One of the books I read in preparation for our next historical and theological study is The Crusades: a Short History by Jonathan Riley-Smith. I contacted one of my history professors from seminary for his recommendations, since I am not well-verse in this time period, and this was one of the books he recommended.
Riley-Smith’s history is short (257 pages covering 1095 to 1798), but it is also dense. Every sentence is thick with names, places, and dates. For someone wanting to cover the period in detail, but not having to read voluminously, this book is to be highly regarded.
It was good for me to read, both for the information to help me teach the subject, but also in the fact that it emphasizes the history and politics of the period. While the religious aspects of the conflict are (necessarily) mentioned, he does not go into great detail about them. This is an area I will have to supplement and is, perhaps, the book’s major weakness: he talks about “holy war,” “just war,” and “jihad,” but he doesn’t really explain the theological justification (as they understood it) for them.
I have come to understand that, while the crusaders may have largely understood themselves as defending Christ, the kings and popes behind the Crusades certainly appear to have been (largely) more interested in politics that the glorification of Christ. It also seems as thought the Roman Church had come to the misunderstanding of the first century Jews – that the land is central to the Covenant of Salvation.
An enlightening work.
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