The Crusader World

Adrian Boas

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317408314
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

The Crusader World is a multidisciplinary survey of the current state of research in the field of crusader studies, an area of study which has become increasingly popular in recent years. In this volume Adrian Boas draws together an impressive range of academics, including work from renowned scholars as well as a number of though-provoking pieces from emerging researchers, in order to provide broad coverage of the major aspects of the period. This authoritative work will play an important role in the future direction of crusading studies.This volume enriches present knowledge of the crusades, addressing such wide-ranging subjects as: intelligence and espionage, gender issues, religious celebrations in crusader Jerusalem, political struggles in crusader Antioch, the archaeological study of battle sites and fortifications, diseases suffered by the crusaders, crusading in northern Europe and Spain and the impact of Crusader art. The relationship between Crusaders and Muslims, two distinct and in many way opposing cultures, is also examined in depth, including a discussion of how the Franks perceived their enemies.Arranged into eight thematic sections, The Crusader World considers many central issues as well as a large number of less familiar topics of the crusades, crusader society, history and culture. With over 100 photographs, line drawings and maps, this impressive collection of essays is a key resource for students and scholars alike.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

DOI: 10.4324/9781315684154-1

Adrian J. Boas

Some of the most profound historical developments, when we look back on them, seem to have emerged without due warning out of a series of apparently minor, almost unnoticeable events which evolved and took on pace, eventually swelling out of all imaginable proportions, so that from our distant perspective it is almost impossible to understand how they even began. Such is the period discussed in this volume. It is in no small part the seemingly spontaneous nature of its origins that makes the crusades a field that has attracted the attention of modern scholars and has turned crusader studies into an increasingly popular academic field. Our fascination in the geneses of the crusades relates perhaps to a desire to comprehend the rapidly developing movements that have similarly impacted the modern world. But the mystery of its origins is only one aspect of the allure of crusader history. The enormous impact that the crusades and the Frankish East had on the Western world and on the Near East at the time, and on Western culture in later periods, is another. The crusades have been and remain a goldmine for story-tellers, from the romantic novelists of the nineteenth century to film producers of the twentieth. The role of the Latin East as meeting place between Occident and Orient has become of growing consequence in a time of cultural confrontation when the terms ‘Crusade’ and ‘Holy War’ or jihad are increasingly heard in reference to a whole range of ethnic and religious encounters. The clash in the Middle Ages of two distinct and, in many senses, opposing cultures (on the battlefield, in religion, in learning, in diplomacy, in commerce and in daily life) is perhaps more relevant today than it ever was in the past.

Over the past decades large numbers of scholars and students have become involved in crusader studies. Crusader sessions and papers are increasingly represented in international medieval conferences. A growing number of crusader courses appear in university curricula and numerous crusader-related websites have made their appearance. The Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (SSCLE) now numbers around 500 members, its quadrennial conferences are well attended and its journal, Crusades, has become a prestigious tool with a broad readership.

This volume does not attempt to cover every aspect of crusading. There are many excellent comprehensive histories of the crusades and the Latin East as well as major studies devoted to crusader warfare, art, architecture and archaeology. Rather, the aim of this collection has been to present the reader with a broad vista of the crusader world observed through a combination of chapters dealing with central issues together with studies on specific topics and with many examples of new and ongoing research and new approaches. The picture that emerges demonstrates the range and quality of modern scholarship which has advanced greatly over recent decades.

The five papers in Part I examine facets of the activity most prominent in crusader studies. The military aspects of crusading have always been a “hot topic” but recent studies have expanded our horizons, to look more deeply into not only the conflicts themselves but also motivation, participation and the interrelations between participants. Paul Chevedden takes a look at the manner in which Pope Urban II viewed crusading. Helen Nicholson examines the involvement of women in the crusading movement as supporters, victims and participants. John France discusses the contrasting styles of twelfth-century warfare, comparing the methods and leadership of the Western crusaders, Latin settlers and the Muslims. Alan Forey discusses the engagement of paid troops in the service of the military orders, and following these discussions on military activities, a chapter by Yvonne Friedman considers how peacemaking efforts and cross-religious alliances were regarded at the time.

Part II examines some aspects of crusading in the West. Karl Borchardt takes a look at the supportive role played by the principal military orders, in particular by expanding their assets and enabling the supplying of financial support to their houses in the East. Daniel Franke looks at German crusading in the late twelfth century and at recent German historiography. Darius von Güttner-Sporzyński looks at the expansion of Christendom in East Central and Eastern Europe, surveying the various crusades and missionary activities and the broad involvement of the various factions in subjugating and Christianising the pagans and Luis García-Guijarro Ramos presents an insightful examination of the Reconquista in medieval Iberia.

The outcome of the main endeavours of twelfth and thirteenth-century crusading was the occupation and settlement of the Syrian-Palestinian mainland states and the island of Cyprus. Various activities of Latins in the medieval Levant are the topic of five papers in Part III. The role of Italian merchant communes in the Latin East was a paramount one. David Jacoby takes a look at the vicissitudes of Venetian involvement in the Lordship of Tyre. Jochen Burgtorf writes about the complex struggles of succession of the principality of Antioch that evolved in the early thirteenth century. Rabei Khamisy observes settlement and land ownership in the western Galilee. A neglected example of Frankish monarchy is examined in Bernard Hamilton’s study of Queen Alice of Cyprus. In the final chapter in this section, Andrew Jotischky takes a look at the Franciscan Order, the establishment of the custody of the Holy Land in the fourteenth century, and Mt Sion; its holy loci and role in pilgrimage.

In Part IV three papers take a look at different aspects of Byzantium in its relationship with crusading. Nikolaos Chrissis considers how the Byzantine Empire saw and represented itself with regard to the crusades. The manner in which Byzantine historians in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries regarded the crusades is the topic of Aphrodite Papayianni’s chapter, followed by Michael Angold’s examination of how the loss of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 was viewed in Byzantium.

The meeting between East and West, between Islam and Christianity, so quintessential a part of the crusader experience, is examined in Part V. Niall Christie argues that the Muslims were better acquainted with the Franks prior to the First Crusade than was sometimes represented by medieval Muslim historians and suggests why this ‘illusion of ignorance’ exists. At the other end of the period, Reuven Amitai takes a look at the early Mamluks from their first encounter with the Franks in 1250 through their defeat of the Mongols at Ayn Jālūt in 1260 until their final defeat of the crusader mainland states in 1291. Svetlana Luchitskaya discusses the manner in which chronicles of the First Crusade represent the Muslim political figures. Yehoshua Frenkel examines the manner in which medieval Muslim sources identified Saladin as a latter-day Joseph by making analogies between events in his life and those of the biblical figure. This theme continues in the chapter by Daniella Talmon-Heller, where medieval Muslim leaders are compared by Muslim authors to notables of the formative period of Islam, their victories to victories of the early Islamic leaders and traitors to former traitors of Islam. Nicholas Coureas examines the complex relationship between Latin Cyprus and the Mamluks. In his broad survey he covers the topics of warfare, diplomacy, cultural and religious exchanges, commerce and settlement, from the time of the establishment of the Mamluk sultanate in 1250 until its demise in 1517 at the hands of the Ottomans. In the final chapter of this section, Michael Lower looks at the legal status of Christian mercenaries in Muslim lands.

In Part VI the discussions are devoted to archaeological research. Mathias Piana expands on the topic of fortifications. Castles are the architectural form most identified with the crusades and Piana examines the history of crusader fortification research, and the development and form of castle building and urban fortifications in the Levant. Raphael Lewis studies two major battle sites: the region between Saforie and the Horns of Hattin in the eastern Galilee, site of perhaps the most significant battle in the history of the crusader states; and Arsur (modern Herzliya) on the central coast of Israel, the location in which the Battle of Arsuf, a significant encounter between the army of the Third Crusade under Richard I and the Ayyubid forces under Saladin, took place in 1191. Lewis exames how the environment of the battle site influenced the outcome of events. In this regard he takes a look at topography, geology, forests, fortifications, climate, water sources, road systems, and hours of sun and moonlight. Vardit Shotten-Hallel, Eytan Sass and Lydia Perelis Grossowicz present some architectural aspects from a new and ongoing study of what was certainly a landmark in castle design at the time of its construction shortly after 1168 – the Hospitaller castle of Belvoir in eastern Israel. In this chapter, emphasis is placed on the castle chapel, and topics discussed include layout, the types of building materials used and their possible source, and proposed dating of the chapel’s construction. Edna Stern looks at how the examination of imported ceramic finds enlightens us on international commercial connections of the Latin East, most particularly evident in finds from the maritime cities of Acre and Jaffa. Adrian Boas examines different aspects of day-to-day life and the domestic surroundings in Frankish towns and villages. Aleksander Pluskowski and Heiki Valk survey archaeological evidence for conquest, colonisation and Europeanisation of the eastern Baltic. Piers Mitchell’s chapter ends this section with a discussion of archaeological evidence for disease, diet and migration. He examines the eggs of intestinal parasites found in latrine waste in the castle of Saranda Kolones in western Cyprus and in the Hospitaller compound and private houses in Acre and shows how these finds reflect on sanitation, diet, cooking, migration of crusaders and pilgrims and general issues of health of the Frankish population.

The three papers in Part VII examine aspects of crusader art and literature. In many, perhaps most, of their endeavours, Frankish artist and artisans were influenced in varying degrees by the art they came into contact with. Nurith Kenaan-Kedar examines Eastern, Western and Armenian sources for the decorative sculpture found in crusader Jerusalem, concentrating on a specific feature – the goudron frieze, a decorative motif found in several Frankish churches in Jerusalem which she proposes to be an Armenian or north Syrian form adopted in buildings constructed under the patronage of Queen Melisende. Jaroslav Folda assesses the impact of the art of the crusader states on the medieval art of Western Europe. In the third chapter in this section, Marcus Bull takes a look at narratology in crusader texts through the examination of three crusader narratives: the anonymous Gesta Francorum, the De expugnatione Lyxbonensi and La conquȇte de Constantinople.

Remaining in the sphere of crusader art, the first chapter of the final section, Part VIII, which is devoted to the study of the crusades and the Latin East, is Gil Fishhof’s examination of the scholarship of crusader art and his own observations on the sculptural programmes of the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Sophia Menasche follows with an examination of the role of Joshua Prawer, one of the foremost historians of the crusader period in the twentieth century and founding father of Israeli crusader studies. In the concluding chapter, Gary Dickson asks the seemingly simple but in fact very complex question – What are the crusades?

These thirty-eight papers represent a small but notable portion of the vibrant scholarship that has evolved over recent decades and give an insight into not only the more studied aspects of crusader history but also many less familiar topics that form windows through which we can gain an enhanced view of the crusader world.

PART I IDEOLOGY, CRUSADE, WARFARE AND PEACE-MAKING

DOI: 10.4324/9781315684154-2

CHAPTER TWO POPE URBAN II AND THE IDEOLOGY OF THE CRUSADES

DOI: 10.4324/9781315684154-3

Paul E. Chevedden

There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’ …

For the times they are a-changin’

—Bob Dylan¹

God transfers rule when He wishes and changes the times

—Pope Urban II

A LOVELY ILLUSION

Historians of the crusades embark upon their task in the confident belief that the Jerusalem Crusade of 1095–99 provides a self-evident starting point. Yet this belief arises from an illusion. The illusion is created by the mass of chroniclers’ accounts of this crusade (Gesta francorum; Fulcher of Chartres, Historia; Raymond of Aguilers, Liber; Robert the Monk, Historia; Guibert of Nogent, Dei gesta; Baldric of Bourgueil, Historia; Peter Tudebode, Historia; Ekkehard of Aura, “Chronica”; Ralph of Caen, “Gesta Tancredi”; William of Malmesbury, Gesta; Orderic, Ecclesiastical History; Albert of Aachen, Historia; William of Tyre, Chronique). The spotlight they direct on this single expedition so brilliantly illuminates it as to cause all that has gone before it to be thrust into the shadows. One sees only the Jerusalem Crusade and assumes that it is the only form that crusading took during the eleventh century. From this angle of vision, numerous histories of the crusades have been written (Grousset, 1934–36; Runciman, 1951–54; Waas, 1956; Rousset, 1957; Oldenbourg, 1965/1966; Cognasso, 1967; Setton, 1969–89; Balard, 1988; Zöllner, 1990; Platelle, 1994; Richard, 1996/1999; Mayer, 2005; Tyerman, 2006; Phillips, 2009, 2014; Asbridge, 2010; Jaspert, 2013/2006; Morrisson, 2012; Madden, 2013; Riley-Smith, 2014). What is lacking is an awareness of the wider world of crusading of which “the march to Jerusalem” (iter Hierosolymitanum) formed a part. The traditional paradigm of the crusades is not giving way easily to this wider world. It rejects the idea that a series of crusades constituted the point of departure for the earliest thinking about the crusades and instead contends that an individual crusade constitutes a self-evident “point from which” (terminus a quo) knowledge about the crusades can proceed forward. It rejects a Mediterranean-wide perspective in which to analyze the crusades in their initial form and comprehends them from a highly localized perspective—a Jerusalem-centered point of view—and projects this highly localized perspective onto all crusades, such that all crusades bear the stamp of the Jerusalem Crusade (Chevedden, 2013, 36–37). It also rejects a pluralistic conception of the crusades that recognizes crusade plurality as the general condition for understanding the crusades and instead adheres to a strict monism, according to which a single crusade—the Jerusalem Crusade—serves as the “standard” (Riley-Smith, 1987, xxix; 2005b, xxxi; Hehl, 1994, 318; 2004, 214), the “scale” (Riley-Smith, 1995 a, 9; Tyerman, 2004, 228), the “touchstone” (Riley-Smith and Riley-Smith, 1981, 2; Schein, 2005, 117; Paul and Yeager, 2012, 3),the “template” (Housley, 2006, 19; Whalen, 2009, 70), the “model” (Blake, 1970, 12; Hehl, 1994, 318; Lloyd, 1995, 44; Starnawska, 2001, 418; Mitterauer, 2003, 208; Tyerman, 2004, 47; France, 2005, 97; Jensen, 2007, 17; Flori, 2010, 51; Price, 2011, 77, 78), the “blueprint” (Jotischky, 2004, 7), the “benchmark” (Frankopan, 2012, 5), and the “reference point” (Tyerman, 2011, 2) for all other crusades.

Such a Jerusalem-centric vision of the crusades leaves the false impression that these wars emerged cum grano salis fully developed, arising simultaneously as a political force and as an institutionalized tradition, which already consisted of a wide range of formalizing acts: authorization by a pope, the granting of an indulgence and privileges of protection, the taking of a vow, and the wearing of a cross. By elevating a single crusade into a general kind, as if its accidental and transitory features were necessary and permanent, the usual sequence by which political practice is connected to suitable instruments is reversed. Instead of seeing the institutional structures of crusading developing “by degrees and successively” (gradatim et successive...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of contributors
• 1. Introduction
• Part I: Ideology, Crusade, Warfare and Peace-Making
• Part II: The Crusader West
• Part III: The Latin East
• Part IV: Medieval Byzantium
• Part V: Meeting Islam
• Part VI: Archaeology of the Crusades
• Part VII: Art and Literature
• Part VIII: Studying the Crusades
• Index