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Aims of the Medieval Crusades and How They Were Viewed by Byzantium 1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Peter Charanis
Affiliation:
Rutgers University

Extract

The history of medieval crusading may be conveniently divided into two chapters. The first of these chapters would end with 1291 when Acre was lost by the Christians and would cover the period extending backward to 1095 when the first crusading expedition was launched. During this period the western Christians conquered and lost the Holy Lands. They also established themselves in Greece and the Greek archipelago. The second chapter would come down to 1395, the year of the battle of Nicopolis, or possibly 1444, the year of Varna. During this period, though there is considerable talk and some action for the recovery of the Holy Land, the struggle has really become one for the defense of Europe against the invading Turks.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1952

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References

2 A group of American and European scholars are now engaged in the writing of a five-volume work which will cover the entire crusading movement. For the prospectus of this work see Setton, K., in Speculum, XXVI (1951), 578ffCrossRefGoogle Scholar. Meanwhile Steven Runciman has begun the publication of A History of the Crusades which will be completed in three volumes, of which the first has made its appearance: Runciman, S., A History of the Crusades— Volume I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. (Cambridge, 1951)Google Scholar. Some of the older works remain, of course, useful. Among them we cite the following: Wilken, F., Geschichte der Kreuszüge (Leipzig, 18071832), 7 volumesGoogle Scholar; Röhricht, R., Geschichte des Königreichs Jerusalem (1100–1291) (Innsbruck, 1898)Google Scholar; Kügler, B., Geschichte der Kreuzzüge (Berlin, 1891)Google Scholar; Archer, T. A. and Kingsford, C. L., The Crusades: The Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (London, 1895)Google Scholar; Bréhier, L., L'Eglise et L'Orient au Moyen Age: Les Croisades (Paris, 1928)Google Scholar; Grousset, R., Histoire des Croisades et du Royaume Franc de Jerusalem (Paris, 19341936), 3 volumesGoogle Scholar; Atiya, A. S., The Crusade in the Later Middle Ages (London, 1938)Google Scholar. Atiya does not treat of Varna, but about that campaign we have now a monograph: Halecki, O., The Crusade of Varna. A Discussion of Controversial Problems (New York, 1943)Google Scholar. Volume five of the projected work mentioned at the beginning of this note will include a general bibliography.

3 The First Crusade, as is natural, has been repeatedly treated. Besides the works already eited one may add the following: von Sybel, H., Geschichte des ersten Kreuzzuges, 2nd edition (Leipzig, 1881)Google Scholar; Röhricht, R., Geschiohte desersten Kreuzzuges (Innsbruck, 1901)Google Scholar; Krey, A. C.. The First Crusade. The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants (Princeton, 1921)Google Scholar; Chalandon, F., Histoire de la Premiére Croisade jusqu'à l'Election de Godefroi de Bouillon (Paris, 1925)Google Scholar. Other works, pertinent to this study, will be cited in the course of the paper.

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31 This motive for gain is well illustrated by the reaction of Tancred at the time of the siege of Antioch to the suggestion that a contingent of crusaders should occupy the fort of Antioch which was located near the monastery of Saint George on the left bank of the Orontes. “If I knew,” he said, “what profit will come to me, I would occupy the fort with my men alone.” Bréhier, L. (editor and translator), Histalre Anonyme de la Première Croisade (Paris, 1924), 98.Google Scholar

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