HI360 The Crusades
The Crusades were a series of wars that began in the late eleventh century. Kings, nobles and commoners; Christians, Jews and Muslims; all felt the impact of the Crusading movement that lasted in various forms into the early modern period. This course will discuss the history of the Crusades from their origins in the Latin West through the establishment of Crusader states in the Holy Land in the twelfth century to the gradual collapse of the Crusading movement in the later medieval period. We will examine the theories of just and holy war that underlay the idea of the Crusades, the identities of those who participated, their goals, and how the experience of Crusading was played out East and West. Finally, since the Crusading knight is one of the most iconic images of the medieval period, we will draw the semester to a close by looking at modern perceptions of the Crusades in both the Christian and Muslim worlds.