History of the Crusades

"In his recent book „The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean“ (Cambridge 2012), Ronnie Ellenblum argues that a series of climatic disasters in the 11th cent. led to the decline of polities in the Near East and prepared the ground for both the advance of the Seljuks and of the Crusaders into the region. Focused on the Byzantine case during the „Comnenian period“, this paper will critically review this hypothesis on the basis of both textual and natural scientific evidence and propose a more nuanced picture of the interplay between society, climate and environment in the Eastern Mediterranean from the 11th to the 13th century. As will become clear, neither the complexity of natural phenomena nor the complexity of medieval societies should be reduced to mere linear lines of causation.
This research was made possible with support of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit-Foundation during a stay at the Institute for Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens.
The following pages provide a first short overview over some material to be presented and discussed in this lecture.
Contact: [email protected]
"

У статті порушено питання виникнення духовно-лицарського Ордену тамплієрів та пов’язаних із ним стереотипів суспільної свідомості. Особливу увагу звернено на початковий період існування “бідних лицарів”, процес офіційного визнання та затвердження статуту Ордену.

This article raises the issue of the emergence of spiritual and military order of Knights Templar and the associated stereotypes of social consciousness, analyzed database sources, illuminating the said question. Particular attention is drawn to the initial period of existence “poor knights”, the process of official recognition and approval of the organization’s charter.

Why did people go on Crusade?  Is it possible to identify one main reason?  If so what is it?

There are a number of different theories regarding the reason why people went on Crusade.  Some say the motive to go on Crusade was of genuine Christian concerns regarding the reclaiming and defending of the Holy Land and liberating the Christians who were under threat. Others say that the motivation was simply for material gain.  A popular theory is that people joined in order to receive a complete forgiveness for their sins. Some even claim people were motivated to join the Crusade merely out of a spirit of adventure .  It is clear that there would be a combination of various different reasons, even beyond those listed above, as to why people responded to the call given by Pope Urban II.  However, whether there is one main reason that can be identified is a difficult to say with any confidence.  Although there is some doubt surrounding the motives of Pope Urban II, and whether a supposed letter of Alexius was received urging troops be sent to the aid of the Holy Land,  this essay will focus only on the response of the people to whom Pope Urban II addresses, and their willingness to go.

This book investigates the uses of crusader medievalism – the memory of the crusades and crusading rhetoric and imagery – in Britain, from Walter Scott’s The Talisman (1825) to the end of the Second World War. It seeks to understand why and when the crusades and crusading were popular, how they fitted with other cultural trends of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, how their use was affected by the turmoil of the First World War and whether they were differently employed in the interwar years and in the 1939-45 conflict. Building on existing studies and contributing the fruits of fresh research, it brings together examples of the uses of the crusades from disparate contexts and integrates them into the story of the rise and fall crusader medievalism in Britain.

The Children’s Crusades of 1212 C.E. were an enigma in the history of both the Catholic faith and the Crusades. The title “Children’s Crusade” has been applied to two separate undertakings. Neither movement can be considered to be a true crusade as neither received the sanction of the Pope or any other papal authority. Though some say that the two crusades were either connected or one and the same, evidence is that they were to unrelated spontaneous movements.

Course Description:

The Crusades, and its legacy, had, and continue to have, a resounding impact throughout Islamic history and the modern day Middle East. During the medieval period, this epoch-forming movement, whether directly or indirectly, imprinted a lasting influence on the central Islamic lands ideologically, geopolitically, and culturally. This course will provide a historical and thematic survey of the Crusades from the Islamic perspective. It will examine the Muslim responses to the Crusades from the beginning of the movement in 1095 to the end of the Crusader presence in the region in 1291. The course will first begin with an overview of Islamic history from the Age of the Prophet down to the state of the Islamic world at the eve of the First Crusade in 1092. The course will then trace the Muslims’ political and military reactions to the Crusader expeditions and the development of the Muslim religious jihad policies during the 12th and 13th centuries under different Muslim rulers, such as Zengi, Nur al-Din, Saladin, and Baybars. It will then explore major themes such as the medieval Arabic sources on the Crusades and Arabo-Islamic historiography. Attention will be paid also to the systematic efforts of major Muslim polities, such as the Seljuqs, Zengids, Ayyubids and Mamluks, in forming cultural unity among the Muslims through the establishment of madrasas, Sufi shrines, and advancing the Sunni revival movement. Among the themes studied is the role of Shi‘i minorities during this period, in addition to Muslim views of the Franks, and aspects of Frankish-Muslim coexistence and cooperation. The course will conclude by examining the legacy of the Crusades in the modern Middle East and its depiction in modern Arab politics, history writing, art and film.

Course Description:

Using the extant medieval Arabic literary corpus as primary sources, coupled with secondary scholarly literature in English, this course will provide a historical and historiographical survey of the Crusades from an Arabo-Islamic perspective. It will examine the Muslim responses to the Crusades, from the beginning of the movement at the 1096 call for the First Crusade to Salah al-Din’s conquest of Frankish Jerusalem and the stalemate of the Third Crusade (1093). The course will examine each period within this era by sampling in Arabic the remarkably rich, Arabo-Islamic corpus dating from the classical medieval period. Students will read historiographical sources, such as passages from universal chronicles, regnal biographies, dynastic histories, and biographical dictionaries; literary sources, such as poetry, travelogue literature, and autobiography; as well as religious texts, such as Qur’an, hadith, tafsir, jihad treatises, and fada’il (religious merits of cities) literature that inform the Islamic response to the Crusades. The course will conclude by examining the legacy of the Crusades in the modern Middle East and their depiction in modern politics, history, religion, and culture. By the end of the course, students will develop gradual proficiency and familiarity in Classical Arabic through reading different samples of historical, religious, and cultural literature pertaining to the Age of the Crusades.

The consensus on Pope Honorius III (1216–27) is that he was a conciliatory politician who lacked the harder edge possessed by his immediate predecessor and successor. Yet, using overlooked evidence regarding the role of Honorius in Frederick II’s seizure of the kingdom of Jerusalem from John of Brienne in 1225, this article reveals that he was in fact capable of acting in a ruthlessly pragmatic manner. It provides a rare case study of the duplicitous uses that could be made of the papal chancery by an early thirteenth–century pope while navigating a difficult diplomatic path between two kings.

Entre los grandes grupos de gente que marcharon a Tierra Santa en la época de las Cruzadas se encontraban personas que se especializaban en algún tipo de tarea médica. Tradicionalmente se sostuvo que estos profesionales poseían una escasa formación teórica. Afirmaciones de este tipo se basaron en lecturas sesgadas de diversas fuentes, que permitieron la construcción de una imagen de superioridad de la ciencia y la medicina oriental sobre la que tenían los europeos. Sin embargo, como ha demostrado la crítica más reciente, los análisis deben ser redefinidos a la hora de pensar el desarrollo científico que los europeos supieron conseguir en el Oriente latino. De tal modo, en este trabajo exploramos, en pasajes de diversas historias y crónicas del período, elementos que contribuyen a la redefinición de esa supuesta imagen de inferioridad de los médicos europeos, así como la del mundo de las cruzadas como un espacio poco favorable para el desarrollo del conocimiento y de la práctica médica.

“Deus vult” is a battle cry associated with the crusades, which has recently become popular with the alt-right, particularly in anti-immigration and anti-Islam contexts. While medieval historians have been fighting back against the misuse and misunderstanding of medieval history and imagery, we should also not forget that the crusades themselves were inherently anti-Islamic. Like modern white nationalists, crusaders were likewise very much concerned with restoring an almost mythical Christian past. Although the crusades were complex events that took place on several continents over several centuries, this chapter discusses how modern white nationalists, whether carrying crusader crosses or writing “Deus vult” graffiti, actually have much in common with medieval crusaders. They may not be misunderstanding the crusades and crusader imagery at all. It is perhaps we, as medieval historians, who are mistaken in not wishing to see the crusaders depicted as violent extremists.

An examination of the tradition that the Ark of the Covenant was held in a Roman church, and how it developed.

Why did the twelfth-century canons at the Lateran church (San Giovanni in Laterano) in Rome claim the presence of the Ark of the Covenant inside their high altar? This book argues that the claim responded to new challenges in the aftermath of the First Crusade in 1099. The Christian possession of Jerusalem questioned the legitimation of the papal cathedral in Rome as the summit of sacerdotal representation. To meet this challenge, what may be described as translatio templi (the transfer of the temple) was used to strengthen the status of the Lateran. The Ark of the Covenant was central as part of the treasure from the Jerusalem temple, allegedly transported to Rome, and according to contemporary accounts depicted on the arch of Titus.
The author explores the history of the Lateran Ark of the Covenant through a reading of the description of the Lateran Church (Descriptio Lateranensis Ecclesiae), composed around 1100. She follows the transmission of the text both in the Lateran Archive and in a monastic settings in northern France and Belgium, comparing the claim to the Ark with similar claims in texts from Jerusalem. The book also includes a new edition of the Descriptio and an English translation

Pre-print, German version to be published in: Karfunkel – Zeitschrift für erlebbare Geschichte. Combat-Sonderheft 10 (2014) (in print; communicating science to the public).

Abstract: The Crusaders, who in the 11th Century moved in the thousands from Western and Central Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean to liberate the Holy Grave from the “infidels”, found themselves confronted not only with foreign cultures and violent armed resistance, but also with an alien natural environment and climatic conditions that could prove to be sometimes just as fatal as the arrows of the enemy. At the same time the Crusades fell into a period of quite changeable climatic conditions in Europe and the Middle East, which must be included as well in the historical analysis of the military events.

Il re norvegese Sigurd Magnússon è stato il primo sovrano cristiano a visitare la Terrasanta dopo la conquista crociata di Gerusalemme. E la sua storia è unica nel panorama delle crociate medievali proprio per la sua provenienza: uno scandinavo, signore di un regno lontano in cui il cristianesimo si era affermato da appena un secolo. Un viaggio straordinario: dall'Inghilterra alla Spagna musulmana, dalla Sicilia a Gerusalemme e oltre, fino a Costantinopoli, in un susseguirsi di battaglie navali e assedi, prestigiosi incontri con re e imperatori e violenti scontri con nemici musulmani ma anche, all'occorrenza, cristiani. Un periplo del mondo allora conosciuto che, in cinque anni (1107-1111), condusse sessanta navi dagli estremi confini della terra fino al cuore della cristianità e da qui nuovamente in patria. Uno degli episodi meno conosciuti e più affascinanti della grande storia delle crociate che unisce ai tratti tipici delle scorrerie vichinghe (desiderio di avventura, di fama e di ricchezze) quella tensione spirituale di cui è permeata tutta l'epoca, e che farà guadagnare al suo giovane protagonista fama imperitura.

Prior to the work of Peter Jackson, a scholarly consensus had developed arguing that the Battle of Ayn Jalut represented a truly decisive event in the history of the Near East. It has been argued that the Mongol incursion into Syria was a golden opportunity for the Franks to ally themselves with a powerful entity, seemingly amiable towards those of the Christian faith, against their age old Saracen foe in the Near East. In not doing so, they brought about their own downfall just a few decades later.  In other words, this definitively marked the beginning of the end for the Franks in the Holy Land. It has also been suggested that the Mamluk victory at Ayn Jalut signalled the inevitable ascendancy of the Sultanate based in Cairo and that victory over the previously ‘invincible’ Mongol hordes confirmed the Mamluks as unquestionable rulers of the region. As such, it has also been argued that their absolute defeat at the battle brought about an end to their ambitions in the Near East and was critical in undermining the grand imperial ideology which had contributed to their self-assured conquests.  However, such arguments, which often fail to consider the battle in its wider context, have been challenged by scholars such as Jackson and Amitai-Press. In this paper, I shall demonstrate the inaccuracy of a number of these theories and consider some more recent studies on the Battle of The Spring of Goliath.

Öz

Selahaddin Eyyûbi, Batıda bilinen adıyla " Saladin " elde ettiği askeri başarılar ve sahip olduğu kişiliği ile Haçlı Seferleri tarihinin en meşhur karakteridir. O, elde ettiği askeri başarıları ile Haçlıların ilerleyişini durdurmuş, dağınık haldeki Müslümanları bir çatı altında toplayarak güçlü bir devlet kurmuştur. Sahip olduğu olağanüstü kişiliği ile de çağının hem İslam hem de Hristiyan dünyası tarafından hayranlık derecesinde saygı duyulan bir figür olmuştur. Selahaddin, ölümünden kısa süre sonra İslam dünyasında unutulmaya yüz tutsa da onun adı Batı'da yaşamaya devam etmiştir. Batıdaki Selahaddin algısı zamanla tarihsel gerçeklerden kopmuş ve yerini güçlü bir efsanevi karaktere bırakmıştır. Bu çalışmada dönemin Batılı kaynaklardaki Selahattin Eyyûbi imajı ve bu imajın dönüşümü incelenmiştir.

Abstract

Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi, known in the West as " Saladin " , is the most famous figure of the history of the Crusades with his military successes and the personality he possesses. He stopped the advance of the Crusades with his military achievements and he built a strong state by gathering scattered Muslims under a single roof. With his extraordinary personality, Saladin has become a respected figure in admiration of his age both by the Islamic World and by the Christian World. Although Saladin has been forgotten in the Islamic World short after his death, his fame continued to live in the Christian West. Saladin's perception in the West had gradually broken away from historical facts and gave place to a strong legendary powerful character. In this study, the image of Saladin in Western sources of his age and the transformation of this image are examined.

Antes de su inicio-en el siglo XI-los grandes centros de la civilización eran Bizancio y el Califato árabe; antes de su conclusión -en el siglo XIV-la hegemonía de la cultura y del poder se había desplazado ya hacia Occidente. Para comprender ese irresistible movimiento de deriva no basta con estudiar su génesis en Europa; es preciso también explicar las condiciones que en Oriente posibilitaron el avance de los cruzados. Al narrar lo que Gibbon llamó «la controversia del mundo», la mirada debe abarcar desde el Atlántico hasta Mongolia y el espectador ha de situarse en la perspectiva tanto de los francos como de los árabes y los cristianos de Oriente. Los tres volúmenes de esta obra ya clásica de STEVEN RUNCIMAN-«La primera Cruzada y la fundación del Reino de Jerusalén», «El Reino de Jerusalén y el Oriente Franco», «El Reino de Acre y las últimas Cruzadas» ilustran las vastas posibilidades de un enfoque historiográfico que se propone «registrar, en una extensa sucesión, los hechos y movimientos más importantes que han dominado, con su vaivén, los destinos del hombre».

Los restos de la arquitectura cruzada demostraron tener un fuerte vínculo con las tendencias artísticas de la Europa occidental medieval. Estuvo claro que el artista europeo influenció en gran medida a la producción local del Reino de Jerusalén, sin embargo, ciertas investigaciones, más modernas, tendieron a pensar en la existencia de influencias orientales: bizantinas, armenias e islámicas.

While they often go hand-in-hand and the distinction between the two is frequently blurred, authority and power are distinct concepts and abilities – this was a problem that the Church tussled with throughout the High and Late Middle Ages. Claims of authority, efforts to have that authority recognized, and the struggle to transform it into more tangible forms of power were defining factors of the medieval Church’s existence.

As the studies assembled here demonstrate, claims to authority by members of the Church were often in inverse proportion to their actual power – a problematic paradox which resulted from the uneven and uncertain acceptance of ecclesiastical authority by lay powers and, indeed, fellow members of the ecclesia. The chapters of this book reveal how clerical claims to authority and power were frequently debated, refined, opposed, and resisted in their expression and implementation. The clergy had to negotiate a complex landscape of overlapping and competing claims in pursuit of their rights. They waged these struggles in arenas that ranged from papal, royal, and imperial curiae, through monastic houses, law courts and parliaments, urban religious communities and devotional networks, to contact and conflict with the laity on the ground; the weapons deployed included art, manuscripts, dress, letters, petitions, treatises, legal claims, legates, and the physical arms of allied lay powers.

In an effort to further our understanding of this central aspect of ecclesiastical history, this interdisciplinary volume, which effects a broad temporal, geographical, and thematic sweep, points the way to new avenues of research and new approaches to a traditional topic. It fuses historical methodologies with art history, gender studies, musicology, and material culture, and presents fresh insights into one of the most significant institutions of the medieval world.

Thomas W. Smith teaches history at Rugby School and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

List of Figures and Tables

Introduction
Thomas W. Smith

Part I: Concepts of Papal Authority
1. Privilegium Romanae Ecclesiae: The Language of Papal Authority over the Church in the Eleventh Century
I. S. Robinson

2. Papal Authority and Power during the Minority of Emperor Frederick II
Benedict Wiedemann

3. The Medieval Papacy and the Concepts of ‘Anti-Judaism’ and ‘Anti-Semitism’
Rebecca Rist

4. The Place of the Papacy in Four Illuminated Histories from Thirteenth-Century England
Laura Cleaver

Part II: Representatives of Papal Authority
5. The Interface between Papal Authority and Heresy: The Legates of Honorius III in Languedoc, 1216–1227
Thomas W. Smith

6. Papal Legates in Thirteenth-Century Hungary: Authority, Power, Reality
Gábor Barabás

7. Pope Alexander IV, King Henry III and the Imperial Succession: Master Rostand’s Role in the Sicilian Business, 1255–1258
Philippa J. Mesiano

8. Cardinal Gerard of Parma as Co-Ruler in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1285–1289
Jean Dunbabin

Part III: The Papacy and the East
9. The Power of Tradition: The Papacy and the Churches of the East, c. 1100–1300
†Bernard Hamilton

10. Politics and Power in Latin Efforts at Church Union, 1300–1360
James Hill

11. Modifications to Papal Trade Licences at the Avignon Curia
Mike Carr

Part IV: Cultures of Ecclesiastical Authority and Power
12. The Late Medieval Papal Chapel: A Culture of Power and Authority
Matthew Ross

13. Dress to Impress: Jacque de Vitry’s Clothing and Episcopal Self-Fashioning
Jan Vandeburie

14. Imaging Power: Gender, Power and Authority in Florentine Piety
Catherine Lawless

15. Royal Women, the Franciscan Order, and Ecclesiastical Authority in Late-Medieval Bohemia and the Polish Duchies
Kirsty Day

Part V: Ecclesiastical Communities and Collective Authority and Power
16. Shall the First Be Last? Order and Disorder Amongst Henry II’s Bishops
Nicholas Vincent

17. Eustathios’s Life of a Married Priest and the Struggle for Authority in Twelfth-Century Byzantium
Maroula Perisanidi

18. The Bishop, the Convent and the Community: The Attempt to Enclose the Nuns
of S. Giustina, Lucca, 1301–1302
Christine Meek

19. Archbishop Walter Reynolds, the Clerical gravamina, and Parliamentary Petitions from the Clergy in the Early Fourteenth Century
Matthew Phillips

20. The Power of the Cardinals: Decision-Making at the Papal Curia in Avignon
Melanie Brunner

21. Negotiation and Conflict: The Templars’ and Hospitallers’ Relations with Diocesan Bishops in Britain and Ireland
Helen J. Nicholson

22. Hospitaller and Teutonic Order Lordships in Germany
Karl Borchardt

Index

Antes de su inicio-en el siglo XI-los grandes centros de la civilización eran Bizancio y el Califato árabe; antes de su conclusión-en el siglo XIVla hegemonía de la cultura y del poder se había desplazado ya hacia Occidente. Para comprender ese irresistible movimiento de deriva no basta con estudiar su génesis en Europa; es preciso también explicar las condiciones que en Oriente posibilitaron el avance de los cruzados. Al narrar lo que Gibbon llamó «la controversia del mundo», la mirada debe abarcar desde el Atlántico hasta Mongolia y el espectador ha de situarse en la perspectiva tanto de los francos como de los árabes y los cristianos de Oriente. Los tres volúmenes de esta obra ya clásica de STEVEN RUNCIMAN-«La primera Cruzada y la fundación del Reino de Jerusalén», «El Reino de Jerusalén y el Oriente Franco», «El Reino de Acre y las últimas Cruzadas»ilustran las vastas posibilidades de un enfoque historiográfico que se propone «registrar, en una extensa sucesión, los hechos y movimientos más importantes que han dominado, con su vaivén, los destinos del hombre».

THE CHILDREN MOVEMENT IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE: FRENCH AND GERMAN CHILDREN'S CRUSADE
      The subject that we will study in the period, named as the Crusades period (1095-1291) or Crusading Era, is the Children's Crusade that took place in 1212. Occurring after the Fourth Crusade (1203-1204) and before the Fifth Crusade (1218-1221), this Crusade took place with the participation of French children under the leadership of Stephen and German children under the leadership of Nicholas. Many children-young from France and Germany took to the roads of Palestine by the Mediterranean Sea in 1212 in order to save the holy land. There were many children, young girls and boys, adults and even some elders as road guide in these two groups. Not much is known about the fate of these people who took to roads to capture Jerusalem. As a result, by telling about the children movement in Medieval Europe constituting the subject of the study, we seek an answer to the question whether these children were used for this act by Pope Innocent III (1198-1216). We aimed to bring the conception of child in Medieval Europe to light at the same time. While we were handling this subject, we constituted our study by examining the Latin chronicles and using the research studies written on this subject.

This chapter presents the first analysis and comparison of the arengae from a wide range of papal crusade calls in order to assess how Pope Gregory IX (1227– 41) used biblical imagery to justify and promote crusading in a variety of different theatres and against a number of different targets. It is contended that, while Gregory carefully tailored his use of the Bible in the arengae of his crusade letters, picking out the most relevant and powerful analogies for each of the crusade targets, so as to maximize the chances of winning recruits for the campaigns, there were also a number of common themes that transcended the theatre and target of the crusades. Through these shared references, Gregory linked different crusades together as part of a coherent theology of crusading on diverse fronts.

'This is a superb ancient Viking braided silver bracelet / Oath-ring, dating to the 9th-10th century A.D. It is formed from rods of silver, twisted about each other in a ropework formation, the terminals welded, forming a double spiral decorative element. This type of double spiral can be found on other Viking silver bracelets from Gotland in Sweden see here. This example recovered during dredging work is intact, though parts of the original weld has failed due to the conditions of sediment and machinery, this has been repaired but sadly it is no longer suitable to be worn. This bracelet is a very rare museum grade example, classic Viking workmanship and presence. Such an item would have been a prize piece of jewellery, worn as an 'Oath-Ring', given by a Jarl to brave and worthy subject. The silver likely taken at some stage as booty in raids, used as form of currency in a barter system of exchange. The weight of this bracelet alone would have been the monetary equivalent of at least 42 silver pennies, when 1 penny would have bought you 15 chickens! A wonderful piece of iconic Viking jewellery for the serious collector.' So far for the salesman advertisement ! So.. it got in hands of the serious collector .. A bracelet / arm ring of this braided type I think was a one off chance to aquire for my collection.

http://rime.cnr.it/index.php/rime/article/view/454

The article traces the history of the relationship between the Nordic and Mediterranean worlds, from the Viking age to the time of the Crusades (9th-12th century), reconstructing the events, paths and motivations that led men and women of the North to undertake the journey south. From the sources examined (runic inscriptions, Old Norse sagas, Latin and Arab chronicles) emerges the substantial continuity of these relationships and above all the importance of the conversion to Christianity, which for Scandinavian pilgrims and crusaders opened the way to the main Christian sanctuaries and holy places.

L'articolo ripercorre la storia dei rapporti tra il mondo nordico e quello mediterraneo, dall'età vichinga fino all'epoca delle crociate (IX-XII secolo), ricostruendo gli avvenimenti, i percorsi e le motivazioni che spinsero uomini e donne del Nord a intraprendere il viaggio a sud. Dalle fonti esaminate (iscrizioni runiche, saghe norrene, cronache latine e arabe) emerge la sostanziale continuità di queste relazioni e soprattutto l'importanza della conversione al cristianesimo,  che aprì ai pellegrini e poi ai crociati scandinavi le vie verso i principali santuari e luoghi santi della cristianità.

This article focuses on the Frisian narrative De itinere frisonum, while comparing it with other evidence available in order to explain the behaviour of the Frisian fleet's actions in the Iberian Peninsula during the Fifth Crusade. It examines the Frisian activities within the framework of the crusading traditions established by this group. It also discusses why despite Innocent III's disqualification of the Iberian theatre in Quia maior, the Frisians did not change their views on the crusading nature of their actions in that theatre as has been traditionally argued by reinterpreting the source material. Also, it addresses how the Frisian author of De itinere sought to legitimise his compatriots' actions in comparison to other groups during the crusading journey. Additionally, this article contains in the appendix an edited version of De itinere frisonum in Latin with its corresponding English translation.

Im Preußenland, dem Gebiet zwischen Weichsel und Memel, existierte vom 13. bis zum frühen 16. Jh. der Staat der Deutschordensritter. In der
Zeit der Ordensherrschaft entstand eine reiche Architekturlandschaft,
die vor allem durch ihre Burgen, eine Synthese aus Kloster und Befestigung, berühmt geworden ist. Daneben wurden fast 100 Städte gegründet, in denen rasch Kirchen, Stadtbefestigungen und Kommunalbauten aus Backstein heranwuchsen. Auch in den etwa 1000 neugegründeten Dörfern errichtete man zahlreiche Pfarrkirchen. Die Architektur im Ordensland zeigt ausgeprägte Merkmale einer eigenständigen Bautradition, die Gegenstand des Buches ist.
Der Verfasser, Professor für Kunstgeschichte an der Universität in Danzig, hat in seiner Arbeit alle mittelalterlichen Burgen, Kirchen und Rathäuser der Region erfasst und den Architekturbestand unter verschiedenen Fragestellungen ausgewertet. Im analytischen Teil wird die preußische Architekturlandschaft auf empirischer Basis untersucht. Der Katalog enthält eine vollständige Dokumentation aller Bauten (425 Objekte) mit einem umfangreichen Abbildungsteil.

This article offers a unique comparison of the descriptions of the Latin barbarians found mainly in the Greek sources for the First and Second Crusades with those of the ancient barbarians described in the works of the Byzantines’ favourite tragedian, Euripides. The Greek narratives of Anna Komnene, John Kinnamos and Niketas Choniates, to which should now be added little-known Greek verse encomia composed by so-called ‘Manganeios Prodromos’, are crucial to our understanding of the history of the crusades. Yet, until now, the fundamental reason these key texts portray the crusaders in the manner they do has not been fully exposed.

Kompendium zamków krzyżackich i biskupich Wydawnictwo ARTES Niniejszy tom ma na celu wprowadzenie w fascynującą historię architektury zamków w państwie zakonu krzyżackiego w Prusach, może być również przydatny jako przewodnik w podróży. Główny akcent spoczywa na czasach średniowiecza. W komentarzach i opisach przywołane zostały najistotniejsze informacje historyczne oraz dotyczące dziejów budowlanych poszcze-gólnych zamków. Autor: Studiował historię sztuki, ludoznawstwo niemieckie, slawistykę i nauki polityczne na Uniwer-sytecie Jana Gutenberga w Moguncji. W 1993 r. obronił pracę doktorską na temat późnośred-niowiecznych wież mieszkalnych w Nadrenii i nad Mozelą i pracował następnie jako wolny his-toryk sztuki i badacz architektury. W 1995 r. został powołany, jako profesor nadzwyczajny w Olsztynie. Habilitował się w 2005 r. w Greifswaldzie, na podstawie pracy o średniowiecznej ar-chitekturze w pruskich biskupstwach (chełmińskim, pomezańskim, warmińskim, sambijskim). Od 2005 r. zatrudniony, jako profesor nadzwyczajny, w Instytucie Historii Sztuki Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. Ostatnio kieruje projektem badawczym dotyczącym Pałacu Wielkiego Mistrza na zamku malborskim, na Politechnice (TU) w Berlinie, specjalność: historia architektury i urbanistyki. Od wielu lat autor zajmuje się naukowo architekturą średniowieczną pobrzeża Bałtyku – przede wszystkim w dawnym państwie zakonnym i w krajach bałtyckich – i należy do najlepszych znawców tego regionu.

Questa nuova storia del movimento crociato intende fornire ai suoi lettori tutti gli elementi di una storia 'plurale' delle vicende che portarono all’insediamento in Medioriente tra i secoli XII-XIII di una serie di entità politiche in seguito definite sotto il termine complessivo di Outremer gravitanti intorno a Gerusalemme, la Città Santa conquistata con la forza nel 1099 al termine di una spedizione bandita da papa Urbano II e che avrebbe incontrato un successo imprevisto e imprevedibile.
Slegando la storia del movimento crociato alla classica elencazione d’impianto manualistico – priva di qualsiasi consistenza come riconosciuto dalla storiografia più aggiornata - che individua sulla base di una vecchia tradizione storiografica una serie di spedizioni come “ufficiali” mentre relega al contempo altre (pur importanti) in secondo piano, abbiamo inteso trasmettere ai lettori di questo libro una visione più ampia e complessa di una storia che interessò i più importanti personaggi dei secoli centrali dell'età medievale: Federico Barbarossa, Filippo II Augusto, Riccardo Cuor di Leone, Federico II di Svevia, Luigi IX, solo per citare i più noti (e tacendo i tanti pellegrini accorsi per la difesa del Santo Sepolcro).
Ma questa è anche la storia del mondo musulmano circostante, nonché di quella serie di popoli provenienti dalle remote steppe asiatiche (Turchi e Mongoli su tutti) il cui impatto avrebbe segnato in maniera decisiva le sorti della Terrasanta latina; ecco dunque riscostruire le vicende di Zangī, Nūr ad-Dīn, Saladino, Hülegü, Baybars, Qalawun, personaggi le cui esistenze avrebbero segnato le vicende del Medioriente nei secoli che verremo narrando nel corso del libro.