The Crusades to the Holy Land: course description
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Shatzmiller, Duke University
The History of the Crusades to the Holy Land and the founding of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, (1095-1291) has captured the attention of historians for generations, and to this day has not lost any of its attraction. Non-specialists show also much interest in its story of rise and fall. It has its place in current political debates and ideological confrontations. One of the complaints often heard is that the specialists of this major chapter in history tend to rely on reports written at the time by Westerners, and neglect evidence written by “the other side” in the Arabic language. This course shall offer a more balanced approach. Thus, the institutions of the Latin kingdom and the composition of its society will be reviewed with the help of the writing of Bishop William of Tire, the major Christian intellectual of the kingdom, born and raised in Palestine. The autobiography of a Moslem gentleman, Ousama, will be one of the major pieces discussed in this context.
Pilgrimage, an expression of popular religiosity that was revived considerably around the year 1000 A.D. in which members of all classes of society took part, will be studied in some detail. It will alert students to one of the motives that led Europeans to the Middle East . There is much significance to the fact that the crusaders considered themselves as “Military” pilgrims. Although the course will be focused, as its title suggests, on the Latin Kingdom of the Holy Land, and on the several campaigns launched by the Europeans to assure its survival, its history will be considered in the framework of the general expansion of Western Europe. Similar crusades were directed towards Moslem Spain and Sicily, dominated by rivals of Christianity, as well as towards the Balticum and East European regions where idolatry was still practiced. The role of the papacy as enticing the Westerners to engage in these campaigns will be examined and the reaction of the European aristocracy will be described in detail. The difficulties encountered both in the East and the West will be assessed taking into consideration the evidence revealed by Arabic sources.
The military history of the crusades, its successes and failures, has attracted the attention of historians for years. It will obviously not escape our attention in this course. The role of Venice will be underlined when considering the events that led to the fourth crusade (1204 A.D.) and to its consequences. But attention will be also given, to periods of peaceful cohabitation and coalitions between peoples that were expected to be rivals. In the concluding sessions we shall try to assess the meaning of the experience to those who lived through it, and the lessons we may derive from it today.
The course will consist on introductory lectures by the instructor and mostly on reading and analyzing documents of the period (in English translation).
Pilgrimage, an expression of popular religiosity that was revived considerably around the year 1000 A.D. in which members of all classes of society took part, will be studied in some detail. It will alert students to one of the motives that led Europeans to the Middle East . There is much significance to the fact that the crusaders considered themselves as “Military” pilgrims. Although the course will be focused, as its title suggests, on the Latin Kingdom of the Holy Land, and on the several campaigns launched by the Europeans to assure its survival, its history will be considered in the framework of the general expansion of Western Europe. Similar crusades were directed towards Moslem Spain and Sicily, dominated by rivals of Christianity, as well as towards the Balticum and East European regions where idolatry was still practiced. The role of the papacy as enticing the Westerners to engage in these campaigns will be examined and the reaction of the European aristocracy will be described in detail. The difficulties encountered both in the East and the West will be assessed taking into consideration the evidence revealed by Arabic sources.
The military history of the crusades, its successes and failures, has attracted the attention of historians for years. It will obviously not escape our attention in this course. The role of Venice will be underlined when considering the events that led to the fourth crusade (1204 A.D.) and to its consequences. But attention will be also given, to periods of peaceful cohabitation and coalitions between peoples that were expected to be rivals. In the concluding sessions we shall try to assess the meaning of the experience to those who lived through it, and the lessons we may derive from it today.
The course will consist on introductory lectures by the instructor and mostly on reading and analyzing documents of the period (in English translation).
