The Crusades to the Holy Land: The Essential Reference Guide - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1610697790 ISBN 13: 9781610697798

Publisher: ABC-CLIO, 2015

Synopsis

Based on the latest scholarship by experts in the field, this work provides an accessible guide to the Crusades fought for the liberation and defense of the Holy Land―one of the most enduring and consequential conflicts of the medieval world.

The Crusades to the Holy Land were one of the most important religious and social movements to emerge over the course of the Middle Ages. The warfare of the Crusades affected nearly all of Western Europe and involved members of social groups from kings and knights down to serfs and paupers. The memory of this epic long-ago conflict affects relations between the Western and Islamic worlds in the present day. The Crusades to the Holy Land: The Essential Reference Guide provides almost 90 A–Z entries that detail the history of the Crusades launched from Western Europe for the liberation or defense of the Holy Land, covering the inception of the movement by Pope Urban II in 1095 up to the early 14th century.

This concise single-volume work provides accessible articles and perspective essays on the main Crusade expeditions as well as the important crusaders, countries, places, and institutions involved. Each entry is accompanied by references for further reading. Readers will follow the career of Saladin from humble beginnings to becoming ruler of Syria and Egypt and reconquering almost all of the Holy Land from its Christian rulers; learn about the main sites and characteristics of the castles that were crucial to the Christian domination of the Holy Land; and understand the key aspects of crusading, from motivation and recruitment to practicalities of finance and transport. The reference guide also includes survey articles that provide readers with an overview of the original source materials written in Latin, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Armenian, and Syriac.

About this title

About the Author

Alan V. Murray is an expert in the history of the crusades, especially in the conquest and Christianization of the Baltic countries, and has edited three collections of essays on the Baltic crusades. He has also great experience with reference works: he was Director of the International Medieval Bibliography from 2007-2024 and edited The Crusades: An Encyclopedia, 4 vols (2007) [Outstanding Reference Source, selected by Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), American Library Association] and The Crusades to the Holy Land: The Essential Reference Guide (2015). He was also a co-editor of A Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land, 1099-1149.

Edition details

• Publisher: ABC-CLIO
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1610697790
• ISBN 13: 9781610697798
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 360
• Editor: Murray Alan V.