HIST2078 Crusade and Jihad in the Middle Ages

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:

• Introduce students to the history of the crusades and situate that history within the broader context of European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern history between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries
• Provide students with a nuanced understanding of the causes, courses, and short- and long-term consequences of the crusades in a range of temporal and geographical contexts in the Middle Ages through the study of major primary sources (in translation) and secondary historical works on crusading
• Explain the forces that shape our perceptions of the crusades and examine how crusading history has been used in the modern world

1. Critically analyse the history of the crusades and the societies on which they impacted
2. Explain the causes and consequences of the crusades
3. Evaluate complex historical debates on the contexts, characteristics, and legacies of the crusades
4. Discuss the forces that have shaped and continue to shape modern perspectives on the crusades
5. Synthesise a range of historical sources (both primary and secondary) to develop coherent arguments using written and oral communication skills