The Crusades

THE CRUSADES : A HISTORY , SECOND EDITION

Julian Cosimi

The Crusades : A History , Second Edition

Jonathan Riley-Smith

Yale University Press

New Haven , CT

2005

The Crusades were a critical chapter in European and Christian history profoundly affecting the times in which they occurred , as well as the future of Christianity itself . Jonathan Riley-Smith 's The Crusades - approximately 400 pages in length - provides a highly detailed account of all the crusade movements that took place

Written by Riley-Smith , author and editor of several books on the Crusades and

the Middle Ages in general , the book is composed of two prefaces , an introduction , ten chapters , and closes with an afterword The meat of the book is the ten chapters , each of which is broken down into several sections , thus allowing for a detailed analysis of every aspect of each crusade

The first two chapters provide an account of the events leading up to the start of the crusade movement , as well as an in-depth focus on the first crusade itself . Riley-Smith makes it clear that the purpose of this first crusade was to save the Holy Land from the infidel Muslims He emphasizes the point that the crusade was to be about liberation , not just for the Holy Land , but also for all those who were sinners . If they fought for the liberation of Jerusalem , they would experience spiritual liberation

The third and fourth chapters focus on the settlement , development , and defense of the Latin East . Riley-Smith provides an explanation of the events following the first crusade , which ended in victory for the crusaders . They were able to establish small states , of which they were the sole rulers . However , this would only last for a brief period of time , as the tensions that led to the crusade were still simmering

Those tensions lead Riley-Smith to discuss the somewhat forgettable second crusade in the fifth chapter . He emphasizes that poor execution resulted in low morale among the crusaders , which in turn led to very few victories during that particular crusade . He also makes the point that , at this stage , the crusading movement was in a period of adolescence . Like all adolescents , it was going through the awkward phase , but it would come of age with the third crusade

The sixth chapter covers the third , fourth , and fifth crusades , as well as the children 's crusade and other minor crusades led by individual rulers . This chapter shows the growth that the crusading movement experienced , as well as the seeds of its eventual demise . The seventh chapter continues in the same thread as the previous one , providing accounts of crusading movements in Spain , Prussia , and Livonia , as well as crusades launched by St . Louis of France . It closes with a discussion concerning why there was no great crusading movement following 1276

The eight chapter focuses once more on the Latin East , discussing the various political developments occurring there between 1192 and 1291 The final two chapters discuss the various developments within the crusading movement itself , as...