Settlement, Identity, and Memory in the Latin East

An Examination of the Term ‘Crusader States’

Bibliographic Data

ID9742273
AuthorsAndrew D Buck (0000-0003-1191-0723, University College Dublin, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume135
Issue573
Pages271-302
Publication date2020-07-28
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe English Historical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-8266 • E-ISSN: 1477-4534
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ehr/ceaa008
OpenAlexW3015865789
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited1

In a recent article, Christopher MacEvitt posited that historians should eschew the term ‘crusader states’ to describe the four polities formed in the Levant and Syria as a result of the First Crusade (the kingdom of Jerusalem, the principality of Antioch, and the counties of Edessa and Tripoli), arguing that crusading and its remembrance had little influence in the east, and so these states should not be viewed as extensions of the west. This paper seeks to offer a critical response to this by making use of the methodological approaches which have recently traced the emergence, influence and definitions of crusading in the Latin West and have re-situated the movement within broader patterns of elite behaviours and cultural identities. The aim, therefore, is to examine the processes of identity formation among Latin settlers in the east, the active remembrance and memorialisation of the First Crusade, and, most especially, what influence the latter had over the nature of inter-cultural contact. It does so by adopting an interdisciplinary approach, which incorporates textual, literary, vernacular, documentary, material and artistic evidence. It will be argued that, although the term ‘crusader state’ cannot be used in a monolithic sense, it nevertheless remains a crucial medium through which to understand the complex social and cultural history of the Latin polities of Outremer, as well as their impact on the Near East. Examination of this concept not only contributes to modern understanding of these states, it also lends greater depth to historiographical discussions on the nature of the crusading movement as a whole

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Elite · Historiography · Identity (music · Latin Americans · Literature · Political science · Politics · Settlement (finance · State (computer science · Vernacular · African history and culture analysis · Classics · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Law · Medieval History and Crusades

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