Crusade and Christendom - (Middle Ages) by Jessalynn Bird & Edward Peters & James M Powell (Paperback)

About the Book

Intended for the undergraduate yet also invaluable for teachers and scholars, this book illustrates how the crusade became crucial for defining and promoting the very concept and boundaries of Latin Christendom. It provides translations of and commentaries on key original sources and up-to-date bibliographic materials.

Book Synopsis

In 1213, Pope Innocent III issued his letter Vineam Domini, thundering against the enemies of Christendom--the "beasts of many kinds that are attempting to destroy the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth"--and announcing a General Council of the Latin Church as redress. The Fourth Lateran Council, which convened in 1215, was unprecedented in its scope and impact, and it called for the Fifth Crusade as what its participants hoped would be the final defense of Christendom. For the first time, a collection of extensively annotated and translated documents illustrates the transformation of the crusade movement.

Crusade and Christendom explores the way in which the crusade was used to define and extend the intellectual, religious, and political boundaries of Latin Christendom. It also illustrates how the very concept of the crusade was shaped by the urge to define and reform communities of practice and belief within Latin Christendom and by Latin Christendom's relationship with other communities, including dissenting political powers and heretical groups, the Moors in Spain, the Mongols, and eastern Christians. The relationship of the crusade to reform and missionary movements is also explored, as is its impact on individual lives and devotion. The selection of documents and bibliography incorporates and brings to life recent developments in crusade scholarship concerning military logistics and travel in the medieval period, popular and elite participation, the role of women, liturgy and preaching, and the impact of the crusade on western society and its relationship with other cultures and religions.

Intended for the undergraduate yet also invaluable for teachers and scholars, this book illustrates how the crusades became crucial for defining and promoting the very concept and boundaries of Latin Christendom. It provides translations of and commentaries on key original sources and up-to-date bibliographic materials.

Review Quotes

"Crusade and Christendom is a revelation, a source collection that will revolutionize the teaching of the crusades. It accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of capturing the richness and complexity of the crusade movement as it was reinvented by Pope Innocent III and further developed by his successors in the thirteenth century. Many of the documents included here are translated in this volume for the first time, and together they cast light on an astonishing variety of phenomena. From the wars against heresy in southern France to negotiations with Mongol armies on the frontiers of Asia, from highly technical papal bulls to gripping battle narratives, from the ecstatic dreams of the Children's Crusade to the mundane details of buying a ticket to the Holy Land, Crusade and Christendom opens up the legal, military, and imaginative worlds not just of the crusaders but of medieval Europe and the Middle East more broadly. An essential classroom companion."-- "Jay Rubenstein, University of Tennessee"

"Dedicated to Powell's memory, this book is more than a fitting memorial, it is a masterpiece. . . . A monumental resource that will deservedly be consulted for decades to come."-- "Council for European Studies"

"Far more than a sourcebook, this is an authoritative guide to the crusading movement in the crucial years between the Third Crusade and the fall of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Through its copious and clear translations, this book brings to students the voices of those who experienced the crusades and their effects. Scholars will also benefit from the expert historiographical and topical discussions as well as up-to-date bibliographies. It is a real trove of information for anyone interested in the thirteenth century."-- "Thomas Madden, St. Louis University"

"The translations are crisp, and a scholarly introduction and up-to-date bibliographical apparatus accompany every entry. In a subject where research interests are rapidly expanding, this stands to be of enormous value."-- "Journal of Military History"

"This is more than just a new sourcebook. It provides thorough and thoughtful introductions to sources and their contexts, useful bibliographical notes for each topic, an implicit argument about the nature of the Crusades, and as comprehensive a collection of sources on the thirteenth-century Crusades as exists on the market."-- "The Medieval Review"

About the Author

Jessalynn Bird is an independent scholar. Edward Peters is Henry Charles Lea Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Pennsylvania. His many books include The First Crusade and Torture, which are also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press. James M. Powell was Professor of Medieval History at Syracuse University and author of the prize-winning Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213-1221 and Albertanus of Brescia: The Pursuit of Happiness in the Early Thirteenth Century, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.