My husband is interested in the crusades

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my husband is a some what millitant portestant. he has always believed that Crhistians need to stand up more and fight for their faith if it comes to that. lately, he’s been looking a little into the crusades. He really seems to admire the words of the man who was pope at the start of the crusades (not sure what his name is, I’m thinking gregory, but I could be wrong) anyway, the pope would say some thing slike, “I ask you to take up arms and bare the sign of the cross on your forhead or shield and fight for the faith in the name of Jesus Christ” and stuff like that. I was wondering if anyone knew of a good book on the subject that won’t poison him against the catholic church and that won’t make the cahtolic church look like a wimpy institution. he downloaded the catholic encyclopidia, so that’s a good start I guess. but I’m going on vacation in a few weeks and he is saying that while I’m gone, to keep him self busy, he might get some books about the crusades from the library. any good titles out there?

as I saide note, I am :gopray2: PRAYING :gopray2: really hard that this is something that will lead him to the Church. that’s why it’s SO important for him to get truthful documents. not some protestant hogwash that’s filled with all sorts of anti catholic garboligoop.

thanks for your help. you people on here are so smart and so well read. I admire that 🙂
 
I’m interested in the Crusades right now, too. I’m reading “The Monks of War” which is pretty much just straight history. No bias one way or the other. It’s about the Templars, Hospitallers, etc.

“Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church” has an awesome section on the crusades, but it’s totally biased. I mean, it’s a great read as a story, and it’s accurate (as far as I can tell) but it’s definitely written with a pro-Catholic slant. And baby, that slant is steep. I was thinking this book would be good for people interested in early Church history, and it is, but it’s section on the Reformation is simply searing.

I have two more books on my shelf that I have to get to: “Infidels” and something on France’s involvement in the crusades. I’ll let you know. 😉
 
what types of things does you history book say about eh reformation that are so “searing” my hubby is interested in that as well. which scares the you know what oub ot me! maybe a little catholic bias literature is what he needs. does it really bash luther? he really doesn’t care too much about luthar. although anything that will discredit the reformation would be good.
 
Start here:

catholiceducation.org/links/search.cgi?query=CRUSADES

You’ll find a collection of well-written articles on this subject by reputable authors of books on the subject. Not all of them all Catholic, but they are all objective enough to cut through the Protestant polemics that have tainted the West’s view of this period of history.

Good luck with your husband. 🙂
 
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SueKrum:
what types of things does you history book say about eh reformation that are so “searing” my hubby is interested in that as well. which scares the you know what oub ot me! maybe a little catholic bias literature is what he needs. does it really bash luther? he really doesn’t care too much about luthar. although anything that will discredit the reformation would be good.
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Lol. Oh yeah, it’s not pretty. I can’t remember any quotes off-hand about Luther, but he also reserves some pithy phrases for the Eastern Church (as only a British convert can). He writes things like “And the east, for which no heresy was to be left untried…”

Or, “The crusaders had no patience for the effete Greek Church leaders…”

Actually, that’s tame. I’m going off of memory here.

What saves the book as a work of history rather than an anti-everything-not-Catholic screed is that he doesn’t justify the actions of bad Catholics. He even calls some of them “bloodstained fornicators,” though he makes some kind of reference like “but they were OUR bloodstained fornicators.”

Here’s the book. Next to “The Rites of Spring,” it’s my favorite history book.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0761516042.01.AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ.jpg
 
I recommend the crusade books by Thomas F. Madden.
He puts things into perspective and defends the West’s stance with reason.
Watch out for the books by James Reston, he favors the Islamic point of view and his depiction of the Christians is very pejorative.
He goes on about the Crusaders “atrocities” but gloss over Saladin’s. For example in his book *Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade *
Reston slams Richard for the massacre of Muslim prisoners at Acre, yet no disapproval for Saladin’s executions of Christian prisoners, both before and after Richard’s executions, including the beheading of women passengers seized by Muslim corsairs and brought to Saladin for interrogation.
 
Yes, Thomas Madden is excellent. I’d also recommend the following book:

Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford University Press, 1995); ISBN 0-19-820435-3

In addition, there’s a really interesting 3-CD set from Saint Joseph Communications (www.saintjoe.com) called Fire and Sword: Crusade, Inquisition, Reformation (Item #6466-CD). This is well worth having.

Hope this helps,
Don
 
The absolute best thing you could buy for him in this situation is the book Crusades–The Illustrated History–Thomas Madden, editor

It has 150+ photos, maps, and wonderful artwork. It covers Christendom, Islam, Pilgrimages, and War. It breaks down all the crusades and all the reasons and intentions behind them.
It is put together wonderfully with the help of various scholars in particular fields. The book has no equal for the introduction, explanation, investigation into the Crusades. It’s not dry reading–it’s like having a history channel special in your lap. (A good, unbiased, well-researched History Channel special 😉 ) It is now available in a sort of “paperback” version which is very sturdy and will hold up to all kinds of reading.

I can’t recommend this book enough. Stop by Borders or B & N and check it out. It’s only about 20 bucks for the sturdy “paperback” version. Stop and check it out–you’ll see immediately that he would love the book. I think they have the book here in the CA store if you have the time to wait on shipping. But --no joke!!–stop and check it out to see this incredible book. He’ll thank you for it, trust me.
 
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SueKrum:
my husband is a some what millitant portestant. he has always believed that Crhistians need to stand up more and fight for their faith if it comes to that. lately, he’s been looking a little into the crusades. He really seems to admire the words of the man who was pope at the start of the crusades (not sure what his name is, I’m thinking gregory, but I could be wrong) anyway, the pope would say some thing slike, “I ask you to take up arms and bare the sign of the cross on your forhead or shield and fight for the faith in the name of Jesus Christ” and stuff like that. I was wondering if anyone knew of a good book on the subject that won’t poison him against the catholic church and that won’t make the cahtolic church look like a wimpy institution. he downloaded the catholic encyclopidia, so that’s a good start I guess. but I’m going on vacation in a few weeks and he is saying that while I’m gone, to keep him self busy, he might get some books about the crusades from the library. any good titles out there?

as I saide note, I am :gopray2: PRAYING :gopray2: really hard that this is something that will lead him to the Church. that’s why it’s SO important for him to get truthful documents. not some protestant hogwash that’s filled with all sorts of anti catholic garboligoop.

thanks for your help. you people on here are so smart and so well read. I admire that 🙂
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This chapter from Hilaire Belloc’s book The Great Heresies has a lot of good info on Islam and the Crusades:

ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/HERESY4.TXT

Then he wants the straight scoop on the Reformation, he can go to this chapter on that topic:

ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/HERESY6.TXT

The whole book is here:

cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/metabook/heresies.html
 
I have Riley-Smith’s “A short History of the Crusades,” have you read that? Does the Oxford one have anything more to add?

I have read Steven Runciman’s multi-volume set, but it was more than 10 years ago and I can’t remember if there was an anti-catholic slant or not.
 
I got interested in the Crusades back in the 70’s. There is a huge literature on the subject in any degree of scholarship you want. But, you will find that documentation of exactly what was said at any given time is lacking credibility. I once read two versions of the speech Pope Urban gave in the 11th century urging the Crusader on. Both were believed to have been written by men present at the speech. The two versions were wildly different in both length, tone and vocabulary.

The period is fascinating, but morbid too because of the little value that was placed on human life.

Good luck.
 
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MonkeyTape:
I have Riley-Smith’s “A short History of the Crusades.” Does the Oxford one have anything more to add?
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If I understand correctly, the Short History is a more concise summary of the material in the Oxford volume, which also contains a host of illustrations, maps, and charts. Both are good to have.
 
thanks guys, I have plenty of stuff to go through now. I’ve got a couple of weeks before I leave town, so that’ll give me some time to print out some of these articles and see if the library has some of these books. I appriciate your help 🙂
 
A really stupendous account of the Crusades is given by Hilaire Belloc in his book “The Great Heresies.” He points out how Islam grew out of Arianism and chronicles some of the more significant battles between Christianity and Islam right up to the present day.

Keep in mind that many books about the Crusades just focus on the attempt to liberate the Holy Lands and restore freedom of religion there. But you have to go back to Charles Martel and the Battle of Tours, then the Reconquista, before you get to the Crusades.

A little known fact by many Westerners is that Muslim forces occupied much of Europe at one point. When the Muslims marched on the monestary of St. Martin (fabled to contain fabulous wealth and treasures) in northern France, Charles Martel led a force against them. In that pivotal battle at Tours, the fate of Christondom stood in the balance. Eventually, Charles Martel, his son Pepin, and his grandson Charlemagne succeeded in driving back the Muslim forces into Spain. But it took the Spanish hundreds of years to finally reclaim Spain and Portugal. It is in the context of this major defensive movement led by the Catholic Church that the Crusades must be examined.

Nor does the story end there. Indeed, the story continues right down to the Reformation when the Protestants (e.g., England) refused to help stop the Turkish fleet that threatened to overrun Europe and Don Juan of Austria with the help of Pope St. Pius V led the Christian fleet against them at the Battle of Lepanto.

I would check out a good book on the Battle of Lepanto, the raising of the siege of Vienna, Austria (by the Catholic king of Poland), and the Battle of Tours as essential supplemental material to understanding the Crusades. Sadly, our Protestant brethren were not there to help us, but when the wolves threatened Christ’s sheep, to the eternal glory of the Catholic Church, a shepherd arose to defend the sheep – Pope St. Pius V.
 
Just an FYI:

Amazon has Madden’s Illustrated History of the Crusades on sale right now for $16.95.
 
well, its not the most objective view, but the Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades presents them as heavily the fault of the Muslim nations, and gives the Church credit for righting them.
 
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hatcheteer:
well, its not the most objective view, but the Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades presents them as heavily the fault of the Muslim nations, and gives the Church credit for righting them.
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Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades is very critical of Islam, but a must read. It is a shame how some of the crusaders acted, but it was about time someone defended the west. I got tired of hearing how the greedy, barbaric Christians massacred and desecrated the more civilized Muslims who were minding their own buisness.
The books suggested above will explain the thought of the time, and how even in defeat the Crusades saved Europe from becomming a caliphate.
 
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