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A detailed account of the circumstances and motives of the first crusaders.
Riley-Smith’s 1986 book gives convincing case for a ‘revisionist’ view of the crusades, challenging the common belief that the crusades were motivated by fanaticism and were designed to plunder the Holy Lands. After studying handwritten documents held in churches across Western Europe in which crusaders explained their personal reasons for heading out on the “holy war,” he pioneered the use of computer spreadsheets to cross-reference data on individual crusaders and their families allowing him to paint a much more complete picture than had been possible previously. Riley-Smith determined that most crusaders were motivated by spiritual devotion and a genuine desire to atone for past sins.
Claiming that many in the West lack a thorough understanding of crusading, Jonathan Riley-Smith explains why and where the Crusades were fought, identifies their architects, and shows how deeply their language and imagery were embedded in popular Catholic thought and devotional life.
The Crusades: A History is a comprehensive, single-volume history of the Crusades, from their beginnings in the eleventh century through to their decline and eventual ending at the close of the eighteenth century. As well as providing an account of the major Crusades, the book describes the organization of a Crusade, the experience of crusading and the Crusaders themselves.
""Riley-Smith marshals his case lucidly.""--Times Literary Supplement ""Riley-Smith's analysis of the formation of Crusading ideology offers a provocative new interpretation. . . . [His] scholarship is impeccable, and he supports his contentions with
The Hospitallers were a religious order, founded in Jerusalem by 1099, devoted to nursing and to fighting the infidel. With their fellow knights, the Templars, they played a heroic part in the defence of the Holy Land, defending great castles, such as Krak des Chevaliers, while at the same time providing exemplary nursing care for the poor. Hospitallers is an illustrated history, by a leading historian of the crusades, of this remarkable body, the heir of which is the Order of St. John.
Maps, narrative, and contemporary accounts trace the history of Christian crusading in the East, the Mediterranean, Spain, Western Europe, and elsewhere
Written by a team of leading scholars, this richly illustrated book, with over 200 colour and black and white pictures, presents an authoritative and comprehensive history of the Crusades from the preaching of the First Crusade in 1095 to the legacy of crusading ideas and imagery today.
In his remarkable book, Jonathan Phillips explores the conflict of ideas, beliefs and cultures and shows both the contradictions and diversity of holy war. He draws on contemporary writings - on chronicles, songs, sermons, travel diaries and peace treaties - to throw a brilliant new light on people and events we thought we knew well. Although the notion of fighting for one's faith fell into disrepute in the Enlightenment, Phillips traces the crusading impulse from the bloody conquest of Jerusalem in the First Crusade and the titanic struggle between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin up to the present day - to George W. Bush's characterisation of the war on terrorism as a crusade.
Riley-Smith's acclaimed book is now regarded as a classic short study. The updated fourth edition of this essential introduction features a new Preface which surveys and reviews developments in crusading scholarship, a new map, material on a child crusader, and a short discussion of the current effects of aggressive Pan-Islamism.