A History of the Crusades
A History of the Crusades

Author: Steven Runciman

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1987-12-03

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 9780521347709

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Sir Steven Runciman explores the First Crusade and the foundation of the kingdom of Jerusalem.

Downfall of the Crusader Kingdom
Downfall of the Crusader Kingdom

Author: W B Bartlett

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2011-09-30

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 0752468073

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Downfall of the Crusader Kingdom tells the story of the reason for Richard the Lionheart's infamous Third Crusade, culminating in the disastrous battle of Hattin in 1187. Hattin is one of the few battles in history that can truly be called decisive, and it was a catastrophe for the Crusaders. The leading men of the kingdom of Jerusalem, including the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers, were trapped in arid wasteland, without water and surrounded by hostile forces. The battle ended with thousands of them being taken prisoner. It was the culmination of a series of events that had been progressively leading the kingdom of Jerusalem down the road to oblivion. It was partly the resurgence of the Muslim Middle East and the rise of Saladin that led to the loss of Jerusalem, but there was another equally dangerous element at work – the enemy within. W.B. Bartlett tells the story of naked ambition and intrigue that led to bitter infighting and ultimately the downfall of the Christian crusaders.

Downfall of the Crusader Kingdom
Downfall of the Crusader Kingdom

Author: W B Bartlett

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2011-09-30

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0752468073

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The Third Crusade of Richard the Lionheart is well known but the build-up to it less so. Downfall of the Crusader Kingdom is a story of intrigue, plot and counter-plot, and the abuse of power culminating in the most decisive battle of the medieval epoch, the Battle of Hattin in 1187. Hattin is one of the few battles in history that can truly be called decisive, and it was a catastrophe for the Crusaders. The leading men of the kingdom of Jerusalem, including the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers, were trapped in an arid wasteland, without water and surrounded by hostile forces. The battle ended with thousands of them being taken prisoner. It was the culmination of a series of events that had been progressively leading the kingdom of Jerusalem down the road to oblivion. It was partly the resurgence of the Muslim Middle East and the rise of Saladin that led to the loss of Jerusalem, but there was another equally dangerous element at work - the enemy within. W B Bartlett brings to life the bitter infighting and political battles which ultimately led to the disaster at Hattin and the downfall of the Crusader kingdom.

Sword and the Scimitar
Sword and the Scimitar

Author: Ernle Bradford

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2004-02-01

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1844150410

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For nearly two centuries, from 1096 until 1291, a tide of pilgrims, knights, men-at-arms, priests, traders and peasants swept from Western Europe to the Levant - Crusaders whose common aim was to recover the Holy Place of Christendom. The Sword and the Scimitar is a saga of one of the most fanatical religious wars in world history. It is a story abounding with highly distinctive personalities - popes, saints, kings, sultans and heroes like Saladin and Richard Coeur de Lion, of the encounter of two great cultures and their cross-fertilization. It tells of the three great Military Orders, the Knights Hospitaller of St John, the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Templar. It does not disguise the savagery that accompanied the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders or the scenes of fire and carnage when the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell nearly two centuries later, and the markets of the East were so flooded with Christian slaves that a young Frankish woman might be sold for one silver coin.