The crusades revisited - The Experience of Crusading. Volume One: Western Approaches - The Experience of Crusading. Volume Two: Defining the Crusader Kingdom - The Christian World of the Middle Ages - Book Review

Contemporary Review, Jan, 2004 by Edward Bradbury

The Experience of Crusading. Volume One: Western Approaches. Marcus Bull and Norman Housley, editors. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]45.00 (US$60.00). 307 pages. ISBN 0-521-81168-6. The Experience of Crusading. Volume Two: Defining the Crusader Kingdom. Peter Edbury and Jonathan Phillips, editors. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]45.00 (US$60.00). 311 pages. ISBN 0-521-78151-5. The Christian World of the Middle Ages. Bernard Hamilton. Sutton Publishing. [pounds sterling]25.00. 256 pages. ISBN 0-7509-2405-5.

It is notoriously difficult to review collections, especially when they fill two volumes and contain thirty-four essays. Against this one has to say that ever since the atrocities of September 11th interest in the Crusades has grown by leaps and bounds because they are seen as one of the most decisive 'interfaces' between the Christian and the Mohammedan worlds. Whilst there have been numerous books on the Crusades this is the first collection of studies by a group of experts to be published by a university press. It is a splendid collection for interested readers and undergraduates as well as a barometer to the state of research and opinion within historians.

The first volume begins with, inter alia, seven essays on various aspects of the Crusades: how Europeans saw the Mohammedan world in literature, how Crusades were paid for in the fourteenth century and the crusading motives of various Italian city-states in the Latin East in the twelfth century. The second part has six chapters devoted to the Church's relationship with the Crusades whilst the third part has two chapters on the Military Orders: one on the Hospitallers in twelfth century Constantinople and the second on the role of the orders which were in royal service in Ireland. The final section has two 'retrospective' contributions on the First Crusade including its treatment in later fiction and a well argued study, by Elizabeth Siberry, on nineteenth century perspectives as seen in music, literature and the stage.

The second volume concentrates on the history of the Latin East created by the Crusades. As in the earlier volume there are four parts. The first, with four chapters, is devoted to various figures: Odo Arpin, Alice of Antioch, Gaufridus (or Geoffrey), the first Abbot of the Templi Domini and Philip of Nablus who became a Knight Templar: these essays do much to 'flesh out' our understanding of those who were involved in the Crusades. The second part, devoted to 're-reading the sources', is an intriguing collection of four essays which look again at some of the texts that have survived: the Life of Ranieri, patron saint of Pisa; William of Tyre's Chronicle; what is known as the Freiburg Leaf; and, finally, John of Ibelin's Book of the Assises. After this, under the heading, 'history and historiography', there are five chapters devoted to churches and settlements in Crusader Palestine, the rule of King Fulk of Jerusalem, the 'adventure' of John Gale, the relationship between Mongols and Christians and the influence of orientalism on early Crusader studies. The final part has four contributions on the economic aspects, from the more general chapter on the economic consequences of the Crusades by Michel Belard, to fifteenth century piracy in the Tyrrhenian Sea and the economic roles of the Templars and Hospitallers in Cyprus between 1291 and 1312. These two volumes bring together the latest works of leading scholars and give us an up-to-date understanding of many, if not all, the aspects that make up the Crusading world.

Many students, however, especially in our post-Christian society, will want to know more of the world which gave rise to the Crusades. In The Christian World of the Middle Ages Bernard Hamilton, Professor Emeritus of Crusading History in the University of Nottingham, gives us just such an introduction. His remit is large, from AD 300 to 1500 and his aim is to 'fill in the gaps' of our knowledge by including those Christian communities outside the Latin and Orthodox Churches. Prof. Hamilton writes clearly and packs an enormous amount of information into his narrative, helped by a wide selection of illustrations. He shows that throughout the period the Christian Church was constantly developing and yet that much which we take for granted today was there from the beginning. He also shows that it was prey to numerous schisms and heresies. Anyone wishing a general introduction to this fascinating period and one which is told with erudition and understanding should look no further.