaders get Tattoos? Devotional Symbols and Practices in Medieval Europe and the Holy Land
I explore what appears to be a largely overlooked aspect of devotional practice associated with the medieval crusading movement.
Cross purposes: Frankish levantine perceptions of gender and female participation in the crusades, 1147-1254
Though numerous historians have studied the participation of women in the Levantine crusades during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, few have investigated the trends in gender perceptions within the Latin states.
The Medieval Magazine (Volume 3, Issue 7)
In our latest issue: Being lovesick was a real disease in the Middle Ages! Judaism, War, and Chivalry: Why is this Knight Different than Other Knights? Travel Tips: San Lorenzo’s Medici Crypt! Crusade in Europe
Divine Vengeance and Human Justice in The Wendish Crusade of 1147
In this study I will focus on the question of whether the Wendish Crusade supports an ‘act of vengeance’ paradigm.
The Tenth-Century Collapse in West Francia and the Birth of Christian Holy War
This paper will argue that although these two disruptive changes brought major shifts in European society, and fuelled contemporary millennial anxieties, they were also part of a wider context of greater changes.