In 1096, tens of thousands of men, women, and children left western Europe to ‘liberate’ the city of Jerusalem after it had been in Muslim hands for nearly 450 years. Three years later, after many fierce battles and bloody sieges, they achieved their goal. This ‘First Crusade’, as we now call it, sparked a conflict between Christianity and Islam that lasted for more than two centuries and transformed the medieval Middle East. Many other crusades were launched within and on the edges of Europe against heretics, pagans, Mongols, and political enemies of the papacy.
This topic introduces students to the history of these crusades. While the focus will be on the violent struggle for the Holy Land from the late eleventh century to the late thirteenth, students will also learn about crusades in Spain, the south of France, Greece, and the eastern Baltic. Through a wide range of perspectives emerging from both primary sources and modern historiography, the topic will explore the origins and impact of the crusades, interactions between the Latin West, the Byzantine Empire, and Islam, ideas and practices of holy war in the Middle Ages, and the legacy of crusading in the centuries after its decline.
This topic aims to:
Timetable details for 2021 are no longer published.