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"God Wills It!": Understanding the Crusades
7 audiocassettes and one book enclosed in a clamshell case. Thomas Madden is a professor of medieval history at Saint Louis University.
As late as 1518, plans were laid by Pope Leo X and the monarchs of Europe to set aside their internal quarrels and once more embark on a holy crusade to wrest the Middle East from the Ottoman Turks. Finding accord and even enthusiasm for the enterprise, all was on course for a multiyear military campaign to push east from North Africa through Egypt and south through the Balkans to squeeze the Turks in a pincer movement and finally oust the Muslims from the Holy Land. The great plan, however, died when Europe was once again plunged into internal strife with the death of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, who had been a leader for the crusade.
Even this event in conjunction with the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, the rise of ever-stronger Ottoman leaders, and the political conflicts throughout Europe did not completely erase the idea of crusading. Today, the military orders of the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Hospitallers continue to care for the poor and the sick, albeit without raising armies to fight.
For over 400 years, crusaders (“those signed by the cross”), out of Christian zeal, a declared love for their fellow man, and, in many cases, a simple desire for fortune, glory, and heavenly reward, marched to the Holy Land to battle both a real and perceived threat to their way of life and their religious beliefs. The story of the many crusades are filled with an unremitting passion to keep or return the home of Christianity to Christians. It is also filled with death, destruction, disorder, greed, avarice, and self-interest on all sides. Much of what occurred during the Crusades has come down to us today in the form of continued suspicion among religious ideologies—not only between Christians and Muslims, but also internally among Christian sects and, to some degree, among Muslim sects. There is certainly much to learn about our own history from a better understanding of the Crusades and what led so many to crusade.
Course Syllabus
Lecture 1 The Medieval Background of the Crusades
Lecture 2 Faith, Culture, Empire
Lecture 3 Pope Urban II and the Calling of the First Crusade
Lecture 4 The First Crusade
Lecture 5 What Were the Crusades? Who Were the Crusaders?
Lecture 6 The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
Lecture 7 The Second Crusade
Lecture 8 The Third Crusade
Lecture 9 The Fourth Crusade
Lecture 10 Crusades in Europe
Lecture 11 The Fifth Crusade
Lecture 12 The Crusades of St. Louis
Lecture 13 The Fall of the Crusader States
Lecture 14 Later Crusades and the Legacy of the Crusades
As late as 1518, plans were laid by Pope Leo X and the monarchs of Europe to set aside their internal quarrels and once more embark on a holy crusade to wrest the Middle East from the Ottoman Turks. Finding accord and even enthusiasm for the enterprise, all was on course for a multiyear military campaign to push east from North Africa through Egypt and south through the Balkans to squeeze the Turks in a pincer movement and finally oust the Muslims from the Holy Land. The great plan, however, died when Europe was once again plunged into internal strife with the death of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, who had been a leader for the crusade.
Even this event in conjunction with the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, the rise of ever-stronger Ottoman leaders, and the political conflicts throughout Europe did not completely erase the idea of crusading. Today, the military orders of the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Hospitallers continue to care for the poor and the sick, albeit without raising armies to fight.
For over 400 years, crusaders (“those signed by the cross”), out of Christian zeal, a declared love for their fellow man, and, in many cases, a simple desire for fortune, glory, and heavenly reward, marched to the Holy Land to battle both a real and perceived threat to their way of life and their religious beliefs. The story of the many crusades are filled with an unremitting passion to keep or return the home of Christianity to Christians. It is also filled with death, destruction, disorder, greed, avarice, and self-interest on all sides. Much of what occurred during the Crusades has come down to us today in the form of continued suspicion among religious ideologies—not only between Christians and Muslims, but also internally among Christian sects and, to some degree, among Muslim sects. There is certainly much to learn about our own history from a better understanding of the Crusades and what led so many to crusade.
Course Syllabus
Lecture 1 The Medieval Background of the Crusades
Lecture 2 Faith, Culture, Empire
Lecture 3 Pope Urban II and the Calling of the First Crusade
Lecture 4 The First Crusade
Lecture 5 What Were the Crusades? Who Were the Crusaders?
Lecture 6 The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
Lecture 7 The Second Crusade
Lecture 8 The Third Crusade
Lecture 9 The Fourth Crusade
Lecture 10 Crusades in Europe
Lecture 11 The Fifth Crusade
Lecture 12 The Crusades of St. Louis
Lecture 13 The Fall of the Crusader States
Lecture 14 Later Crusades and the Legacy of the Crusades
Audiobook
First published January 1, 2005
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About the author
Thomas F. Madden
43 books157 followersThomas F. Madden (born 1960) is an American historian, the Chair of the History Department at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and Director of Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
He is considered one of the foremost historians of the Crusades in the United States. He has frequently appeared in the media, as a consultant for various programs on the History Channel and National Public Radio.
In 2007, he was awarded the Haskins Medal from the Medieval Academy of America, for his book Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice, which was also a "Book of the Month" selection by the BBC History magazine.
He is considered one of the foremost historians of the Crusades in the United States. He has frequently appeared in the media, as a consultant for various programs on the History Channel and National Public Radio.
In 2007, he was awarded the Haskins Medal from the Medieval Academy of America, for his book Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice, which was also a "Book of the Month" selection by the BBC History magazine.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 13, 2011
Professor Madden does an excellent job of telling the story of the Crusades while weaving in details and background to the topic.
March 9, 2019
This is a helpful introduction to and overview of the Crusades. It is fair and without many obvious
"axes to grind." (NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
"axes to grind." (NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
September 23, 2017
Excellent audiobook on the history of the crusades by one of the best scholars on the subject. Professor Maddens lectures give a great overview of the entire crusading era.
August 22, 2025
Another amazing audio lecture course from The Modern Scholar series, and I'm all charged up and ready to crusade for Pope Leo! Just kidding, I'd have to fast and pray about it first. Just kidding, again, Pope Leo is obviously very anti-war.
Thomas F. Madden is an excellent lecturer, and I learned a lot from him. And once again I'm left unsatisfied, because I can't go to the Modern Scholar website to take my final exam, because the website, mysteriously, no longer exists.
Happy Feast Day to Pope Saint Pius X. Happy Anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Knock in Ireland. St. Michael, pray for us and defend us in battle. And, featured in this lecture, Saint Louis of France, pray for us!
Thomas F. Madden is an excellent lecturer, and I learned a lot from him. And once again I'm left unsatisfied, because I can't go to the Modern Scholar website to take my final exam, because the website, mysteriously, no longer exists.
Happy Feast Day to Pope Saint Pius X. Happy Anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Knock in Ireland. St. Michael, pray for us and defend us in battle. And, featured in this lecture, Saint Louis of France, pray for us!
May 12, 2017
This was mainly for brushing up. I know it's supposed to be like a college course, but I wish it went more in depth.
September 24, 2016
This is a good series about the crusades and the geopolitical reasons behind it.
March 18, 2014
I managed to make my way through this book while reading a lot on the Crusades and the Eastern Roman Empire. I found that this book was both crucial to my under standing in this period and was most certainly a handy jumping pad for further and more in depth reading.
The Crusades are a complicated and long reaching subject, the consequences of the many Crusades still affect our World to this day. It infects our language and culture, how we under stand certain terms and events is a biased contrast to those of the East and how they have come to react and under stand the events of this period in history.
For many the Crusades is simply about Islam and Christendom and it is simply left at that. The Pogroms, assaults on Byzantine, complex alliances and the merging of cultures is lost in the simplistic historical narrative often found in fiction or in letter head sized explanations of the events.
It is because of the importance and complexity of the Crusades that books such as this are key to assisting ones under standing. Madden is a talented writer as well as historian and provides his text with an attractive prose which helps the reader to digest the events and personalities well.
I would suggest any one who wishes to learn about the Crusades to read this book as it will no doubt inspire further searching for knowledge on the subject.
85 %
The Crusades are a complicated and long reaching subject, the consequences of the many Crusades still affect our World to this day. It infects our language and culture, how we under stand certain terms and events is a biased contrast to those of the East and how they have come to react and under stand the events of this period in history.
For many the Crusades is simply about Islam and Christendom and it is simply left at that. The Pogroms, assaults on Byzantine, complex alliances and the merging of cultures is lost in the simplistic historical narrative often found in fiction or in letter head sized explanations of the events.
It is because of the importance and complexity of the Crusades that books such as this are key to assisting ones under standing. Madden is a talented writer as well as historian and provides his text with an attractive prose which helps the reader to digest the events and personalities well.
I would suggest any one who wishes to learn about the Crusades to read this book as it will no doubt inspire further searching for knowledge on the subject.
85 %
January 24, 2011
This is a good introductory survey of the crusades. I appreciated the Muslim perspective that Prof. Madden brings up. He also does a good job talking about the broader themes of crusading in western culture, the major trends that led to the success and failure of the crusades and the crusader states. Recommended.
March 6, 2009
This is the third book by Thomas Madden that I have listened to and I have enjoyed all of them. He presents information in a very organized way and touches on many dimensions of his subject matter. AI would recommend this to any history buff.
November 24, 2014
A really great overview of a misunderstood (even by me!) time period. Lots of people namecheck the Crusades despite knowing nothing about them. The lecturer, sadly, isn't quite up to the task. Great teacher though he may be, he's not the easiest to listen to.
March 19, 2009
Details into the almost comical history of the crusades.
July 29, 2009
Brief history of the Crusades, without the excessive non-relevant mundane details some history books tend to give.
October 6, 2011
Excellent lecture. Prof. Madden is excellent. Engaging, sometimes funny, and very knowledgable he is a great teacher.
July 16, 2012
interesting, but the audio version is a bit dull.
October 23, 2018
As someone who knew almost nothing about the crusades, this was an entertaining, useful resource. A true history buff would probably not find much depth here, though.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews