The Later Crusades: From Lyons to Alcazar 1274-1580 - Softcover

Housley, Norman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198221363 ISBN 13: 9780198221364

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 1992

Synopsis

The expulsion of the Christians from the Holy Land in 1291 was far from being the end of the crusading movement. Crusades continued for three centuries over a vast area stretching from Morocco to Russia and played an important role in the politics and society of late medieval Europe. The first study to focus in depth on the later crusades, this book explores with clarity and insight developments in all the areas touched by crusading activity. Housley examines the evolution of the international military orders and the Christian "frontier states" associated with crusading, focusing especially on Greece and Cyprus. Illuminating the massive range and energy of the crusading movement in the late middle ages, he reveals the formidable problems which, as the period progressed, increasingly doomed crusades to failure, and shows how practical crusading was in a condition of decay before the Reformation destroyed the religious framework in which it had once flourished.

About this title

Product Description:

The expulsion of the Christians from the Holy Land in 1291 was far from being the end of the crusading movement. Norman Housley's comprehensive survey is the first to focus in depth on the later crusades. This is a wide-ranging and lucidly written study, which will be invaluable to students of the crusades. It is supplemented by fourteen maps and a guide to further reading.

Review:

'The author has devoted great care and a breathtaking range of scholarly reading to making what he has to say clear and accessible and his publishers have wisely connived at the growth of what was intended to be a shorter book. They have also allowed him the apparatus of maps and bibliography which adds so much to the usefulness of the book. ... Thanks to his book it will be possible for his successors to set sail with confidence that they will neither fall off the edge of the knowable world nor encounter any mythical beasts.'Peter Rycraft, French History

`magisterial study of the late medieval crusades ... Housley's study will undoubtedly fuel debate and further research into this much neglected area of history'History

`The book really fills a gap. It reads well and is easy to use. I was impressed by the bibliographies.' M. J. Angold, University of Edinburgh

`This book clearly and effectively fills a long-standing gap in the literature.' D. A. L. Morgan, University college London

`Very important subject on which there is not other general survey of this high quality.' Malcolm Barber, University of Reading

`This a brilliant book - and easily the best survey of the Later Crusades ever written in any language.' Professor J S C Riley-Smith, Royal Holloway University of London

A new book on this era of the crusading movement was badly needed. Lecturers and students alike will appreciate such a lucid text.' Dr Trevor John, University of Warwick

`The fullness and detail of the treatment, together with the bibliographical survey, make it indispensable.' Professor I S Robinson, Trinity College, Dublin

`Most impressive grasp of very varied sources and theatres of war and is unique of its kind and will be the standard work on the later Crusades as a whole for a generation. Also admirably lucid prose-style.' Jonathan Shepard, Cambridge University

`This book enlarges understanding of the crusades at many points, and it will surely long hold the field as the classic on its subject.' Times Higher Education Supplement

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0198221363
• ISBN 13: 9780198221364
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 556