The Crusades: Recommended Resources

Overviews

• Sir Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1951–54) remains a striking historical narrative.

• Kenneth M. Setton, ed., The History of the Crusades, 6 vols. (Wisconsin, 1969–89) is a comprehensive work by dozens of specialists. Though some articles are out of date, it is still valuable.

• Hans Eberhard Mayer, The Crusades, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1988) stresses the relationship between the Crusades and contemporary religious movements.

• Jonathan Riley—Smith The Crusades: A Short History (Yale, 1987) differs from Mayer chiefly in the broad sweep of his coverage, which extends to the sixteenth-century struggles of Europeans against Ottoman expansion.

• Malcolm Billings, The Crusades (Sterling, 1988) is based on a BBC radio series. A high-quality popularization.

• Carl Erdmann, The Origin of the Idea of Crusade (Princeton, 1977) sparked interest in the question of Christianity’s involvement in these wars.

• The Atlas of the Crusades edited by Jonathan Riley—Smith, (Facts—on—File, 1990) is useful for those interested in the geographical aspects of the Crusades.


Arabs and Jews

• Amin Maalouf, The Crusades through Arab Eyes (Schocken, 1985) is a popularized yet important work directed to an Arab audience.

• Peter M. Holt, The Age of the Crusades (Longman, 1986). This clearly written narrative provides a useful companion to Maalouf.

• Arab Historians of the Crusades, edited and translated by Francesco Gabrieli; translated from the Italian by E. J. Costello (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969; California, 1984) is a major collection of Arabic sources.

• Robert Chazan, European Jewry and the First Crusade (California, 1987) studies the Jewish persecutions that broke out.

• The Jews and the Crusaders: The Hebrew Chronicles of the First and Second Crusades, translated and edited by Shlomo Eidelberg (Wisconsin, 1977) makes these important sources readily accessible.


Specific Aspects

• Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (Pennsylvania, 1986) analyzes the motives and participants in the First Crusade.

• Jean Richard, The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (North Holland, 1979) is an outstanding study of the kingdom established by the First Crusade.

• Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Knights of St. John in Jerusalem and Cyprus, ca. 1050–1310 (St. Martin’s, 1967) deals with the quasi-religious military orders.

• Charles Brand, Byzantium Confronts the West, 1180–1204 (Harvard, 1968) explores the background of the Fourth Crusade from a Byzantine view.

• William Chester Jordan, Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade (Princeton, 1979) discusses the involvement of King Louis IX.

By James M. Powell

[Christian History originally published this article in Christian History Issue #40 in 1993]

Dr. James M. Powell is professor of medieval history at Syracuse University and author of Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213–1221 (Pennsylvania, 1986–1990).
Next articles

The Children’s Crusade

They innocently headed for the Holy Land, not knowing they would never return.

Steven Runciman

Objections to Crusades Answered

An experienced crusade preacher defends holy war

Humbert of Romans

BONUS: The American Puritans: About This Issue

Introducing this issue on American Puritans.

Mark Galli

The American Puritans: Did You Know?

Little-known or remarkable facts about the American Puritans.

Cassandra Niemczyk
Show more

Subscribe to magazine

Subscription to Christian History magazine is on a donation basis

Subscribe

Support us

Christian History Institute (CHI) is a non-profit Pennsylvania corporation founded in 1982. Your donations support the continuation of this ministry

Donate

Subscribe to daily emails

Containing today’s events, devotional, quote and stories