Fighting for the Cross: Crusading to the Holy Land - Hardcover

Housley, Norman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300118880 ISBN 13: 9780300118889

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Long one of the foremost proponents of a maximalist view of crusading, Norman Housley here turns his attention to the more traditionally studied crusades to the Holy Land itself. This is not a narrative history, like so many before it, but a thematic look at the actual experience of crusading. While so often this boils down to motivations, which are certainly examined here, Housley also surveys the logistics and practicalities - the difficulties involved in transport, and in procuring food and water, as well as the actual business of warfare itself. Throughout Housley's priority is to get at the attitudes and intellectual world of the crusaders. He wishes the sources wherever possible to "speak for themselves", and the wealth of material deployed in reconstructing the experiences, sufferings and mentalites of the crusaders is magnificent. Whilst the book, thus does not necessarily contain any radically new theories, it takes a slightly different approach to its predecessors, and with its rich use of often obscure primary sources, is a useful and stimulating addition to the voluminous literature on the crusades.

About this title

About the Author:

Norman Housley is professor of history and Head of the School of Historical Studies, University of Leicester. He is a world authority on the Middle Ages and on the Crusades in particular. He lives in Leicester, UK.

Review:

"Accessible to a general audience. . . . A study that succeeds in providing us with a better understanding of what the experience of crusading entailed."―Vincent Ryan, America (Vincent Ryan America 2008-10-06)

“Distinctive and compellingly contemporary . . . fascinating.”

—Timothy Renick, Christian Century

(Timothy Renick Christian Century)

"Housley demonstrates an effortless familiarity with a wide variety of primary sources, iconography, and secondary literature. . . . It essentially represents the state of crusade studies in the twenty-first century. . . . Fighting for the Cross will both inform and entertain students and the general public. At the same time the work is deeply grounded in the source material and current secondary literature about crusading. The fact that it covers so many topics concisely, but well, is what makes the book particularly valuable."--Laurence W. Marvin, Canadian Journal of History (Laurence W. Marvin Canadian Journal of History)

". . . it does a fantastic job of drawing readers into the medieval world and describing the crusades in light of that world. . . . for anyone seeking to understand the events and ethos of the crusading enterprise in the Holy Land, Fighting for the Cross is highly recommended."—Adam S. Francisco, Concordia Theological Quarterly (Adam S. Francisco Concordia Theological Quarterly)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0300118880
• ISBN 13: 9780300118889
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 376