Remembering the Crusades

The Crusades are a source of enduring fascination to scholars and the general public alike. Those who took part in the very first Crusade—the expedition that captured Jerusalem in July 1099—began to think about how the campaign would be remembered even before they reached their goal. Pray for me—wrote one participant to the Archbishop of Rheims, two years before the knights reached the Holy City—as well as for those who ‘labour...in the service of the Lord’, and those ‘in the army of the Lord who have fallen or rest in peace’. Underlining the sacrifices, outlining the achievements and shaping the way they would be commemorated, were in full flow from the very outset. As the editors of this excellent volume remind us, there was no such thing as ‘the Crusades’, either for ‘medieval people [who] had no consistent term of reference for the series of Christian wars’, or for modern scholars who still argue about the geographical and chronological scope of what should or should not be included within the scope of the term ‘Crusade’. What makes this book stand out is its focus on how the Crusades have been remembered. Its own scope and range provide for unusually interesting reading

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