He successfully asked the Christian countrymen to volunteer as penance. (4) in a period of flux the faith of the church became a unifying force, where one was greatly needed and men of arms swore allegence to the church and followed many calls for p Continue Reading...
Kilij Arslan, having seen saw how easily his army had defeated the Frank invaders at minimal cost, grossly underestimated at his great cost the much more disciplined and formidable European crusading armies that followed. (McFall 5, "Ill-Fated Crusa Continue Reading...
"[footnoteRef:6] At the time of The Crusades the relations between the West and Byzantium is reported to have been characterized "as a clash of cultures." [footnoteRef:7] The Greeks are reported to have seen themselves as "civilized superiors to the Continue Reading...
Just as in Swift, we find in Cervantes social criticism, irony and sarcasm as well as the satirical method and exaggeration and allusion as methods. Humor was also used centuries earlier in Don Quixote as well. Cervantes is as gifted and accomplish Continue Reading...
King Richard I (reigned 1189-99) has always been a ruler who inspired strong feelings, in his contemporaries and near-contemporaries and among subsequent historians.
He has been seen as the model of ideal kingship, a truly Christian ruler, a wise mo Continue Reading...
Did the Crusades advance the cause of Christ?
According to a digitized volume originally published in 1864 by Partridge and Company, the Crusades were instigated chiefly by "the most superstitious and fanatical notions"; and these "soldiers of Jes Continue Reading...
Interpreting the Crusades: A Holy or Cynical War?Crusading has become a synonym for something negative, usually as an action which is zealously undertaken without thought and consideration to the needs of outsiders or in light of alternative points o Continue Reading...
And just as different divisions of Christianity are more or less fundamentalist in their interpretation of religious texts and traditions, different divisions of Islam are more or less strict. The most fundamentalist version of Islam, one that is pr Continue Reading...
Justo L.Gonzalez, The Story Christianity, 1 volume (preferably 2010 edition) ii.
The Crusades -- interpretation and history
There is much controversy regarding Crusades, their purpose, and the general effect that they left on society. Largely acce Continue Reading...
Rhineland Massacre: Holy War or Papal Politics?
The Rhineland Massacre of 1096 was one of the first large-scale slaughters of the Jews in the Middle Ages, and was followed by a series of mass genocides in Europe, in which Jews were targeted. Althou Continue Reading...
Typology in Christianity
The author of this report is reviewing typology in Christianity with a strong focus on a few particular dimensions. Typology, for the purposes of Christianity, is the translation and transition between the Old Testament and Continue Reading...
NEC PLURIBUS IMPAR (not unequal to many things)
History is written for historians to understand. If Schleiman's Troy had 16 layers to it before finding virgin ground, so is history a layered version written by the State Historian for the Ruler. To b Continue Reading...
The shifting perceptions of 1096, particularly when seen against the backdrop of the historical
"reality, have much to teach us."
The development of the Rhineland Massacres, often looked at in history as a linear first example of official Jewish m Continue Reading...
In the same way, anyone that took it upon them to forsake the goods of this world, in order to crusade in the Holy Land would be able to inherit eternal life. Pope Urban reportedly also promised a complete remission of their sins to whoever promise Continue Reading...
The Crusader states that were set up in the aftermath of the First Crusade represent the achievement of these aims, and the expansion of the Western feudal system into the East. Military orders such as the Knights Hospitallers early combined the ide Continue Reading...
Jewish Identity in Modern Times: Jonathan Sacks, in an article Love, Hate and Jewish Identity appropriately sums up the dilemma of Jewish self-identity in modern times by stating: "Until the beginning of the 19th century, Jews defined themselves as Continue Reading...
Western Religion
In his book, "Western Ways of Being Religious," (Kessler, 1999) the author Gary E. Kessler identifies the theological, philosophical and societal ramifications of the evolution of religion in the West. Christianity, Judaism and Isla Continue Reading...