Since its first appearance in 2004, The Crusades: A Reader has been the go-to sourcebook in the field. S.J. Allen and Emilie Amt cover the entire crusading movement, from its origins to its modern afterlife, using key primary source documents.
The third edition features a new introduction that includes a guide for students on how to use the book. The editors have also added more content on women, material culture, Jewish and Byzantine perspectives, Muslim-Crusader interactions, and modern use of Crusade imagery and rhetoric by the Far Right. The geographic range is broad, covering not only Crusades in the Middle East, but also in Spain and in northern Europe and against European heretics.
While scholarship, courses, and textbooks on the Crusades have proliferated over the past twenty years, The Crusades: A Reader remains the only comprehensive, up-to-date, and in-print sourcebook available on the subject.
Edited by:
S.J. Allen,
Emilie Amt
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Edition: 3rd edition
Volume: VIII
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 29mm
Weight: 660g
ISBN: 9781487525781
ISBN 10: 1487525788
Series: Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures
Pages: 496
Publication Date: 13 August 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: Background and Origins 1. The Pilgrimage of Etheria 2. Augustine of Hippo on the Just War 3. The Qur’an 4. al-Baladhuri on Early Muslim Conquests 5. The Pact of Omar 6. Early Spiritual Privileges 7. Ibnu Hayyan on Warfare in Spain 8. The Song of Roland 9. Declaration of the Truce of God 10. Matthew of Edessa on the Seljuk Conquests 11. Pope Gregory VII: Letters to Matilda of Canossa and Other Christian Leaders – Planning Holy Wars Chapter Two: The First Crusade 12. Urban II’s Call for a Crusade 13. Albert of Aachen on the Peasants’ Crusade 14. Solomon bar Samson on the Massacres of Jews 15. Anna Comnena’s Alexiad 16. The Deeds of the Franks 17. Letter of Stephen of Blois 18. Anselm of Ribemont on Events at Antioch 19. Ralph of Caen on Divisions among the Crusaders 20. Raymond of Aguilers on the Fall of Jerusalem 21. Letters from Jewish Leaders Seeking Help for Captives and Refugees 22. Letter of Pope Paschal on the Capture of Jerusalem 23. ‘Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami’s The Book of the Jihad 24. Abu l-Muzaffar al-Abiwardi on the Fall of Jerusalem Chapter Three: The Crusader States 25. Eastern and Western Views: Two Crusade-Era Maps 26. Coinage of the Crusader Period 27. William of Tyre’s History 28. Fulcher of Chartres’s History 29. Venetian Treaty 30. Documents of Queen Melisende of Jerusalem 31. Laws of the Kingdom of Jerusalem 32. The Travels of Saewulf 33. John of Würzburg’s Pilgrim Guide 34. The Travels of Ibn Jubayr 35. Memoirs of Usamah Ibn Munqidh 36. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela Chapter Four: The Second and Third Crusades 37. Ibn al-Qalanisi on Zengi and Nur ad-Din 38. Ibn al-Athir on the Fall of Edessa 39. Letter of Bernard of Clairvaux 40. Bernard of Clairvaux: In Praise of the New Knighthood 41. The Rule of the Templars 42. Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn’s The Book of Remembrance 43. Odo of Deuil: The Journey of Louis VII to the East 44. Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Second Crusade 45. John Kinnamos: The Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus 46. Analyses of the Second Crusade 47. Baha ad-Din’s Life of Saladin 48. Imad ad-Din on the Battle of Hattin 49. Roger of Wendover on the Fall of Jerusalem 50. Letters on the Fall of Jerusalem 51. Taxation and Regulations for the Third Crusade 52. Islamic Accounts of the Treatment of Prisoners 53. Accounts of the Third Crusade 54. Saladin and Richard I – Negotiations for Jerusalem Chapter Five: The Culture and Logistics of Crusading 55. Gerald of Wales on Preaching a Crusade 56. Privileges and Indulgences 57. Personal Arrangements 58. Liturgy for Pilgrims and Crusaders 59. Hildegard of Bingen’s Advice to Philip Count of Flanders 60. Financial Accounts 61. Travel Information 62. Accounts of Crusader Homecomings 63. Thomas of Froidmont: The Adventures of Margaret of Beverly, a Woman Crusader 64. Accounts of Women in Warfare 65. Crusading Songs Chapter Six: The Age of Innocent III 66. Letters of Innocent III 67. Accounts of the Fourth Crusade 68. Documents on the Sack of Constantinople 69. Bernard of Gui’s Manual for Inquisitors 70. Peter of Les Vaux-de-Cernay’s The History of the Albigensian Crusade 71. William of Tudela’s Song of the Cathar Wars 72. Accounts of the Children’s Crusade 73. Decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council 74. Oliver of Paderborn on the Fifth Crusade Chapter Seven: Crusades of the Holy Roman Empire 75. Charter to German Settlers 76. Poem Describing Cistercian Settlement 77. Proclamations of Northern European Crusades 78. Helmold’s Chronicle of the Slavs 79. The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia 80. The Rule of the Teutonic Knights 81. Nikolaus von Jeroschin on the Prussian Crusades 82. Philip of Novara on Frederick II’s Crusade 83. Frederick II on His Taking of Jerusalem and Sibt ibn al-Jawzi’s Recording of the Event 84. Responses to Frederick II’s Crusade Chapter Eight: Conflict and Coexistence in Spain 85. Chronicle of the Cid 86. The Conquest of Lisbon 87. Alfonso VIII’s Report on Las Navas de Tolosa 88. Muslim–Christian Treaty 89. Moorish Laws 90. Christian Laws 91. Constitutions of the Order of Merced 92. Expulsion of the Jews from Spain 93. Abu Abdilla Mohammed on the Expulsion of the Muslims Chapter Nine: Crusades at the Crossroads 94. Joinville’s Life of St. Louis 95. Matthew Paris on the Shepherds’ Crusade 96. Ibn al-Athir on the Mongol Invasion 97. Ibn ‘Abd al-Zahir’s Biography of Baybars 98. Ludolph von Suchem on the Fall of Acre and Its Aftermath 99. Humbert of Romans on Criticisms of Crusading 100. Ramon Lull’s Plan to Convert the Muslims 101. Order for the Arrest of the Templars and Papal Bull Suppressing the Templars 102. John Mandeville on Prester John 103. Letters between Pope Innocent IV and Guyuk Khan 104. Johann Schiltberger on the Nicopolis Crusade 105. Kritovoulos on the Fall of Constantinople 106. Pius II’s Commentaries 107. Erasmus On the War against the Turks Chapter Ten: Modern Perceptions of the Crusades 108. Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warre 109. David Hume on the Crusades 110. Edward Gibbon’s Evaluation of the Crusades 111. William Wordsworth’s Ecclesiastical Sonnets 112. Michaud, History of the Crusades 113. William Hillary’s Call for a New Crusade 114. Sayyid ‘Ali Hariri’s Book of the Splendid Stories of the Crusades 115. World War I Political Cartoons 116. Sayyid Qutb’s Social Justice in Islam and Muhammad Asad’s Islam at the Crossroads 117. The Hamas Covenant 118. Pope John Paul II’s Statements about Past Christian Actions 119. Crusading Rhetoric after 9/11 120. Modern Use of Images of Saladin 121. Umej Bhatia’s Analysis of the Crusades and Modern Muslim Memory 122. Crusades and the Far Right Sources Index of Topics
S.J. Allen is a medieval historian and an associate lecturer at The Open University. Emilie Amt is an emeritus professor of history at Hood College.
Reviews for The Crusades: A Reader, Third Edition
"""The collection of translated sources in The Crusades: A Reader is one of the most comprehensive yet assembled. It covers the centuries from the late eleventh to the early sixteenth and includes texts illustrating actions in theatres of war that are often ignored, such as Spain, the Baltic region, and the interior of western Europe. It is to be recommended as a very congenial and informative introduction to a large, complex, and historically important subject.""--Jonathan Riley-Smith, University of Cambridge ""This is a stellar collection, and there is nothing to equal it on the market. By bringing together primary sources written by various Christian, Muslim, and Jewish authors, this anthology elegantly conveys the diversity of experiences of the Crusades: those of its participants and those of its victims. The questions for discussion that the authors provide are tailor-made for each source and make teaching this complicated subject all the easier. This new edition is especially strong in its coverage of modern perceptions of the Crusades. The editors are to be congratulated.""--Paul M. Cobb, University of Pennsylvania ""This rich, impressively comprehensive yet acute selection of texts allows student and scholar alike to explore the complexities of the subject by providing focused insights into the widest range of perspectives on crusading across a millennium and a half from its ideological origins to its cultural, material, and political contexts, from the actions and thoughts of its supporters, opponents, and victims to its toxic afterlife in the modern world. A fine achievement.""--Christopher Tyerman, University of Oxford ""Allen and Amt's reader on the Crusades has always been an excellent resource for students, scholars, and laypersons seeking to gain insight into the experiences of the people who lived through the period. This third edition not only revises and updates the documents provided, but also includes a welcome and valuable expansion of the range of sources provided and social groups represented. Highly recommended!""--Niall Christie, Langara College"
