Gateway to the Heavenly City: Crusader Jerusalem and the Catholic West (1099-1187) / Edition 1

by Sylvia Schein

Overview

Gateway to the Heavenly City presents a penetrating analysis of the attitudes of Latin Christendom towards Jerusalem in the period from the First Crusade to the Muslim capture of the city in 1187. Sylvia Schein starts by exploring the changes in the Western image of Jerusalem, first as the goal of the crusade, then after its conquest. She examines the theories used to justify the conquest and rule of the Holy City and the attitudes of the papacy towards this new rival centre of sanctity. Subsequent chapters describe the new character of Jerusalem's sanctity as the city of the Old and New Testaments, as the earthly gateway to the heavenly city, and in apocalyptic terms as the centre of the world and the place where the events of the end of the world would unroll. The reaction to the fall of crusader Jerusalem in 1187 is the subject of the final chapter. Based on a detailed examination of the source materials, from poetry and song to chronicles and charters, this book paints a clear picture of the place of the Earthly and the Heavenly Jerusalem in Latin Christendom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780754606499
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/18/2005
Series:	Church, Faith and Culture in the Medieval West
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Sylvia Schein was formerly Senior Lecturer in the Department of General History, at the University of Haifa, Israel.

Table of Contents

Contents: Foreword; Introduction; Jerusalem: goal of the first crusade; The conquest - a divine act; 'Inheritance of the Lord': justifications of Christian rule in Jerusalem; Rome, Babylon and Jerusalem: papal attitudes to Jerusalem; From the 'city of the Holy Sepulchre' to the 'city of the humanity of Christ'; The city of the Old and New Testament; Jerusalem in the believer's plan of salvation; Jerusalem - centre of the world and scene of the last days; 'The terrible news': the reaction of Christendom to the fall of Jerusalem (1187); Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

’...an excellent investigation of motivations and the propaganda associated with the crusades...Highly recommended.’ Choice '[Sylvia Schein] is superbly qualified to work with both the Old and New Testaments in giving us a detailed and highly complex picture... we can only be grateful that we have this stimulating work as her legacy.' Church History ’This is a book which will be of value to all students of the crusades and those interested in the ideal of Jerusalem.’ Crusades ’... makes available an important original contribution to crusading studies by a scholar whose absence will be sadly missed... A significant, important and welcome contribution.’ Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature

From the Publisher