The Glory of the Crusades

by Steve Weidenkopf

only paperback version available

Genres: History, Catholic, Nonfiction, Medieval History, Church History, Religion, Historical

285 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

Steve Weidenkopf is a Lecturer in Church History at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology in Alexandria, Virginia. He has given numerous presentations and seminars on Church History, marriage and family life, human sexuality, and theology throughout the U.S. and Canada.

He served as the Director of the Office of Marriage & Family Life for the
Archdiocese of Denver (2001 - 2004) and as an advisor to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. and was an instructor at the Our Lady of the New Advent Catechetical Institute.

Steve is a member of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East - an international academic group dedicated to the field of crusading history and is also a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Reviews

[Domenico · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the time I was a child, I had a passing interest in the Crusades as part of that exciting time of knights and chivalry known as the Middle Ages. They showed up, sometimes tangentially, in many of the books I read, including Robin Hood and Ivanhoe and others. Later, I read about them in connection with current events involving the Middle East and Islamic terrorism. And of course, I absorbed the prevailing narratives about the Crusades as cruel hypocritical Christians slaughtering peaceful Muslims in the Holy Land (and Byzantine Christians) in the name of Christ and conquest.

I didn’t really begin to seriously challenge those narratives until I read Hilaire Belloc’s The Crusades , written in the beginning of the 20th century, long before the rise of post-WWII radical Islam and yet prophetic about that future. Belloc’s book was good, but is based on century-old scholarship and really only covers the First Crusade, essentially ignoring those of the next six centuries or so (depending on how you count the crusades). I looked at other histories of the Crusades as well, but all of them approached the subject from an essentially neutral secular academic outlook.

The new book, The Glory of the Crusades by Steve Weidenkopf, on the other hand provides a look at the complete history of the Crusades, combining the latest scholarship with a distinctively Catholic viewpoint that explains the phenomenon frankly, but without the a priori hostility so often found in popular treatment of the Crusades.

He begins by addressing the common myths about the Crusades right up front. Noting that the currently accepted narrative about the Crusades accepted in the English-speaking world comes from a Protestant perspective followed by anti-religion Enlightenment philosophy, which was built upon by an anti-colonialist ideology in the 20th century and the current apologetic in the face of Islamic extremism, Weidenkopf outlines the seven myths to be debunked:

The Crusades were wars of unprovoked aggression.
The Crusaders were motivated primarily by greed and the prospect for plunder and riches.
When Jerusalem was liberated in 1099, the Crusaders killed all the inhabitants of the city—so much blood was spilled that it ran ankle deep.
The Crusades were colonial enterprises.
The Crusades were also wars against the Jews and should be seen as the first Holocaust.
The Crusades were wars of conversion.
The Crusades are the source of the modern tension between Islam and the West.

His responses were good and among other things, emphasized the reality that Christians had a different way of thinking about violence in the defense of the Christian faith than they do today, and in fact the word “crusade” is a distinctly modern appellation, where those who actually engaged in the practice saw it as an armed pilgrimage. Weidenkopf notes that “it was the teaching of the Church for nearly 700 years that men had a moral obligation to take the cross in order to liberate and defend Christian territory.” Modern approaches to the crusades, even from orthodox Catholics, seem to have difficulty with the idea that the crusaders would have primarily religious reasons for going on crusade, as opposed to primarily mercenary or bloodthirsty impetuses.

In fact, it was the rise of a militaristic Islam bent on conquest that provoked the response of the crusades and specifically the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the Calpih al-Hakim in 1009 and the persecution of Christians in the Holy Land. This prompted Pope Urban to call for the the First Crusade in 1095, an action that would change the world.

Weidenkopf takes us through each of the crusades–although the definition of crusade got looser over the centuries, Weidenkopf sticks mainly with the various confrontations with Islam–and details both the successes and failures. He doesn’t shrink from the abuses perpetrated by crusaders, but he delves into the hows and whys, dismissing the oversimplistic tales of horror and revels the truth of the various actions and motivations on both sides.

I was struck time and again how often it was one decision, one bad move, that would doom a crusade and set back the cause. I also learned some new things myself, including the fact that the famed Saladin was never considered a great warrior by his own people, but it was Christians who elevated his legend, even to the point of naming their children after him! It was only after the rise of Islamic extremism in the 20th century that Saladin became a legend in the Middle East, and specifically Saddam Hussein who styled himself a new Saladin, both of them coming from the same town in Iraq.

I also enjoyed the exposition on both King Richard the Lionhearted–an English folk hero who it turns out was born in France, spoke mainly French, and spent little of his life in England–and King St. Louis IX, the example par excellence of a Catholic king about whom it was said he was the “perfect crusader” and about whom it was said the 13th century was his century more than any other.

So what about that name “crusade”? Are the crusades glorious or are they something of which we should be ashamed? Weidenkopf writes that he uses the word in the same sense as the Hebrew word for glory used in the Old Testament kabod, which means “heavy in weight.” Thus to write of the glory of the crusades is write of their importance to history.

To recognize the glory of the Crusades means not to whitewash what was ignoble about them, but to call due attention to their import in the life of the Church.

Given the many ways the memory of the crusaders has been used and abused in both popular culture and in violent ideologies, we owe it to ourselves to understand the truth of them.

But the time has arrived to change this narrative and present to the modern world the authentic story of the Crusades. For that to occur, Catholics must first learn for themselves the authentic story of the movement that was an integral part of the Church’s history for six centuries. Too many see the Crusades as an aberration in Church history, a sin that should be forgotten and never discussed, swept into the dustbin of history along with equally misunderstood historical cases such as the Inquisition, Galileo, and Pius XII and the Jews. For many Catholics, “the wars of the cross have become like a lingering bad smell in a lavishly refurbished stately home.” The Crusades were an inherently Catholic undertaking. They were promoted by the papacy, encouraged by the clergy, and fought by Catholic warriors. An authentic understanding of the Crusades, rooted in a contemporary perspective, is best achieved by those who believe today what the Crusaders believed. Catholics are uniquely positioned to understand the glory of the Crusades, and to help those outside the Church begin to see it.

Weidenkopf’s The Glory of the Crusades is a good place to start.

[Robert Cerefice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was very good. It changed my view of the Christian Crusades. Frankly, my view of them was always negative. That is, until I read this book.
It changed my attitude about the Crusades for two reasons: first, as the author points out the Crusades must be viewed in the time in which they happened, and second: the Crusades must be viewed from the standpoint of the enemy it tried to over come. Islam, from its very beginnings has been a religion of war, violence, and mistreatment of all other faiths. It's arrogance is unbound.
Mr. Weidenkopf, I think, makes this clear. Our Popes undertook preaching the Crusades to save Christians. The Crusades did not begin because the Church wanted to expand its power.
This book has made it clear that the Crusades were undertakes for noble purposes.
I would recommend it to all who are interested in correcting the historical record.

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son and I read this book together, and both learned so much that most people just don't know or understand. The Crusades have been used to blacken Church history, and most people, who are mostly ignorant of the real history behind the 700 years of the Crusade, go along with what they are fed. This book, written by a scholar of Church history, reveals facts that we can wince and cringe about, whether we are Catholic or Muslim. Weidenkopf also explains how religion, during the 700 years of the Crusades, was interwoven into all aspects of life and politics.
Lots of good stuff to discuss in this book, and I'm glad my son and I shared this reading together.

[Emilio Del-Llano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

It is refreshing to read a true account of the Crusades. Why they were fought and why people of the time chose to take part. Especially as most of the accounts we are exposed to come from
a perspective of damaging the Catholic Church not from a historically accurate representation of the events. Read it and judge for your self.

[Ryan St george · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most glorious periods of Christian history! When Christianity fought back against Islamic expansion. If the defensive Crusader wars were never launched, western civilization may have ceased to exist. Thank you. Crusaders!

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the three books I read on the Crusades, I found this one to be the most helpful in getting a general overview of their history. It is well written and gripping, being told from a Roman Catholic perspective.

[Brennan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible propaganda. Even though the author cites his Catholic bias in the beginning of the book, the abject neglect to provide any objective historical analysis of the conflicts of the Crusades was disappointing (at best) and malicious (at worst). The author constantly bemoans modern scholarship’s negative conclusions of the Crusades and the Church’s role, claiming they are ignoring the brave men who joined the cause as an action informed by their faith in God. Then in the same breath chastises and damns the Muslim soldiers are brainwashed infidels slaughtering innocent Christians - as if their military action wasn’t informed in the same way by THEIR faith.

The author complains that modern society is missing the point of the crusades and there is a conspiracy of the modern Protestant intelligencia to subvert “the truth” about them. As a Catholic, I’ve heard peers preach this paranoia time and time again. It’s not healthy or based on reality. The truth is that there are genuine, objective issues with the crusades, chief of them being the Church and papacy’s political authority to even call for one. There is a similar complaint to be made against Islam in its merging of theological and political authority under one banner, but the Church, in trying to counter Islam’s spread in the Orient, had to become the thing they feared: a horde of uneducated foot soldiers spreading death and destruction in a land their forefathers never saw, unified under a religion that preaches Love thy Neighbor.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Crusades is still a hotly contested subject worldwide, even centuries after it occurred. Depending on which side of history you are on, depends on who is most at fault. Catholics, Orthodox, and Muslims all have different sides of this debate, and all of them involve pointing fingers and taking none of the blame. Today, I am reviewing The Glory of the Crusades from Catholic Answers Press. The aim of the book is to refute the following seven misconceptions:

1. The Crusades were wars of unprovoked aggression.
2. The Crusades were motivated primarily by greed and the prospect for plunder and riches.
3. When Jerusalem was liberated in 1099, the Crusaders killed all the inhabitants of the city - so much blood was spilled it ran ankle deep.
4. The Crusades were colonial enterprises.
5. The Crusades were also wars against the Jews and should be seen as the first Holocaust.
6. The Crusades were wars of conversion.
7. The Crusades are the source of modern tension between Islam and the West.

The book then begins by explaining how and why the Crusades began and where the term Crusades actually came from. The book then walks us through six centuries of this warfare. It starts with Jerusalem and moves to the Second Crusade and warrior-monks. We see Saladin and then are explained the failure which was the Fourth Crusade. The book then ends with a modern viewing of the Crusades. The book is chock full of history and contains numerous endnotes at the end of the book that are worth investigating and referencing. However, what makes this book special is the author's way of presenting this history to us. Instead, of giving us a dry telling of names, facts, and events, this book is told like a story, an epic even. This makes the history come alive and is more likely to be remembered.

Before reading this book, I had a lot of ideas and misconceptions about what the Crusades were, who was at fault, and what they were about. This book cleared up a lot of things and proved to be a real eye-opener. With all those positives though, I fear many will only see this book as Catholic-slanted and not give it a fair read. I say this, not as a criticism, but as an observation. I believe this is a book that all Catholics should read, if for nothing more than to understand the Crusades better and perhaps have some sort of defense if ever confronted with anti-Catholics who try to blame the Crusades on us. You and even sadly, this book, will probably not convince them of the truth, but at least you will know it.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crisis Magazine published my review. Here's an excerpt:

"Taking seriously the faith of the crusaders, Weidenkopf deals especially well with the myths that the Crusades were land grabs or wars of conversion. The crusaders did not insist on converting those living under their control; rather they fought to defend the Christians already living in the Holy Land and those making pilgrimages there. And as for the colonization or imperialism myth, it is debunked by the reality that the crusaders held only a few cities at any one time and left hardly enough troops to maintain the garrisons let alone expand an empire. The vast majority of the survivors returned home, battered and poorer for their efforts."

"The morality of war doesn’t stand or fall on the entity in whose name it is waged, but on its adherence to just war principles. The state can be every bit as guilty as any faith, so the Crusades cannot be used to unfairly malign religion."

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/hi...

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and concise

Very readable and the footnotes after each chapter had summaries as needed. Also includes a bibliography, though no index, at least in the Kindle edition I read.

[Gauthier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely give 5 stars to a book and many would argue that this book does bot deserve even one star. As the author rightly points out, the Crusades suffer from such a bad press in the mainstream world and the book is written by a Catholic and published by a Catholic institution. For many, there are too many elements that would make one question the quality of the book and of its arguments. I have to admit that when I purchased the book, I told myself that I would give it a chance because, for once, I wanted to read about the Crusades in a more positive light than usual. However, I was fully aware that, for the same reasons mentioned above, I would have to take most of the book with a grain of salt.

Well, it turns out I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there are few references here and there where the author lets his faith prevail over his academic background. Yet, that is too be expected and overall, it is a minor presence in the whole book. Most of what the author mentions is a well-constructed argument and he relies on a solid array of sources despite the shortness of this book (around 240 pages long). He tackles all the myths or preconceived ideas about the Crusades and shows clearly why they are are wrong. For example, it has been argued that the Crusades were mostly an enterprise that sought to obtain wealth. The author clearly shows how that is simply not true as it cost a fortune to prepare for the expedition which would last years and then, most Crusaders would simply go back home if they were still alive. He also does not forget to mention the several occasions where Crusaders behaved cruelly but, when it applies, he provides context and arguments to explain why some of then occurred. He is not afraid of describing the errors of the Crusaders but he also demonstrates that whatever faults they had, their Muslim opponents were no less similar in many ways. They could also prove to be cruel just as war dictated.

In the end, the book is a welcome revisiting of the Crusades told in a way that does not show this series of historical events in an overtly positive way. It sets the record straight while addressing the particular dark sides as well. More importantly, it shows that Christians and Muslims could be just as violent and cruel toward each other and debating over who started first is childish. Finally, it adopts an approach that is dear to me: one cannot judge and interpret past events with modern morality. To fully understand past events, one has to understand them according to the context and mentality of the time. This approach alone is enough to convince me that this book is a good choice to obtain a good understanding of the Crusades. I hope it will be the same for you.

[Daniel Millard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe I received this as a freebie from Catholic Answers a while back, and was told by several others that it was a good basic overview of the various Crusades and how they've been treated in history.

This does indeed make a good "layman's guide" to Crusading history. All Crusades, including a number of peripheral events (Outremer politics, the "Children's Crusade", lives of associated saints) are covered in satisfactory detail, and the author is extremely good about providing footnotes, a concatenated timeline, and a robust bibliography for further reading.

At some point, I would like to read a more detailed accounting of the Crusades, and specifically the "re-imagining" of the Crusades in Protestant and 20th century Islamic history, but this is a superb primer and reference point for the intellectually honest individual who wants to understand the motivations for these conflicts and set the record straight.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a brilliantly written expose on the Crusades. The author, Steve Weidenkopf, provides a scholarly and riveting account of the wars against Islam for the restoration of the Catholic Faith and territory in the Middle East.

The author starts by debunking the lies about the Crusades that were spread during the Reformation, the Enlightenment and in our times. This is followed by an explanation of the idea of Crusade, which is a war against the enemies of Christendom for the recovery of Catholic lands or to defend the Catholic Church.

"The Glory of the Crusades" is an easy read and is replete with stories about the heroic battles, the miracles that accompanied these battles, and the brave men who willingly made the sacrifice to leave behind family, fortune, and country to serve the cause of the Catholic Church.

[Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for history buffs.
It's also great to read into the myths and inaccuracies historians have shared regarding the crusades.
It reads well too as it was easy to stop and start anytime the way the book is organized.
This is one of those books I'll go back to as a reference for things like The Battle of Lepanto, Don Juan, St. Louis, Baybers, and more!

[William Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave a really good defense of why the crusades were actually awesome, rather than being the embarrassment many modern Christians think of them as, while also acknowledging that war is awful and even though the crusades had many good moments, war itself can never be good, and not all crusaders were saints.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, tells whole the story of the Crusade-era from its origins in the 11th Century to the Siege of Vienna in 1683, exposing many popularly-held myths along the way. Painstakingly researched, and in a highly readable style. A fascinating read!

[Skn70056 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for not only learning about the Crusades, but also the history of what is still going on in todays world

[David Peixoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book against so many false narratives, most brought about by the Reformation to attack the Catholic Church generally and the Papacy specifically. Vast bibliography.

[Todd White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, with almost 700 footnotes. Debunks a lot of the misconceptions of the Crusades. Would make an interesting text for a high school semester history class.

[Brigitte Prior · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really enjoy this book. Very enlightening. We were not taught the real story behind the crusades

[Nancy Kendall]

no audio

[Nick Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, just wish it included maps.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not an academic book. The author says he relies on modern studies which have gotten away to some extent from the old-fasioned, anti-Catholic polemics.

It is apologetics in old-fashioned meaning of the word, unabashedly, unashamedly, apologetics -- NOT apologetic. For that, I think it is superb. I think it might go overboard, no defensively, but offensively. But I suspect some of that is needed.

Almost all of this was to be found in Sam's course.

I wonder if a new age of apologetics is beginning. I just read The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible which is a wide-open, swinging attack on skeptics attacks on the Bible.

I liked both.

[John Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished. The subject of the Crusades is vast so this book touches on the highlights of the centuries long conflicts. The author does a fine work of dispelling the mold growth of mythistory,propaganda, and anachronistic Hollywood crud that has encrusted the subject with simply the contemporaneous facts of its history. Reads a bit like a quick popular history more of interest to the general reader. A good read to arm one's self with,in my opinion, in light of the continuous conflict with Islam.

[Nancy Jurss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of the Crusades using the most recent research on the topic. He analyzes what happened using the viewpoints of the times they happened in. He thoroughly explains how warfare was conducted during the Middle Ages so that we understand why it seems so violent to us in modern times. He also explains the role of religion in the lives of the people during this time which makes you understand the motivations of those who went out on the Crusades.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good balance between the flaws and the triumphs of the crusaders and their causes. this book dispels many of the false myths of the Crusades while not glossing over the failures and ambitions of certain participants. The book does demonstrate, through historical accounts that the Crusades are not the story we know from the History Channel.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no knowledge of the Crusades, and this is a good overview from a Christian perspective, but the writing style didn't suit me. There are too many important historical figures to introduce quickly in battle context and move on from.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Sets straight the true facts of the Crusades.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The message is good and arguments are supported by evidence, but the way it was written was so dry and painfully boring that I couldn't finish it. I felt like I was reading a high school essay.