Glory of the Crusades

by Steve Weidenkopf

Overview

How can the Crusades be called "glorious"? Our modern mindset says they were ugly wars of greed and religious intolerance-a big reason why Christians and Muslims today can't coexist peacefully. Historian Steve Weidenkopf challenges this received narrative. Drawing on the latest and most authentic medieval scholarship, he presents a compelling case for understanding the Crusades as they were when they happened: "armed pilgrimages" driven by a holy zeal to recover conquered Christian lands. Without whitewashing their failures and even crimes, he debunks the numerous myths about the Crusades that our secular culture uses as clubs to attack the Church. In place of these myths he offers men and women of faith and valor who pledged their lives for the honor of Christ's holy places. With a storyteller's gift, Weidenkopf relates the Crusades' many dramas-their heroes and villains, battles and sieges, intrigues and coincidences-offering a vivid and engrossing account of events that have profoundly affected the course of our world to the present day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941663011
Publisher:	Catholic Answers
Publication date:	10/01/2014
Pages:	285
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 9

Author Preface 13

1 An Attack on the Crusades and the Church 17

2 Birth of the Crusades 29

3 Jerusalem 51

4 Warrior-Monks, Preachers, and the Second Crusade 79

5 The Sultan and the Kings 107

6 Fiasco of the Fourth Crusade 135

7 A Saint and a Sinner 163

8 The End of the Crusader States 185

9 Defending Christendom 207

10 The Crusades and the Modern World 233

Timeline of Crusades and Other Major Events 242

Bibliography 245

About the Author 251

Endnotes 253