The World of the Crusades

by Christopher Tyerman

A lively reimagining of how the distant medieval world of war functioned, drawing on the objects used and made by crusaders
 
Throughout the Middle Ages crusading was justified by religious ideology, but the resulting military campaigns were fueled by concrete land, resources, power, reputation. Crusaders amassed possessions of all sorts, from castles to reliquaries. Campaigns required material funds and equipment, while conquests produced bureaucracies, taxation, economic exploitation, and commercial regulation. Wealth sustained the Crusades while material objects, from weaponry and military technology to carpentry and shipping, conditioned them.
 
This lavishly illustrated volume considers the material trappings of crusading wars and the objects that memorialized them, in architecture, sculpture, jewelry, painting, and manuscripts. Christopher Tyerman’s incorporation of the physical and visual remains of crusading enriches our understanding of how the crusaders themselves articulated their mission, how they viewed their place in the world, and how they related to the cultures they derived from and preyed upon.
 
A note to the grey-shaded pages throughout this volume look at the Crusades in detail, exploring individual themes such as food and drink, medicine, weapons, and women’s role in the Crusades. These short essays are interspersed throughout the chapters and the main text will continue after each one. For instance, “Taking the Cross” runs from pages 4 to 7, and the Introduction continues on p. 8.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Medieval History, Religion, European History

544 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2019

About the author

Christopher Tyerman is professor of the history of the crusades at Oxford University and a fellow of Hertford College. His books include God’s War, The Debate on the Crusades, and How to Plan a Crusade. He lives in Oxford.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Begins with lucid writing but I struggled as a non-expert to understand which moments described were crucial and which were related from the historian’s love of chronological detail. The lack of strong anchoring fostered greater confusion as the book went on, as I constantly had to assess whether an event was the same event as before or a new event, similarly named. A lot of fascinating info, but lacking a bit in narrative coherence.

[Jim Swike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read on the topic. I thought I would learn more. I wanted to learn more about the Crusaders themselves. Maybe, you will feel differently. Enjoy!

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugely informative and dense, though at times it does feel like certain events get little more than passing mentions. More information on some contexts would be great, but with such an expansive topics either the book will be large enough that it's almost unreadable or it will have to gloss somethings. I did have some issue with Tyerman's writing style. Tyerman seems to default to complex, multi-clause sentences. These can be difficult to read and comprehend on first read, especially when they include parentheticals or other complex stylistics. Overall it is a good book but it is definitely meant for someone with some background in the subject. It isn't impossible for someone, like myself, without much knowledge on the subject to understand the book, but you'll definitely get more out of it with some knowledge in the area.

[Charles Korb · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you hear of crusades you probably think of the effort to capture Jerusalem at the end of the 11th century and maybe a few other expeditions. But this book opened my eyes to both the wide range of time the crusades covered and the wide range of targets (Israel, Egypt, Spain, Italy, the Balkans, and more!)

Also, I had little idea about the prolonged Frankish presence in the middle east; for almost 200 years it consumed attention and resources. The middle east really is a quagmire for empires.

Cons:
Very Dense
This definitely isn't formatted super well for kindle, the sidebars are just randomly inserted between paragraphs and I'm sure the pictures look worse on an e-ink screen than they would in a physical book.

Overall 5 stars for learnings, minus 1 star for density of writing style, minus 1 star for kindle edition formatting

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

"History should never be taught as a series of names and dates" keeps clashing with "you have to know the names and dates to say anything about history"...any book covering 500 years of history confronts this, Tyremans no exception. The book itself is a joy to hold and page through, with many illustrations and inserts. But the larger narrative often succumbs to being just lists of individuals. It supposes a somewhat high bar of historical knowledge for the reader to follow the story, and lost momentum when transitioning away from the Jerusalem crusades. I found it committed too much to being a disinterested observer, and would have preferred more of the author's personal opinions and interpretation, which would have made it a more interesting read. He reserves most of this for the final chapter, which was my favorite. Recommended if you're interested in the period and have studied the middle ages in some detail previously.

[Aah1022 · Rating 4 out of 5]

very strong book that explores not only the Crusades in Jerusalem but also the various other Crusades such as in Iberia and the Baltic. An overall authoritative volume of the Crusades from the start of the 11th century all the way up to 15th, however the only gripe I have with it is the format there are little sub chapters that are 1 to 3 pages that cover very intresting small topic however it is hard to remember once reading them to get back into the original chapter. I highly recommend reading the chapter first then going back to these sub-topics. Other than that a great read if one is interested in the Crusades

[Christoph Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why did I get this book? Because I got it for almost nothing.

I started reading and it didn't capture m imagination at all. Or anything. It uses a lot of jargon that I don't know and am too lazy to look up, because it's not even central to what's being written about.

Ended it pretty quickly. I have so many other books to read.

[Ryan Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is OK, if you are already fairly familiar with the crusades. It has some nice images and some side discussions of crusading experiences, but it really fails as both a narrative and an analysis--there are so many better introductions to the crusades these days.