Crusade Europe

The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge—a renowned historian who writes with “maximum vividness” (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker)—covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious...

Looking into the past, the Crusades seem incomprehensible. What combination of religious fervor, hatred of people of different faiths, and gall led Europeans of AD 1100 to make their way thousands of miles to conquer the Holy Land? Why did they continue for 200 years? How did the Crusades change the world? The intriguing story is peppered with colorful characters. Over the centuries crusaders saw - and participated in - the evolution of warfare and the transformation of society from feudal fiefdoms to nations and empires.

In the late fall of 1095, Pope Urban II gave a speech in Clermont, France, and set all of Europe into motion. As many as 150,000 people eventually responded to the call, leaving everything they knew behind to undertake what appeared to be a fool's mission: marching several thousand miles into enemy territory to reconquer Jerusalem for Christendom.

From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the T'ang Dynasty, from the birth of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled.

Crusading fervor gripped Europe for over 200 years, creating one of the most extraordinary, vivid episodes in world history. Whether the Crusades are regarded as the most romantic of Christian expeditions, or the last of the barbarian invasions, they have fascinated generations ever since, and their legacy of ideas and imagery has resonated through the centuries, inspiring Hollywood movies and great works of literature. Even today, to invoke the Crusades is to stir deep cultural myths, assumptions and prejudices.

The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, queen seductresses, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of southern Europe - these determined women often broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill.

The work comprises Villehardouin's "Conquest of Constantinople", which recounts the controversial Fourth Crusade, which descended into an attack on the Eastern Christians of Byzantium. In "Life of Saint Louis", Joinville draws on his friendship with King Louis IX of France to describe the campaigns in the Holy Land.

From the acclaimed Modern Library Chronicles comes an exploration of a promising theory that when put to practice wreaked havoc on the world. An expert on communism, Richard Pipes follows the history of the Soviet Union from the 1917 revolution to the Cold War, and finally, to its deterioration and collapse.

Jonathan Harris’s classic text chronologically surveys Byzantine history in the time of the Crusades. The book reveals the attitudes of the Byzantine ruling elites towards the Crusades and their ultimate inability to adapt to the challenges this presented. Using evidence amassed in a wealth of sources, Harris successfully makes the point that Byzantine interactions with Western Europe, the Crusades and the crusader states is best understood in the nature of the Byzantine Empire and the ideology which underpinned it, rather than in any generalised hostility between the peoples.

Fueron una serie de campañas militares realizadas bajo orden del Papado, que impulsó a los países de Europa Occidental a ir tras la conquista de Tierra Santa. Esta guerra religiosa tuvo lugar entre los siglos XI y XII a lo largo de tres cruzadas en donde los turcos perdieron su territorio en un inicio a mano de los europeos y luego fueron en busca de la reconquista de Jerusalén.

De acordo com a historiografia ocidental, a Primeira Cruzada teria sido uma expedição militar e religiosa incitada pelo papa Urbano II com o intuito de liberar Jerusalém da crescente ameaça do Islã. O evento teria culminado em julho de 1099, quando da libertação da Terra Santa por milhares de cavaleiros da Europa Ocidental. Mas será que seu verdadeiro catalizador foi Roma?

Beginning in 1095 and culminating four bloody years later, the First Crusade represented a new kind of warfare: holy, unrestrained, and apocalyptic. In Armies of Heaven, medieval historian Jay Rubenstein tells the story of this cataclysmic event through the eyes of those who witnessed it, emphasizing the fundamental role that apocalyptic thought played in motivating the Crusaders.

The notable German historian and monk Ekkehard of Aurach was also a crusader. He wrote a comprehensive world history text, but upon returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1101, he rewrote his portion on the First Crusade. "On the Opening of the First Crusade" is an excerpt from his larger work on the war, titled Hierosolymita. Modern scholars of history hold his contributions in high respect for his meticulous attention to detail and broad scope.

Klar, verständlich und kompetent beschreibt Nikolas Jaspert alle Aspekte des Phänomens Kreuzzüge: Die Ausgangsbedingungen, die Kreuzzüge in den Vorderen Orient, die Kreuzfahrerherrschaften, die Kreuzzüge auf der Iberischen Halbinsel und im Ostseeraum, die Ritterorden sowie die Folgen bis ins 15. Jahrhundert.

Sie waren ebenso mächtig wie geheimnisvoll: die Templer...