The technological relationship between the three main civilizations of the Western world - Byzantium, the Islamic world and the West - most particularly in the area of arms, armour and military technology is a field of research for which Dr Nicolle is noted. This volume deals principally with Western Europe and Byzantium, which for many centuries learnt from the Muslims in these matters; several articles also focus on military interactions in the Crusader states. The work draws upon both written and archaeological sources, but above all makes use of the depictions of war and military equipment in contemporary art to examine the interconnections across the medieval world.
The technological relationship between the three main civilizations of the Western world - Byzantium, the Islamic world and the West - most particularly in the area of arms, armour and military technology is a field of research for which Dr Nicolle is noted. This volume deals principally with Western Europe and Byzantium, which for many centuries learnt from the Muslims in these matters; several articles also focus on military interactions in the Crusader states. The work draws upon both written and archaeological sources, but above all makes use of the depictions of war and military equipment in contemporary art to examine the interconnections across the medieval world.
This collection of articles offers new insights into warfare and its impact on medieval society, analyzing social and economic issues, military strategy, technology, medical developments, ideology and rhetoric, and addressing warfare in Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world.
In Articulating the Ḥijāba, Mariam Rosser-Owen analyses for the first time the artistic and cultural patronage of the ‘Amirid regents of the last Cordoban Umayyad caliph, Hisham II, a period rarely covered in the historiography of al-Andalus. Al-Mansur, the founder of this dynasty, is usually considered a usurper of caliphal authority, who pursued military victory at the expense of the transcendental achievements of the first two caliphs. But he also commissioned a vast extension to the Great Mosque of Cordoba, founded a palatine city, conducted skilled diplomatic relations, patronised a circle of court poets, and owned some of the most spectacular objects to survive from al-Andalus, in ivory and marble. This study presents the evidence for a reconsideration of this period.
Unlike traditional references that recount political and military history, this encyclopedia includes entries on a wide range of aspects related to daily life during the medieval crusades. The medieval crusades were fundamental in shaping world history and provide background for the conflict that exists between the West and the Muslim world today. This two-volume set presents fundamental information about the medieval crusades as a movement and its ideological impact on both the crusaders and the peoples of the East. It takes a broad look at numerous topics related to crusading, with the goal of helping readers to better understand what inspired the crusaders, the hardships associated with crusading, and how crusading has influenced the development of cultures both in the East and the West. The first of the two thematically arranged volumes considers topics such as the arts, economics and work, food and drink, family and gender, and fashion and appearance. The second volume considers topics such as housing and community, politics and warfare, recreation and social customs, religion and beliefs, and science and technology. Within each topical section are alphabetically arranged reference entries, complete with cross-references and suggestions for further reading. Selections from primary source documents, each accompanied by an introductory headnote, give readers first-hand accounts of the crusades.
This richly illustrated book explores over seven hundred years of European warfare, from the time of Charlemagne to the end of the middle ages (c.1500). The period covered has a distinctive character in military history. It was an age when organization for war was integral to social structure, when the secular aristocrat was by necessity also a warrior, and whose culture was profoundly influenced by martial ideas. Twelve scholars, experts in their own fields, have contributed to this finely illustrated book. It is divided into two parts. Part I seeks to explore the experience of war viewed chronologically with separate chapters on, for instance, the Viking age, on the wars and expansion of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, on the Crusades and on the great Hundred Years War between England and France. The chapters in Part II trace thematically the principal developments in the art of warfare; in fortification and siege craft; in the role of armoured cavalrymen; in the employment of mercenary forces; the advent of gunpowder artillery; and of new skills in navigation and shipbuilding. In both parts of the book, the overall aim has been to offer the general reader an impression, not just of the where and the when of great confrontations, but above all of the social experience of warfare in the middle ages, and of the impact of its demands on human resources and human endurance.
The Routledge Handbook of the Mongols and Central-Eastern Europe offers a comprehensive overview of the Mongols’ military, political, socio-economic and cultural relations with Central and Eastern European nations between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous land empire in history, and one which contributed to the establishment of political, commercial and cultural contacts between all Eurasian regions. The Golden Horde, founded in Eastern Europe by Chinggis Khan’s grandson, Batu, in the thirteenth century, was the dominant power in the region. For two hundred years, all of the countries and peoples of Central and Eastern Europe had to reckon with a powerful centralized state with enormous military potential. Some chose to submit to the Mongols whilst others defended their independence, but none could avoid the influence of this powerful empire. In this book, twenty-five chapters examine this crucial period in Central-Eastern European history, including trade, confrontation, and cultural and religious exchange between the Mongols and their neighbours. This book will be an essential reference for scholars and students of the Mongols, as well those interested in the political, social and economic history of medieval Central-Eastern Europe.
During the late 11th through the early 14th centuries at least seven major expeditions were made between Western Europe and the Holy Land with the goal of ending Muslim control of Jerusalem. Ultimately the crusaders were driven out, but not before a cultural exchange had taken place that had an immense impact on Western Europe and an equally enormous, albeit less positive, impact on Arabs and the Islamic world. Although the crusades occurred many centuries ago, echoes still resound through the current clashes of nations and ideologies, kidnappings for ransom, assassinations, and the declaring of "jihad"--all making the crusades an eminently timely subject. This one-volume overview provides an accessible reference work for scholars, students, and general readers on the period with numerous entries on key persons, places, events, battles and sieges, use of weapons and armor, and the deeper issues of the political and cultural background. Complete with a detailed chronology and a bibliography, this work allows readers to learn how Europe was changed forever by these battles with Islam.
The crusades were among the longest and most bitter wars in human history and consisted of no less than seven major expeditions from Western Europe from the late 11th to the early 14th centuries for the purpose of wresting Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the control of the Muslims. In the end, it was the Muslims who won, and the Christians who suffered a major setback, and the Middle East remained firmly in Muslim hands. This was one of the worst clashes between different religions and civilizations and, for long, it was largely forgotten or brushed over. That is no longer the case, with many Muslims regarding Western interference in the region as a repeat of the crusades while launching their own jihads. So, while an old conflict, it is still with us today. Even at the time, it was very hard to understand the causes and outcome of the crusades, and that remains a problem today. This Historical Dictionary of the Crusades cannot claim to have resolved it, but it most definitely does make the situation easier to understand. The introduction provides an overview, tracing the crusades from one expedition to the next, and assessing their impact. The actual flow of events is far easier to follow thanks to the chronology. And maps help to trace the events geographically. The entries, and there are more than 300 of them in this second edition, look more closely at notable figures, including Pope Gregory VII, Richard “the lionhearted,” and Saladin, as well as important places (Jerusalem, Constantinople and others), events, battles and sieges, as well as the use of weapons and armor. The bibliography points to further reading.
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.
