Medieval Crusades

Historical Context Essay

Malcolm C. Barber (University of Reading)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 6.1.2: Middle-Eastern Arabic Writing and Culture: Classical and Post-Classical, 700-1300.
Vol. editors: Ziad Elmarsafy (King's College London), Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Rita Sakr (Maynooth University), Anastasia Valassopoulos (University of Manchester)

Domains

Dates

Date of occurrence 1095-1270

Places

Israel (Location)
Palestine (Location)
Europe, Europe - Southwest (Involved)
Europe, Europe - West (Involved)

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“The Crusades” is a name which is usually taken to denote four major and several minor Christian military expeditions between 1095 and 1205 (or until 1310) ostensibly intending either to recover Jerusalem or to protect Christians in the eastern Mediterranean from Muslim domination. It also designates a new mentality of militant Christianity which it is the purpose of this essay to describe.

According to Pope Gregory VII (1025-1085; pontificate 1073-1085), writing to King Henry IV of Germany in December 1074, Christians beyond the sea were “daily being slaughtered” by pagans, and had implored him to bring help by whatever means he could. Their message was apocalyptic, for there was a danger that “the Christian religion should altogether perish in our times”. Gregory was greatly

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6001 words

Citation: Barber, Malcolm C.. "Medieval Crusades". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 August 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5539, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Medieval Crusades

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