From Clermont to Jerusalem

This collection of seventeen original essays offers new perspectives on the history and sources of the crusades from the Council of Clermont in 1095 to the late fifteenth century, and of the societies they established in Palestine, Greece, Cyprus and the Baltic. The volume begins with a masterly survey of the concepts and strategies of the crusading movement. The historical case studies deal with the reigns of Baldwin I and Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, the role of castles in Greece and Cyprus, the military orders and crusade vows in England, and female warriors in the Baltic crusades. The essays on sources provide critical assessments and re-assessments of the narratives of the first and fourth crusades, introduce little known Arabic sources on the Muslim population of crusader Palestine, and analyse interpretations of the last days of the crusader kingdom in medieval theology and modern historiography. The volume concludes with a classified bibliography of the first crusade, comprising over 400 texts, monographs and articles published up to 1997.