Download or read book Legends of the Middle Ages written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-12-30 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes medieval illustrations depicting important people, places, and events. *Discusses the facts and legends surrounding the First Crusade and what was written about it. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to pers-e all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it is meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it." - Pope Urban II, 1095 When a crusader army of Western European Franks took Jerusalem by storm on July 15, 1099, it was one of the more unexpected conquests in history. Everything seemed to be against them for the previous three years of crusade, right up to the final siege, and yet they finally prevailed. And when they did, they massacred most, if not all, of the population, before establishing a Christian realm in a region that had been taken over by the Muslims in 634 CE. The First Crusade is a difficult and polarizing event, even among modern historians. For some, the crusaders were heroes and saints, and for others they were devils who disrupted the peaceful local sects of Muslims, Jews and Christians, establishing an alien colony that heralded modern European imperialism. To serve the needs of whatever story they want to tell, some historians will begin their tale at some convenient point in history that makes their "side" look good. In fact, the First Crusade is also a signal example of why it is unwise to choose sides in history, because neither side was correct and the situation was highly complex. Though it went largely unremarked in the Islamic world at the time, the First Crusade has since become a contentious symbol of European imperialism in the Middle East. Debate over whether the Crusades can truly be perceived as an early example of European colonialism continues in medieval historiography, though the evidence for this is thin. The territory taken by the Franks from the Turks had previously belonged to Eastern Christians and had only recently been seized by the Turks themselves. The Crusader States were relatively small and weak, and were reconquered centuries before modern European colonialism began. The Crusaders themselves saw it as a holy war of reclamation of previously lost, albeit almost-mythical, territory. To them, the Muslims were the first aggressors. They were somewhat bolstered in this view by the support that they largely held from local Christians. The medieval world of The First Crusade was quite different from the world of modern colonialism. However, the question of the connection between the two worlds is important. The First Crusade was a remarkable victory that galvanized the Christians of Western Europe to expand their world. While it remains unclear how much that world expanded in practical terms, such as trade, or how it affected later attitudes during the expansion to the New World and other regions, it definitely engaged the European mind in both positive and negative ways. As such, it soon achieved near-mythic status in the European literature and has become one of the most important events of the Middle Ages. Legends of the Middle Ages: The First Crusade chronicles the historic events that preceded the crusade, the call to arms, and the important people and battles. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the First Crusade like you never have before, in no time at all.

Download or read book Legends of the Middle Ages the First Crusade written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes medieval illustrations depicting important people, places, and events. *Discusses the facts and legends surrounding the First Crusade and what was written about it. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to pers­e all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it is meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it." - Pope Urban II, 1095 When a crusader army of Western European Franks took Jerusalem by storm on July 15, 1099, it was one of the more unexpected conquests in history. Everything seemed to be against them for the previous three years of crusade, right up to the final siege, and yet they finally prevailed. And when they did, they massacred most, if not all, of the population, before establishing a Christian realm in a region that had been taken over by the Muslims in 634 CE. The First Crusade is a difficult and polarizing event, even among modern historians. For some, the crusaders were heroes and saints, and for others they were devils who disrupted the peaceful local sects of Muslims, Jews and Christians, establishing an alien colony that heralded modern European imperialism. To serve the needs of whatever story they want to tell, some historians will begin their tale at some convenient point in history that makes their "side" look good. In fact, the First Crusade is also a signal example of why it is unwise to choose sides in history, because neither side was correct and the situation was highly complex. Though it went largely unremarked in the Islamic world at the time, the First Crusade has since become a contentious symbol of European imperialism in the Middle East. Debate over whether the Crusades can truly be perceived as an early example of European colonialism continues in medieval historiography, though the evidence for this is thin. The territory taken by the Franks from the Turks had previously belonged to Eastern Christians and had only recently been seized by the Turks themselves. The Crusader States were relatively small and weak, and were reconquered centuries before modern European colonialism began. The Crusaders themselves saw it as a holy war of reclamation of previously lost, albeit almost-mythical, territory. To them, the Muslims were the first aggressors. They were somewhat bolstered in this view by the support that they largely held from local Christians. The medieval world of The First Crusade was quite different from the world of modern colonialism. However, the question of the connection between the two worlds is important. The First Crusade was a remarkable victory that galvanized the Christians of Western Europe to expand their world. While it remains unclear how much that world expanded in practical terms, such as trade, or how it affected later attitudes during the expansion to the New World and other regions, it definitely engaged the European mind in both positive and negative ways. As such, it soon achieved near-mythic status in the European literature and has become one of the most important events of the Middle Ages. Legends of the Middle Ages: The First Crusade chronicles the historic events that preceded the crusade, the call to arms, and the important people and battles. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the First Crusade like you never have before, in no time at all.

Download or read book The First Crusade written by Edward Peters and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2011-06-03 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The First Crusade received its name and shape late. To its contemporaries, the event was a journey and the men who took part in it pilgrims. Only later were those participants dubbed Crusaders—"those signed with the Cross." In fact, many developments with regard to the First Crusade, like the bestowing of the cross and the elaboration of Crusaders' privileges, did not occur until the late twelfth century, almost one hundred years after the event itself. In a greatly expanded second edition, Edward Peters brings together the primary texts that document eleventh-century reform ecclesiology, the appearance of new social groups and their attitudes, the institutional and literary evidence dealing with Holy War and pilgrimage, and, most important, the firsthand experiences by men who participated in the events of 1095-1099. Peters supplements his previous work by including a considerable number of texts not available at the time of the original publication. The new material, which constitutes nearly one-third of the book, consists chiefly of materials from non-Christian sources, especially translations of documents written in Hebrew and Arabic. In addition, Peters has extensively revised and expanded the Introduction to address the most important issues of recent scholarship.

Download or read book Chronicles of the First Crusade written by Christopher Tyerman and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2011-11-03 with total page 760 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the First Crusade, as witnessed by contemporary writers 'O day so ardently desired! O time of times the most memorable! O deed before all other deeds!' The fall of Jerusalem in the summer of 1099 to an exhausted and starving army of western European soldiers was one of the most extraordinary events of the Middle Ages. It was both the climax of a great wave of visionary Christian fervour and the beginning of what proved to be a futile and abortive attempt to implant a new European kingdom of heaven in an overwhelmingly Muslim world. This remarkable collection brings together a wide variety of contemporary accounts of the First Crusade, including Pope Urban II's initial call to arms of 1095, as well as the first-hand writings of priests, knights, a Jewish pilgrim, a destitute noblewoman, an Iraqi poet and the historian Anna Comnena. Together they provide a vivid and nuanced picture of the First Crusade and the people who were swept up in it. Edited with an introduction and notes by Christopher Tyerman

Download or read book The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading written by Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith and published by Burns & Oates. This book was released on 1986 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ""Riley-Smith marshals his case lucidly.""--Times Literary Supplement ""Riley-Smith's analysis of the formation of Crusading ideology offers a provocative new interpretation. . . . [His] scholarship is impeccable, and he supports his contentions with

Download or read book The First Crusade written by Jay Carter Rubenstein and published by Macmillan Higher Education. This book was released on 2014-12-26 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the ways in which the First Crusade changed the direction of warfare, religion, and perhaps history itself, First Crusade helps you gain a deeper understanding of the crusading ethos by exploring this time in history through the theme of prophecy.

Download or read book The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading written by Jonathan Riley-Smith and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2009-11-27 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this classic work, presented here with a new introduction, one of the world's most renowned crusade historians approaches this central topic of medieval history with freshness and impeccable research.

Download or read book An Empire of Memory written by Matthew Gabriele and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2011-03-24 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning shortly after Charlemagne's death in 814, the inhabitants of his historical empire looked back upon his reign and saw in it an exemplar of Christian universality - Christendom. They mapped contemporary Christendom onto the past and so, during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, the borders of his empire grew with each retelling, almost always including the Christian East. Although the pull of Jerusalem on the West seems to have been strong during the eleventh century, it had a more limited effect on the Charlemagne legend. Instead, the legend grew during this period because of a peculiar fusion of ideas, carried forward from the ninth century but filtered through the social, cultural, and intellectual developments of the intervening years. Paradoxically, Charlemagne became less important to the Charlemagne legend. The legend became a story about the Frankish people, who believed they had held God's favour under Charlemagne and held out hope that they could one day reclaim their special place in sacred history. Indeed, popular versions of the Last Emperor legend, which spoke of a great ruler who would reunite Christendom in preparation for the last battle between good and evil, promised just this to the Franks. Ideas of empire, identity, and Christian religious violence were potent reagents. The mixture of these ideas could remind men of their Frankishness and move them, for example, to take up arms, march to the East, and reclaim their place as defenders of the faith during the First Crusade. An Empire of Memory uses the legend of Charlemagne, an often-overlooked current in early medieval thought, to look at how the contours of the relationship between East and West moved across centuries, particularly in the period leading up to the First Crusade.

Download or read book The First Crusade written by Jonathan P. Phillips and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The First Crusade (1095-9) a mass of armed pilgrims aiming to march 4000 kilometers to the Holy Land to conquer Jerusalem was one of the most remarkable episodes in medieval history. Essays from nine leading academics offer new perspectives on two main themes: reconsideration of the evidence available to historians and appreciation of the Crusade's impact on the people of the eastern Mediterranean.

Download or read book The First Crusade written by Thomas Asbridge and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-01-26 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A nuanced and sophisticated analysis... Exhilarating' Sunday Telegraph Nine hundred years ago, one of the most controversial episodes in Christian history was initiated. The Pope stated that, in spite of the apparently pacifist message of the New Testament, God actually wanted European knights to wage a fierce and bloody war against Islam and recapture Jerusalem. Thus was the First Crusade born. Focusing on the characters that drove this extraordinary campaign, this fascinating period of history is recreated through awe-inspiring and often barbaric tales of bold adventure while at the same time providing significant insights into early medieval society, morality and mentality. The First Crusade marked a watershed in relations between Islam and the West, a conflict that set these two world religions on a course towards deep-seated animosity and enduring enmity. The chilling reverberations of this earth-shattering clash still echo in the world today. '[Asbridge] balances persuasive analysis with a flair for conveying with dramatic power the crusaders' plight' Financial Times

Download or read book The Legend of Charlemagne written by Jace Stuckey and published by Explorations in Medieval Cultu. This book was released on 2021 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "There are few historical figures in the Middle Ages that cast a larger shadow than Charlemagne. This volume brings together a collection of studies on the Charlemagne legend from a wide range of fields, not only adding to the growing corpus of work on this legendary figure, but opening new avenues of inquiry by bringing together innovative trends that cross disciplinary boundaries. This collection expands the geographical frontiers, and extends the chronological scope beyond the Middle Ages from the heart of Carolingian Europe to Spain, England, and Iceland. The Charlemagne found here is one both familiar and strange and one who is both celebrated and critiqued. Contributors are Jada Bailey, Cullen Chandler, Carla Del Zotto, William Diebold, Christopher Flynn, Ana Grinberg, Elizabeth Melick, Jace Stuckey, and Larissa Tracy"--

Download or read book Robert the Monk s History of the First Crusade written by Carol Sweetenham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first English translation of Robert the Monk's Historia Iherosolimitana, a Latin prose chronicle describing the First Crusade. In addition to providing new and unique information on the Crusade (Robert claims to have been an eyewitness of the Council of Clermont in 1095), its particular interest lies in the great popularity it enjoyed in the Middle Ages. The text has close links with the vernacular literary tradition and is written in a racy style which would not disgrace a modern tabloid journalist. Its reflection of contemporary legends and anecdotes gives us insights into perceptions of the Crusade at that time and opens up interesting perspectives onto the relationship of history and fiction in the twelfth century. The introduction discusses what we know about Robert, his importance as a historical source and his place in the literary tradition of the First Crusade.

Download or read book Seven Myths of the Crusades written by Alfred J. Andrea and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2015-08-21 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Seven Myths of the Crusades' rebuttal of the persistent and multifarious misconceptions associated with topics including the First Crusade, anti-Judaism and the Crusades, the crusader states, the Children's Crusade, the Templars and past and present Islamic-Christian relations proves, once and for all, that real history is far more fascinating than conspiracy theories, pseudo-history and myth-mongering. This book is a powerful witness to the dangers of the misappropriation and misinterpretation of the past and the false parallels so often drawn between the crusades and later historical events ranging from nineteenth-century colonialism to the protest movements of the 1960s to the events of 9/11. This volume's authors have venerable track records in teaching and researching the crusading movement, and anyone curious about the crusades would do well to start here." —Jessalynn Bird, Dominican University, co-Editor of Crusade and Christendom

Download or read book Defending the City of God written by Sharan Newman and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2014-04-29 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A fresh and highly accessible history of the Holy Lands during the Middle Ages, revealing a rich and diverse culture and the fight to save Jerusalem from the Crusaders"--

Download or read book The Crusades written by Mary Griffin and published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. This book was released on 2019-07-15 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1095, Pope Urban II ordered Christians to capture Jerusalem from the powerful Muslim forces that held it. This war would become known as the First Crusade, and many more crusades followed as Muslims and Christians contended for territory in the Middle Ages. Fascinated readers will find out why these wars were waged as well as the lasting effects they had on the Western world. Maps and a timeline help them follow the action, while stunning historical artwork illustrates the key figures in this bloody time in history.

Download or read book Legends of the Middle Ages the History and Legacy of the Knights Templar written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-30 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Explains the myths and legends of the Knights Templar, and their origins. *Includes pictures of important people, places, and events in the history of the Knights Templar. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' Legends of the Middle Ages series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of the most important medieval men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. The Order of the Temple of Solomon, also known as the Templars or the Knights Templar, is one of the best-known and least-understood groups in history. They appear prominently in everything from novels (The Da Vinci Code) to films (as the Knights of the Cruciform Sword in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) to videogames (Assassin's Creed). In these stories, they are a sinister cult that manipulated historical events since the Middle Ages, via intimidation and assassination. They are usually connected to the Freemasons and, sometimes, to other historical cults like the Hindu Thuggees. The real Templars were both more mundane and more fascinating than the myths and legends. They were the first military religious order - monks who were also knights. The founding members were veterans of the First Crusade in Palestine and their main goal was, in fact, benign. They formed their group as a small tertiary order (Lay people who took monastic vows, but lived in the larger community) in Jerusalem, policing the pilgrim routes and shrines of the Levant and protecting travelers from the many bandits that infested the area. Even though they were used as the core of Crusader armies during the later crusades, the Templars never wavered from their original goal. The Templars were split into knights (about ten percent of the Order), sergeants and chaplains (the other ninety percent), with the non-noble sergeants comprising the majority of the Order, according to historians like Malcolm Barber in his history of the Order, The New Knighthood. The knights fought in the main part of the Templar army, but the sergeants appear to have backed up the knights in battle, both as horsemen and as a small infantry. The sergeants also worked as servants and in non-military support functions on the Templar farms (granges) that supported the Order. The chaplains were a small group of priests who were rotated into the Order on a temporary basis and served the monks' religious needs. Like other secretive groups, the mystery surrounding the Templars has helped their legacy endure. While some conspiracy theorists attempt to tie the group to other alleged secret socities like the Illuminati, other groups have tried to assert connections with the Templars to bolster their own credentials. Who they were and what they had in their possession continue to be a source of great intrigue even among non-historical circles. Legends of the Middle Ages: The History and Legacy of the Knights Templar chronicles the history of the order and examines the secrecy and mystery surrounding the group, as well as the legacy that has endured today. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Knights Templar like you never have before, in no time at all.

Download or read book How to Plan a Crusade written by Christopher Tyerman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the wars and conquests initiated by the First Crusade and its successors is itself so compelling that most accounts move quickly from describing the Pope's calls to arms to the battlefield. In this highly original and enjoyable new book, Christopher Tyerman focuses on something obvious but overlooked: the massive, all-encompassing, and hugely costly business of actually preparing a crusade. The efforts of many thousands of men and women, who left their lands and families in Western Europe, and marched off to a highly uncertain future in the Holy Land and elsewhere have never been sufficiently understood. Their actions raise a host of compelling questions about the nature of medieval society.How to Plan a Crusade is remarkably illuminating on the diplomacy, communications, propaganda, use of mass media, medical care, equipment, voyages, money, weapons, wills, ransoms, animals, and the power of prayer during this dynamic era. It brings to life an extraordinary period of history in a new and surprising way.