Best history of the Crusades?

May 5, 2005 12:12 PM

On the eve of Sir Ridley Scott's new Crusader epic Kingdom of Heaven I'm looking for an introductory history of the Crusades.

Thomas F. Madden, Jonathan Riley-Smith, and Steven Runciman all seem to be recognized as the leading experts concerning this time period but which (if any) is the most accessible? What books on this subject would you point me toward?

posted by TetrisKid to Human Relations (16 answers total)

Riley-Smith rules: if I had to read just one book I'd stick to either
The Oxford History of the Crusades or The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades

very good, a little more advanced stuff in:

The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading

see also:

The Crusades : A Short History
posted by matteo at 12:20 PM on May 5, 2005

You might also want to try The Crusades through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalof
posted by gnat at 12:30 PM on May 5, 2005

And maybe when you've read a little more you'll want to look at the Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf. It consists of Arab chronicles from those times and eyewitness accounts. It's a great read.
posted by Panfilo at 12:32 PM on May 5, 2005

Eh. What gnat said.
posted by Panfilo at 12:32 PM on May 5, 2005

Terry Jones of Monty Python fame did a pretty nifty Crusades documentary a few years back. He also had a book that accompanied the film, also pretty good!

Some of the Arab Chronicles are pretty good, too. It's great fun to read the Christian and Muslim accounts side-by-side to get all sides of the battle.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 1:04 PM on May 5, 2005

I took this amazing class at the University of Texas, The Literature and Culture of the Crusades back in '99 with the amazing Geraldine Heng. Check the website for a syllabus with a complete list of sources including several first-hand accounts. Maalouf's Crusades Through Arab Eyes cites such sources as well as direct, previously untranslated Arabic sources. The book changed my perspective on the entire region of the Mideast and especially Islamic culture. For example, once you learn of the experience during the Crusades you come to understand what muslims find so threatening about Western policy there. The book is highly recommended.
posted by letterneversent at 1:17 PM on May 5, 2005

Robert Chazan is generally recognized as the authority on the First Crusade and the Jews. His book, European Jewry and the First Crusade tells a pretty harrowing story about German crusaders who got distracted from killing the infidel abroad to kick some ass at home. He gives translations of Hebrew Chronicles of the first crusade which are absolutely heart-wrenching: parents killing their children in advance of murderous hordes, etc. It's outside your initial interest, but it might make for some good follow up reading.

NB: his subsequent book, In the Year 1096: The First Crusade and the Jews, is supposed to be not nearly as good. I haven't read it, though, so I can't say.
posted by felix betachat at 1:26 PM on May 5, 2005

I remember this as well. Basically, on the way to the Holy Land some of the crusaders made a detour to slaughter various jewish communities around Europe.

Is murder / suicide a prevalent occurence in Jewish history?

Mass suicides and parents killing their children reminds me a lot of Masada. Why wouldn't you just fight?
posted by letterneversent at 1:41 PM on May 5, 2005

Why wouldn't you just fight?

Well, they did for as long as they could.

Not to derail the thread, but yes, suicide in the face of hopeless odds is a topos in post-biblical Jewish literature. The rabbis are pretty explicit that, except in the case of apostasy, one may sin in order to preserve one's life. But there are strong narratives of kiddush ha-Shem (literally,"sanctification of the Name", or pious martyrdom) during the Roman wars. Most famously, R. Akiva, who tradition holds went to his death reciting the Shema, the benediction in Dtr 6.4 expressive of the essential unity of God.

Narratives like this had a huge influence on a minority, oppressed diaspora population. In the extreme conditions of the first Crusade, they provided a framework within which to understand what was otherwise incomprehensible: why one's neighbors would suddenly start murdering and pillaging. I suppose suicide under these conditions is an assertion of the fundamental order of things in the face of an insane culture, not the wilfull act of self-destruction that we think it to be.

So, I'd say the theme of suicide and martyrdom is prevalent in Jewish tradition in direct proportion to the popularity of murder and forced conversion in Christian culture.

/derail
posted by felix betachat at 2:01 PM on May 5, 2005

The Washington Post had an interesting article about the movie and where it's accurate (and not) last Sunday.
posted by pmurray63 at 2:07 PM on May 5, 2005

Also worth mentioning: J. J. Norwich's A Short History of Byzantium, most notably for the chapters dealing with the Crusader era. Since Byzantium was the hub for the major crusades, it might be valuable to examine it. Note: This is a much abbreviated version of Norwich's original text, which was three separate volumes.
posted by staresbynight at 2:21 PM on May 5, 2005

Terry Jones of Monty Python fame did a pretty nifty Crusades documentary a few years back. He also had a book that accompanied the film, also pretty good.

Though I have also heard that historians interviewed for the film were dismayed at the editing. Not what they meant to say at all, really. (Well, that's what I heard.)

Runciman is extremely well written, if you're into that. I know I am. (Ditto Norwich, by the way.)
posted by IndigoJones at 4:07 PM on May 5, 2005

Internet Medieval Sourcebook: The Crusades

The Labyrinth: Crusades
posted by mlis at 6:23 PM on May 5, 2005

Regarding the film: I saw the preview on Monday, and the sets and the costumes are spectacular. They should be for that kind of money. The rest (plot, character, just about everything) is crap. Compared with other pompous mass battle films it's way worse than King Arthur and Troy (both crap films), and certainly worse than Braveheart and Gladiator. I'd rather watch Martin Lawrence's Black Knight anyday. At least it's funny.

/derail
posted by Panfilo at 10:42 PM on May 5, 2005

Panfilo, that's pretty much what the WP article says: the look is spectacular and accurate; the writing, not so much.
posted by pmurray63 at 7:15 AM on May 6, 2005

I liked Joseph Strayer's The Albigensian Crusades perhaps as a contrast to what might be thought of as "real" crusades to a the Holy Land.
posted by fleacircus at 10:35 AM on May 6, 2005