Baldwin of Bourcq
Baldwin of Bourcq

Author: Alan V. Murray

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-18

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 1000479803

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Awarded the Verbruggen Prize 2022 for the best book on medieval military history. Baldwin of Bourcq left his home in France in 1096 to join the great crusade summoned by Pope Urban II for the liberation of the holy sites and Christian peoples of Syria and Palestine from the domination of the Muslim Turks. In 1100 he became ruler of the Franco-Armenian county of Edessa. In 1118 he succeeded to the kingdom of Jerusalem. In just over two decades this younger son of a minor French count had become one of only a dozen kings in Western Christendom. To defend the principalities of Outremer against their Turkish and Egyptian enemies he travelled thousands of miles and led his troops in over two dozen campaigns. He spent two extended periods in Turkish captivity, yet he outlived almost all of his fellow crusaders, and died leaving the succession to his kingdom secure. This is the first biography in any language of a remarkable man. Drawing on a wide range of narrative and documentary sources, it gives an account of Baldwin’s ancestry and life from his first recorded appearance up to his death in 1131. It explains the complex and shifting geopolitics of the principalities of Outremer and the Muslim territories around them, and explores Baldwin’s character as a ruler and leader in war, the significance of his wide-ranging kinship network, and the succession to the kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin of Bourcq will appeal to students, teachers and researchers in Medieval History, especially Crusade Studies and Military History.

Knighthoods of Christ
Knighthoods of Christ

Author: Norman Housley

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-05-15

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1351923927

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

During the Central Middle Ages Catholics had the opportunity to take part in Holy War in the Latin East in two different but related ways, by taking the Cross and by entering the Order of the Temple. Both crusaders and Knights Templar were dubbed by contemporary panegyrists milites Christi, knights engaged in combat for the cause of Christ. On numerous battlefields in the Middle East crusaders and Templars fought side by side. By the late thirteenth century both modes of Holy War faced critical situations. Crusading failed to save the mainland states of Palestine and Syria from Muslim conquest in 1291, while the Knights Templar entered a period of internal demoralisation and external attack that culminated in the suppression of their Order in 1312. This collection of essays by distinguished historians of the Crusades and the Order of the Temple covers the whole span of their historical evolution and offers numerous insights into the ideologies, practicalities and ramifications of Christian Holy War in the Middle Ages.

Walter the Chancellor’s The Antiochene Wars
Walter the Chancellor’s The Antiochene Wars

Author: Susan B. Edgington

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-11-09

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0429778341

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

First published in 1999, this edition of Walter the Chancellor’s account of the wars of the Antiochenes against the Muslims in the early twelfth century is a vivid first-hand account of a dramatic yet less well-known period in the history of the northern Crusader states, and an important balance to the more usual focus on Jerusalem. As a highly-placed Antiochene official, Walter was able to write the most authoritative account of the principality's fortunes and internal workings, and his book also sheds light on the relationship between Latin settlement in the Levant and contemporary Western perceptions of Islam and Eastern Christianity. Here it has for the first time been translated into English (from the Latin edition of H. Hagenmeyer). It is prefaced by a substantial introduction, discussing the author and his work in the context of the history and historiography of the Latin settlement, and is followed by a selection of comparative sources. Walter the Chancellor’s history will be of interest both to students of the Crusades and to a wider readership for its perspective on life in a medieval frontier society.

A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations
A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations

Author: Abdelwahab Meddeb

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2013-11-27

Total Pages: 1153

ISBN-13: 1400849136

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The first encylopedic guide to the history of relations between Jews and Muslims around the world This is the first encyclopedic guide to the history of relations between Jews and Muslims around the world from the birth of Islam to today. Richly illustrated and beautifully produced, the book features more than 150 authoritative and accessible articles by an international team of leading experts in history, politics, literature, anthropology, and philosophy. Organized thematically and chronologically, this indispensable reference provides critical facts and balanced context for greater historical understanding and a more informed dialogue between Jews and Muslims. Part I covers the medieval period; Part II, the early modern period through the nineteenth century, in the Ottoman Empire, Africa, Asia, and Europe; Part III, the twentieth century, including the exile of Jews from the Muslim world, Jews and Muslims in Israel, and Jewish-Muslim politics; and Part IV, intersections between Jewish and Muslim origins, philosophy, scholarship, art, ritual, and beliefs. The main articles address major topics such as the Jews of Arabia at the origin of Islam; special profiles cover important individuals and places; and excerpts from primary sources provide contemporary views on historical events. Contributors include Mark R. Cohen, Alain Dieckhoff, Michael Laskier, Vera Moreen, Gordon D. Newby, Marina Rustow, Daniel Schroeter, Kirsten Schulze, Mark Tessler, John Tolan, Gilles Veinstein, and many more. Covers the history of relations between Jews and Muslims around the world from the birth of Islam to today Written by an international team of leading scholars Features in-depth articles on social, political, and cultural history Includes profiles of important people (Eliyahu Capsali, Joseph Nasi, Mohammed V, Martin Buber, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, Edward Said, Messali Hadj, Mahmoud Darwish) and places (Jerusalem, Alexandria, Baghdad) Presents passages from essential documents of each historical period, such as the Cairo Geniza, Al-Sira, and Judeo-Persian illuminated manuscripts Richly illustrated with more than 250 images, including maps and color photographs Includes extensive cross-references, bibliographies, and an index

Why Does the Heathen Rage?
Why Does the Heathen Rage?

Author: J. Stephen Roberts

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-02-08

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9781523957620

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

It is twenty-four years since the First Crusaders conquered Jerusalem. Robert of Bures is a young knight whose father rose to power and prosperity in the new Crusader kingdom, and whose uncle died in battle with the Saracens. Nothing matters more to him than defending the Holy Sepulcher, the tomb of Jesus Christ, more sacred than any shrine in Christendom. Robert has been a trusted retainer to Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, a veteran of the First Crusade who now rules the beleaguered Christian outpost in the Holy Land, but his friendship with the King's daughter, the beautiful and headstrong Princess Melisende, is growing unfittingly close. In Aleppo, the Turkish warlord Balak has raised a vast Saracen army and promises to drive the Christians into the sea. King Baldwin II is short of men and funds, yet his faith in God in unshakable, and he inspires passionate loyalty in his troops. His daughter Melisende feels the weight of the future pressing down upon her, for her father has no son, and she is heir to a Kingdom that her people believe would be better inherited by a warrior prince. Why Does the Heathen Rage? explores a magnificent but rarely examined chapter in Crusades history. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is young, and beset from all sides with enemies. In the face of unending trials, King Baldwin II and his knights fight with zeal, ready to die for the city that Christ made sacred with his blood: Jerusalem.

Baldwin I of Jerusalem, 1100-1118
Baldwin I of Jerusalem, 1100-1118

Author: Susan Edgington

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-01-15

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1317176405

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Baldwin of Boulogne was born the youngest of three sons and marked out for a clerical career, yet in turn he became a First Crusader, first Latin count of Edessa and the founder of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. Nevertheless, remarkably, he has never been the subject of a full-length biography. This study examines in detail the stages of Baldwin’s career, returning to the contemporary evidence to discover the qualities that enabled him not only to succeed his brother as ruler in 1100 but to maintain and expand the new kingdom of Jerusalem through the next eighteen years in the face of aggression from Muslim enemies and rivalry from fellow crusaders.

Medieval Fortifications in Cilicia
Medieval Fortifications in Cilicia

Author: Dweezil Vandekerckhove

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-11-26

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9004417419

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Medieval Fortifications in Cilicia Dweezil Vandekerckhove offers an account of the origins, development and spatial distribution of fortified sites in the Armenian Kingdom (1198-1375). Despite the abundance of archaeological remains, the Armenian heritage had previously not been closely studied. However, through the examination of known and newly identified castles, this work has now increased the number of sites and features associated with the Armenian Kingdom. By the construction of numerous powerful castles, the Armenians succeeded in establishing an independent kingdom, which lasted until the Mamluk conquest in 1375. Dweezil Vandekerckhove convincingly proves that the medieval castles in Cilicia are of outstanding architectural interest, with a significant place in the history of military architecture.

Writing the Holy Land
Writing the Holy Land

Author: Michele Campopiano

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-16

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 3030527743

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The book shows how the Franciscans in Jerusalem in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries wrote works which standardized the cultural memory of the Holy Land. The experience of the late medieval Holy Land was deeply connected to the presence of the Franciscans of the Convent of Mount Zion in Jerusalem, who welcomed and guided pilgrims. This book analyses this construction of a shared memory based on the continuous availability of these texts in the Franciscan library of Mount Zion, where they were copied and adapted to respond to new historical contexts. This book shows how the Franciscans developed a representation of the Holy Land by elaborating on its history and describing its religious groups and the geography of the region. This representation circulated among pilgrims and influenced how contemporaries imagined the Holy Land

The Crusades and the Christian World of the East
The Crusades and the Christian World of the East

Author: Christopher MacEvitt

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2010-11-24

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9780812202694

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the wake of Jerusalem's fall in 1099, the crusading armies of western Christians known as the Franks found themselves governing not only Muslims and Jews but also local Christians, whose culture and traditions were a world apart from their own. The crusader-occupied swaths of Syria and Palestine were home to many separate Christian communities: Greek and Syrian Orthodox, Armenians, and other sects with sharp doctrinal differences. How did these disparate groups live together under Frankish rule? In The Crusades and the Christian World of the East, Christopher MacEvitt marshals an impressive array of literary, legal, artistic, and archeological evidence to demonstrate how crusader ideology and religious difference gave rise to a mode of coexistence he calls "rough tolerance." The twelfth-century Frankish rulers of the Levant and their Christian subjects were separated by language, religious practices, and beliefs. Yet western Christians showed little interest in such differences. Franks intermarried with local Christians and shared shrines and churches, but they did not hesitate to use military force against Christian communities. Rough tolerance was unlike other medieval modes of dealing with religious difference, and MacEvitt illuminates the factors that led to this striking divergence. "It is commonplace to discuss the diversity of the Middle East in terms of Muslims, Jews, and Christians," MacEvitt writes, "yet even this simplifies its religious complexity." While most crusade history has focused on Christian-Muslim encounters, MacEvitt offers an often surprising account by examining the intersection of the Middle Eastern and Frankish Christian worlds during the century of the First Crusade.