Overview
Focusing on the inner workings of the First Crusade in a way that no other work has done, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading delves into the Crusade's organization, its finances, and the division of authority and responsibility among its leaders and their relationships with one another and with their subordinates. In the year 1095, Pope Urban II initiated what is known today as the First Crusade. His summons of the lay knights to the faith between 1095 and 1096 was Urban II's personal response to an appeal that had reached him from eastern Christians, the Pope referred to the struggle ahead as Christ's own war, to be fought in accordance with God's will and intentions. It was, too, called a war of liberation, designed to free the church and city of Jerusalem from oppression and pillage by the Muslims while liberating western Church from the errors into which it had fallen. 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. Through the vivid presentation of a wide range of European chronicles and charter collections, Jonathan Riley-Smith provides a striking illumination of crusader motives and responses and a thoughtful analysis of the mechanisms that made this expedition successful.
Full Product Details
Author: Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
Imprint: Pennsylvania State University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 14.00cm
, Height: 1.30cm
, Length: 21.60cm
Weight: 0.305kg
ISBN: 9780812213638
ISBN 10: 0812213637
Pages: 236
Publication Date: 01 June 1991
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
An excellent account of the First Crusade. -Speculum Riley-Smith's work is based upon a thorough knowledge of the sources, breaking new ground in his use of the charters of departing Crusaders as evidence for their forms of motivation... It represents the best general account of the religious meaning of the Crusade, and as such it is an important addition to literature on the Crusades and to the development of forms of lay piety in the Middle Ages. -Journal of Religion Riley-Smith's scholarship is impeccable... A distinguished and persuasive contribution. -American Historical Review An extremely useful and stimulating book, which no student of crusading history can afford to neglect. -Times Literary Supplement
An excellent account of the First Crusade ... vividly depicting the crusaders' sufferings. -Speculum 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 abundant citations from contemporary documents. -American Historical Review
Author Information
Jonathan Riley-Smith is Dixie Professor Emeritus of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Cambridge and author of many books, most recently The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam.
