Women and the Crusades

by Helen J. Nicholson

The crusade movement needed their money, their prayer support, their active participation, and their inspiration...

This book surveys women's involvement in medieval crusading between the second half of the eleventh century, when Pope Gregory VII first proposed a penitential military expedition to help the Christians of the East, and 1570, when the last crusader state, Cyprus, was captured by the Ottoman Turks. It considers women's actions not only on crusade battlefields but also in recruiting crusaders, supporting crusades through patronage, propaganda, and prayer, and as both defenders and aggressors. It
argues that medieval women were deeply involved in the crusades but the roles that they could play and how their contemporaries recorded their deeds were dictated by social convention and cultural expectations. Although its main focus is the women of Latin Christendom, it also looks at the impact of
the crusades and crusaders on the Jews of western Europe and the Muslims of the Middle East, and compares relations between Latin Christians and Muslims with relations between Muslims and other Christian groups.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, School, Womens

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Klissia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is like about the books that are published that researches about the life of warrior viking women ,they
existed or not ?At the end not is well documented enough
about these lives (because theyre were women of course),if you waiting for read stories aboud knight warrior women fighting for her faith ,you will be a little frustrated,women here were not in the centre of the action in battles,but have a important role in supporting financially , caring for theirs husbands,sons or being mediators,diplomats and ruling/managing theirs states,kingdoms in the absence of men.Good work.

[Alexandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We may not accept that a demon inspired the woman, but through her disruptive behavior and impersonation of a male demon she gained authorization to preach."

[Gauthier · Rating 3 out of 5]

For obvious reasons, most books on the Crusades have not focused on the role of women. They were definitely not ignored (the stories about Maragaret of Provence's defense of Damietta, Eleanor of Aquitaine joining the Second Crusade, or that anonymous woman who died at the Siege of Acre in around 1190, using her body to fill the ditch, are well known) but we lacked a more in-depth view of their reality, whether they were queens, nobles, simple folks, or whether they went to the Holy Land on their own or accompanying a husband, a brother. Some of them stayed, hoping to see their loved one(s) come back.
Thanks to this book, we now get to understand better the roles that women played during the Crusades. There were many of those: some women helped gather funds, prayed, negotiated for ransoms of captured loved ones, and participated in some military campaigns. The list is long. Unfortunately, the author explains that there is much we don't know and that we probably never will.
Despite this, Nicholson provides us with a good overview in this highly researched book that encompasses the Crusades in the Middle East, Spain, Eastern Europe, and Southern France. There are even some examples on the Muslim side, although those are few and far between.
Regardless, this is definitely a must-have for any avid Crusades history readers like me.

[Cathleen Sarti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book on the various involvements of women in the crusades - lots of detail to the point that I was sometimes a bit overwhelmed with all the names. But all in all, it also showed the wider society impact of the crusades, the way it formed medieval culture and society, and of course that leaving women out of it, leaves out important contexts and connections.