Finished Fr 8/22/25
This was one of my ancient hardbacks that I've never read. The flyleaf informs me that I bought the book at Barnes & Noble.
I really am glad that I read the book and although it's non-fiction, it read like a novel.
First Crusade began in 1095 by Pope Urban II and lasted for two centuries.
From the dust jacker: "The Crusades can be accounted a military failure, but they were a cultural phenomenon that introduced a new age of 3xploration and nation states, shattering the feudal establishments of medieval Europe."
The Pope was worried about the rise of the secular state by Charlamagne in France. The Church leaned into the gospel of Revelation. 'The End Is Near' and who will be there to defend the Holy Land when Jesus returns"?
Odd Fact: The West learned about paper from the Saracens and this led to the publication of Bibles so that the commoners could own 'the good book' themselves.
From the book's page at Goodreads: "In November of 1095 Pope Urban II launched a holy war against the infidel. In 1464 a demented pontiff led an imaginary band of crusaders as far as an Adriatic port. Between these dates Europe was infected by a strangely persistent fever of mass idealism. Though outward zeal often cloaked the most cynical of motives, this universal spirit seized upon thousands - noblemen and peasants, warriors and scholars, ascetics and lechers, vagabonds and kings. Written by a prolific author of numerous histories, novels, drama, criticisms and verse, The Crusades provides a lively and authentic account of two hundred years of war, sacred journeys and the quest for riches. Henry Treece reanimates many renowned figures of the period---Charlemagne, Haroun-al-Raschid, Peter the Hermit, Richard the Lion-Heart, Raymond of Toulouse, Bohemond, Saladin, Mourschid, Henry Dandolo, Frederick II, Louis the Oious and Genghis Khan---as well as providing an illuminating narrative of one of Christianity's darkest periods."
Because the story begins with the reign of Charlamagne, here's a link to 'the founder of Feudalism'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne
No comments:
Post a Comment