Tag Crusades
Knights of Jerusalem is not the book you would expect to read about one of the Crusading orders, it is not a list and description of battles the order fought, with blow by blow accounts of the most famous of… Continue Reading →
Medieval politics make modern politics look like child’s play. If any act from medieval times highlights this it is the Hattin Campaign of 1187 in which the entire military might of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem was destroyed because the… Continue Reading →
HOLY WARS: 3000 Years of Battles in the Holy Land is one of the better primers about conflict in the Holy Land to appear within the last few years. It consists of 17 chapters covering the initial Israelite conquest… Continue Reading →
[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher for purposes of reviewing it. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Michael Stephenson’s work The Last Full Measure: How… Continue Reading →
The Cathars were a radical religious sect that had taken root in southern France and by the early thirteenth century a good part of the population of the area were Cathars. The Cathars held radically different beliefs from Christianity… Continue Reading →
The First Crusade was arguably the most successful of the various numbered crusades; however, they were not particularly well equipped for a campaign in Asia Minor. It is no surprise that they were not, as the climate in Anatolia… Continue Reading →
Europe in the tenth and eleventh centuries was a continent in transition. The states of Europe were still in flux and the kings of Europe had limited authority outside their own personal demesne. Although individual French kings did… Continue Reading →
I am planning a vacation trip to Malta this summer with my family and like all vacations I take there will be an element of historical tourism involved. I have always wanted to visit Malta and I am finally… Continue Reading →
           The people of Northern Germany known as the Wends were not one homogenous people but rather organized themselves in a tribal structure. The tribes from the Saxon border west were the Wagrians, Polabians, Abotrites, Rugians, Liutizians, and Pomeranians.[1] … Continue Reading →
The Fourth Crusade started in 1202, when Pope Innocent III (p.1198-1216), seeking to build on the success of the Third Crusade preached a new Crusade to recover the Holy city of Jerusalem. The kings of Europe were too involved… Continue Reading →
The weapons and techniques used throughout most of siege warfare are remarkably consistent with few innovations. The notable new weapons were the trebuchet, Greek fire, and Cannons. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Siege towers or belfries were common if unwieldy weapons used at… Continue Reading →
The siege was the most common type of battle fought during the Middle Ages. Medieval armies and commanders tended to avoid pitched battles unless forced into them by circumstances. Medieval warfare and its concentration on sieges can thus… Continue Reading →
The Third Crusade (1189-1192) was launched as a direct result of the loss of Jerusalem to the Muslims in October 1187. The loss of Jerusalem was occasioned by the destruction of the crusaders at the Battle of Hattin on… Continue Reading →
While weapon archetypes used during the feudal period were the same as that used throughout most of recorded history there were changes and developments in the different weapons and armor. Â The spear and all its variants were the most widely… Continue Reading →
           The capture of Salvatierra by the Almohad’s in 1210 provided the impetus for Pope Innocent III (p.1198-1216) to issue a general call for crusade in Spain and grant the remission of sins for those who would go to Spain… Continue Reading →