jjares reviewed The Crusades: An Enthralling Overview of an Event in Christian History That Took Place in the Middle Ages (Church History) on + 3426 more book reviews
The analysis in this ebook is superb; I'm sorry that only five stars are available for the rating. I've read several books about the Crusades, and this one stands out for its excellence. Readers who may have wondered how and why the Crusades started will want to read this book. I found new tidbits of fascinating information in every chapter. Historians have changed their opinions about why the Crusades occurred, and this ebook highlights them. Amazingly, St. Augustine, in the 4th century, assured Christians that it could be God's will to spill blood. Before this, Christians had difficulty accepting violence for religion's sake. When the Romans became Christians, it was harder to find Roman soldiers willing to use the sword because Christ's teachings encouraged nonviolence.
Chapter One was stunning; how Muslims interpreted Jesus Christ was revelatory. This chapter was so dense with new (to me) information, that I found myself reading it three times. The main thrust of Islam was to correct the 'errors' of religion at that time (page 5). The word descriptions of the People's Crusade were powerful reading; it explained so much about why they were annihilated so quickly.
Whoever selected the introductory quotes that opened each chapter did a masterful job. It makes the reader look at this history from different slants. After discussing the various military/monastic orders, this book mentions the Order of Saint Lazarus. They needed fighters so desperately that when individual Knights Templar (and other military groups) came down with leprosy, they were moved to the St. Lazarus unit. They continued fighting because their nerves were deadened, and they did not feel the attacks. Also, they were fearsome because they wore bandages that barely covered their open sores! These Leper Knights were known as the 'living dead.'
Part Two of this volume discussed
- The Northern Crusades (going after the pagans left in northwestern Europe),
- The Crusades against heretics (specifically the Christian Gnostics and Cathars),
- The Alexandrian Crusade (a preemptive strike against the Egyptians before they attacked Cyprus),
- The Savoyard Crusades (attacking the Balkans to limit the influence of the Ottomans),
- The Ottoman Crusades (aimed at pushing the Turks back, resulted in the seizure of Gallipoli), and
- The Reconquista (Christian states waged military campaigns to recapture the Iberian lands from the Muslims)
The lasting legacy of the Crusades is that there were no 'good guys,' just religious zealots who thought they were justified in their actions. It is easy to see why "Crusades" is such a loaded word.
Chapter One was stunning; how Muslims interpreted Jesus Christ was revelatory. This chapter was so dense with new (to me) information, that I found myself reading it three times. The main thrust of Islam was to correct the 'errors' of religion at that time (page 5). The word descriptions of the People's Crusade were powerful reading; it explained so much about why they were annihilated so quickly.
Whoever selected the introductory quotes that opened each chapter did a masterful job. It makes the reader look at this history from different slants. After discussing the various military/monastic orders, this book mentions the Order of Saint Lazarus. They needed fighters so desperately that when individual Knights Templar (and other military groups) came down with leprosy, they were moved to the St. Lazarus unit. They continued fighting because their nerves were deadened, and they did not feel the attacks. Also, they were fearsome because they wore bandages that barely covered their open sores! These Leper Knights were known as the 'living dead.'
Part Two of this volume discussed
- The Northern Crusades (going after the pagans left in northwestern Europe),
- The Crusades against heretics (specifically the Christian Gnostics and Cathars),
- The Alexandrian Crusade (a preemptive strike against the Egyptians before they attacked Cyprus),
- The Savoyard Crusades (attacking the Balkans to limit the influence of the Ottomans),
- The Ottoman Crusades (aimed at pushing the Turks back, resulted in the seizure of Gallipoli), and
- The Reconquista (Christian states waged military campaigns to recapture the Iberian lands from the Muslims)
The lasting legacy of the Crusades is that there were no 'good guys,' just religious zealots who thought they were justified in their actions. It is easy to see why "Crusades" is such a loaded word.
