Thomas Asbridge - The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land

Thomas Asbridge is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London, and an internationally renowned expert on the history of the Crusades. His acclaimed The First Crusade is also available from Simon & Schuster.

Further praise for The Crusades

Asbridge takes care, in this scholarly survey of medieval crusading activity from the 11th to the 13th centuries, to give the Muslim perspective as much weight as the Christian. He cant help but tell a ripping yarn, often breezily dramatic, whipping the narrative along Iain Finlayson, The Times

Stuffed with the kind of splendidly colourful anecdotes that only the medieval era can supply. Asbridge departs radically and successfully from tradition [and] brilliantly exposes Muslim strategies and motivations James McConnachie, Sunday Times

A compelling narrative that resonates inescapably with contemporary events... Masterful Malise Ruthven, Observer

A truly comprehensive history of holy war in the Holy Land. Emphasizing the dramatic Third Crusade and its heroic antagonists, Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, the narrative reads like an adventure story, albeit one that is both factual and instructive Publishers Weekly

Today the crusades are all too topical, though mostly, Asbridge observes, for the wrong reasons: interesting as they are, he says, their place is in the past. That doesnt stop them being exciting, stirring, moving, horrific and a whole lot of other things as well though: this book gives us narrative history at its best Scotsman

Thomas Asbridge brings all the colour and drama of this violent era resolutely alive in The Crusades, presenting this clash of civilisations from both the Christian and Islamic viewpoints Oxford Times

There is more here than a historical account... The Crusades tells a new, no less interesting, story as well: how the memory of the Crusades was formed in modern times Wall Street Journal

Asbridge widens his vista to the entire 11951291 duration of the crusading era. With perceptive commentary about spiritual motivations behind crusading and perspectives from contemporary Islamic sources, Asbridge constructs a comprehensive, sophisticated, and arresting analytical narrative rewarding to any level of historical interest, whether recreational or scholarly Booklist

Also by Thomas Asbridge

THE FIRST CRUSADE

First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

This edition published by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2012

An imprint of Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

A CBS COMPANY

Copyright 2010, 2012 by Thomas Asbridge

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.

No reproduction without permission.

All rights reserved.

The right of Thomas Asbridge to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

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Maps Reginald Piggott

Every reasonable effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this book. If any have inadvertently been overlooked, the publishers would be glad to hear from them and make good in future editions any errors or omissions brought to their attention.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-84983-688-3

eBook ISBN: 978-1-84983-770-5

Typeset by M Rules

Printed and bound by CPI Group UK, Croydon CR0 4YY

For my father

Gerald Asbridge

CONTENTS

CONCLUSION

LIST OF MAPS

LIST OF PLATES

FOREWORD

In recent months, I have had the good fortune to travel across the Near and Middle East, and Europe, filming a documentary series for the BBC based on this book. Although a few of the locations I visited were new to me, most were familiar from previous trips connected to my decades-long research into crusading history. Yet in every place, I had a powerful sense that I was engaged in something that, for me, was novel, challenging and profoundly illuminating. I was seeking to convey my abiding passion for the crusades to tell the story of these holy wars in the very places in which the drama (and sometimes horror) of these events played out.

Over the years, I have sought in countless lectures and classes to communicate the febrile amalgam of faith and violence that powered the First Crusade, but it is something else entirely to stand in Jerusalems Holy Sepulchre itself and describe the pious joy experienced by blood-splattered crusaders as they finally entered this most sacred Christian shrine in 1099. And I felt the same electrifying sense of connection within the Aqsa Mosque, speaking of how the great Sultan Saladin wept as he led Friday prayer in that very building on 3 July 1192, grief-stricken that he would have to abandon Jerusalem.

I would not claim that these experiences have somehow afforded me unique or groundbreaking insights into the crusading era, or that suddenly I am now better placed to achieve an empathetic understanding of the protagonists involved. In the end, a location alone (often altered from its medieval state) can only take you so far, and one has to turn back to the historical sources, be they textual or material. But my imagination has been sparked, and my enthusiasm for crusading history already an obsession for considerably more than half my life re-energised. In particular, I have been moved to ponder the ways in which we remember, and sometimes forget, events.

A few weeks ago, I walked into Sainte-Chapelle the towering shrine built by King Louis IX of France in the heart of Paris an hour before dawn. This structure was a technological miracle in its day; built to house Louis prized collection of Passion relics (among them Christs Crown of Thorns), its delicate stone columns and lofty vaults support seemingly impossible expanses of vibrant stained glass. Normally thronging with visitors, all transfixed by its beauty and high-Gothic splendour, the chapel now stood dark and deserted. As the sun rose and light slowly began to pour in through the dazzling windows, I was struck by the rare certainty that King Louis a man who dedicated his life to the war for the Holy Land more than 700 years ago had walked through this self-same space. Sainte-Chapelle survives as a talisman of Louis memory, evoking his unswerving religious dedication; it is a celebrated icon of French history and national identity. But there are other places, just as intimately associated with this crusader monarchs life, which have been all but forgotten.