Preface

Mark T. Abate

Chronology

Mark T. Abate

Aljamas: What impact did aljamas (Muslim communities subject to Christian rule) have on the acculturation of Muslims in Spain?

Aljamas allowed Muslims to retain their own cultural practices by providing barriers to rapid acculturation

Michael Weber

Aljamas facilitated the acculturation of Muslims; granting concessions to Islamic communities made them less likely to revolt and more susceptible to subtle acculturative forces

Thomas F. Glick

The Americas: Was the conquest of the Americas an extension of the medieval Crusades?

Yes. The crusading mentality was an essential feature of the conquest of the Americas, and the Europeans treated Native Americans the same way they treated Muslims

Thomas F. Glick

No. The conquest of the Americas was not crusading because there was no concerted effort to attain a specific religious goal

Robin Feld

Attacks on Jews: What was the main cause of attacks on Jews during the Crusades?

The main motive for attacks on Jews during the Crusades was economic in nature

Douglas Kierdorf

The main cause of attacks on Jews during the Crusades was apocalyptic expectations on the part of Christians

Brenda Gardenour

Attacks on Jews during the Crusades were prompted by the desire of the Latin Christian West to eliminate them as members of a religious rather than a racial group

Carl Hill

Byzantine-Latin Relations: Did poor relations between the Byzantine Empire and the western Roman Empire contribute to the failure of the Crusades and the ultimate loss of the Crusader States?

Yes. Byzantine support would have strengthened the crusading movement and the Crusader States

Christopher Libertini

No. The Byzantine Empire was so weak and ineffective during the Crusades that it was irrelevant to the western Europeans as either an ally or an enemy

Carl Hill

Children's and Shepherds' Crusades: Were the Children's and Shepherds' Crusades class protests of the poor against the wealthy?

Yes. These Crusades were expressions of class conflict fueled by the military failures of the European warrior aristocracy

Douglas Kierdorf

No. These Crusades, although linked to the concept of apostolic poverty, were more religious than class-conscious mass movements

Brenda Gardenour

Convivencia: Does convivencia (coexistence) describe relationships among Christians and Muslims in Spain during the Middle Ages?

Yes. A marked degree of mutual tolerance, understanding, and creative interaction among Muslims, Christians, and even Jews was a reality

Michael Weber

No. Convivencia is an idealistic oversimplification of the complexities of Christian-Muslim relations in medieval Spain

Thomas F. Glick

Crusader States: Did the Crusader States collapse from external pressure rather than internal weaknesses?

An external force in the form of the Mamluk Sultanate made it possible finally for Egypt to apply the pressure necessary to expel the Franks from the region

Clifford R. Backman

The Crusader States collapsed because of internal weaknesses that, though they always existed, became more debilitating in the mid thirteenth century

Mark T. Abate

Defining Moment: Does the modern-era conflict between the West and the Islamic Near East have its roots in the Crusades?

Yes. The Crusades defined relations between Western and Islamic civilizations in an enduring way that shaped further conflicts

Todd Marx

No. Modern relations between the West and the Islamic world were defined by nineteenth-and twentieth-century forms of imperialism and nationalism, culminating in the formation of the state of Israel and the Arab response

Carl Hill

Disillusionment: Did the failure of Louis IX's military campaigns in the thirteenth century begin a period of disillusionment among the Crusaders?

Yes. The failure of Louis IX's campaigns marked the end of the traditional Crusades and inaugurated a long period of disillusionment

Carl Hill

No. Although the campaigns of Louis IX prompted some criticism, support for the Crusades remained strong, while the methods for conducting them underwent revision

Mark T. Abate

Economic Motives: Were the Crusades motivated primarily by economic considerations?

Yes. The promise of economic gain and new markets was a key impetus for the Crusades

Todd Marx

No. Crusaders were motivated by political considerations as well as the promise of spiritual rewards and increased social prestige

Christopher Libertini

Ethical Perspectives: Did the Crusades represent a distortion of the Christian message?

Yes. The violence and brutality of the crusading movement violated the pacific principles of Christianity

Carl Hill

No. The crusading movement was an expression of Christian values as understood at the time

John A. Dempsey

Fifth Crusade: Why did the Fifth Crusade end in failure?

The Fifth Crusade failed because of the logistical inability of medieval armies to wage wars in faraway regions

James M. Powell

The Fifth Crusade failed because of conflicts between ecclesiastical and secular powers and the challenge that territorial interests presented to the universal objectives of the reformed papacy

Mark T. Abate

First Crusade: What was the most significant motivational factor in the massive lay response to the First Crusade?

The most significant motive of the participants of the First Crusade was a quest for the spiritual benefits of the expedition

Todd Marx

The most significant factor energizing the First Crusade was the widespread belief that the apocalypse was beginning: the world was ending, and possession of Jerusalem was the essential culmination of prophecy

Richard Landes

The most significant motive of the Crusades was religious revenge against those who attacked Christ, his people, and his patrimony

Mark T. Abate

Fourth Crusade: Was the Fourth Crusade really a crusade?

Yes. Although the Fourth Crusade was diverted, it was planned and launched by the papacy as a Crusade and should be considered as such

Christopher Libertini

No. Once the Fourth Crusade was diverted from its proclaimed objective, it ceased to be a legitimate crusade

Todd Marx

Gregory VII: Was Gregory VII the founder of the crusading movement?

Yes. Gregory VII's plan for an expedition to the Middle East as well as his approach to holy war against rival Christian powers marks the beginning of the crusading movement

Mark T. Abate

No. Gregory VII's proposals for holy war were qualitatively different from crusading. He did not view a Crusade as an armed pilgrimage, and he did not promise any spiritual rewards

John A. Dempsey

Inventing the Crusades: Were there any genuine Crusades before the thirteenth century?

Yes. Although not as clearly defined as in the thirteenth century, all the military expeditions to the East prior to this period were Crusades

Christopher Libertini

No. Crusading was a concept that emerged in the early thirteenth century and has been projected by historians onto earlier periods

Mark T. Abate

Jihad: Did the Islamic concept of jihad (just war) influence the development of Crusade ideology?

Yes. The notion of jihad influenced the Crusaders' sense of mission, urgency, and spiritual reward

Thomas F. Glick

No. The crusading movement was purely Christian in origin and development

Brenda Gardenour

Louis IX: Were the Crusades of Louis IX motivated more by political pragmatism than religious idealism?

Yes. The First Crusade of Louis IX allowed him to strengthen his domestic position, and his Second Crusade was designed to assist Charles of Anjou in maintaining control of Sicily

Clifford R. Backman

No. The Crusades of Louis IX were prompted solely by religious zeal and weakened rather than strengthened his political position

Mark T. Abate

Maritime States: Did the Italian maritime republics strengthen the Crusader States?

Yes. The Crusader States were economically and militarily sustained by the Italian maritime republics

Todd Marx

No. The Italian maritime republics were actually agents of destabilization that weakened the Crusader States

Carl Hill

Military Orders: Did the Islamic ribat (military religious communities) serve as the model for the Christian Crusaders?

Yes. The ribat served as a stimulus for the concept of monastic warrious, which was then refashioned and shaped by Latin Christian culture

Thomas F. Glick

No. The rise of the military orders was purely Christian in origin and was a continuation of the papal reform movement

Mark T. Abate

Military Strategy: Did the Crusaders have a coherent military strategy for securing the Holy Land?

Yes. The Crusaders developed coherent, dynamic strategies that shifted emphases and adapted to changing conditions over time

Mark T. Abate

No. The Crusades had no coherent and effective strategy, which was the reason for their successive failures and the ultimate loss of the Holy Land

Christopher Libertini

Missionary Activity: Was the conversion of non-Christians among the primary goals of the Crusades?

Yes. The conversion of non-Christians was a major goal of the crusading movement, and missionary efforts complemented military activity

Carl Hill

No. Religious conversion was not a high priority for the Crusaders and was seen by many as an obstacle to their immediate goals

Todd Marx

The Mongols: Would a Latin-likhan Mongol alliance have strengthened and preserved the Crusader States?

Yes. The combined might of the Latins and the llkhan Mongols would have been sufficient to destroy the Mamluk Sultanate; furthermore, such an alliance would have allowed the Crusader States to gain power and expand

Todd Marx

No. The llkhan Mongols were unpredictable allies, and they did not have the resources to alter the balance of power in the region significantly

Mark T. Abate

Muslims: Were Muslims treated better by the Crusaders than by Islamic rulers in the East?

Yes. Since the Crusader States needed to secure the cooperation of subject Muslims for economic and strategic reasons, they offered a form of semi-autonomous rule that gave Muslims, as well as Jews, a higher degree of freedom

Clifford R. Backman

No. Muslims under Latin rule were treated as inferiors, were humiliated and degraded by Christian domination, and longed for the return of Islamic rule

Mark T. Abate

Orientalization: Was there a significant fusion of Islamic and Latin Christian culture in the Crusader States?

Yes. Close interactions among Muslims and Latin Christians crystallized into a distinctive hybrid culture

Thomas F. Glick

No. The Latin Christians established themselves as an alien ruling aristocracy who shared a limited symbiotic relationship with the Muslims

Mark T. Abate

The Papacy: Did the Crusades strengthen the papacy?

Yes. The Crusades strengthened the papacy by providing it with a powerful and effective tool for protecting itself from secular threats and for bolstering its claims of authority

Christopher Libertini

No. The failure to recover the Holy Land weakened the power of the papacy and had a negative impact on its prestige

John A. Dempsey

Peter the Hermit: Did Peter the Hermit initiate the First Crusade?

Yes. Peter the Hermit was the principal motivator of the First Crusade before the papacy asserted its control over the movement

John O. Ward

No. Pope Urban II was the true architect of the First Crusade

John A. Dempsey

Political Crusades: Were the political Crusades against Christians a later distortion of the original concept of crusading?

Yes. The political Crusades were opportunistic abuses of papal authority to counter territorial threats and to achieve hegemony in Europe

Carl Hill

No. Crusades against Christians sprang from the same roots and depended on the same legal superstructure as Crusades against Muslims

John A. Dempsey

Popular Crusades: Were the Popular Crusades legitimately a part of the crusading movement?

Yes. The Popular Crusades were true Crusades because the participants vowed to defend the Holy Land

Mark T. Abate

No. The Popular Crusades lacked papal organization and approval

Christopher Libertini

Reconquista: Was the Reconquista really a Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula?

Yes. The Reconquista was seen as a Christian recovery of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim invaders

Thomas F. Glick

No. The Reconquista was actually a conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Spanish---a different people from the Goths, who lost the territory to the Muslims in the eighth century

Michael Weber

Saladin and Richard I: Was Saladin a better military commander than Richard I?

Yes. Saladin's use of caution, stealth, and guile demonstrates that he was superior to Richard I as a military commander

Mark T. Abate

No. Saladin's performance after the Battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1187, particularly his failure to seize Tyre and other strong Frankish sites, shows that he was an inferior commander compared to Richard I

Christopher Libertini

Third Crusade: Was the Third Crusade a success?

Yes. The Third Crusade was successful because the Crusaders managed to recapture strategic sites on the Mediterranean coast and check the advance of Saladin

Mark T. Abate

No. The Third Crusade was unsuccessful because the Crusaders failed to recapture the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and they left Latin-controlled areas in a weakened state

Christopher Libertini

Traditionalists and Pluralists: What is a Crusade?

Crusades were military expeditions that had as their ultimate goal the recovery or defense of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Islamic occupation

Todd Marx

Crusades were military expeditions against a variety of opponents (including some Christians) in multiple locales that were sanctioned by the papacy and shared organizational features and recruitment methods

Christopher Libertini

Treatment of Jews: Did the Jews have a more stable position under Islamic rule than Christian rule?

Yes. The position of Jews in the Muslim world was much better than in Christian regions because Islamic law made clear provisions for the treatment of monotheistic minorities

Thomas F. Glick

No. The Jews were subjected to as much violence and exploitation in the Near East as in the West

Mark T. Abate

Urban II: What was Pope Urban II's main objective in launching the First Crusade?

Urban II wished to liberate Eastern Christians and the city of Jerusalem from Islamic rule

Christopher Libertini

Urban II wanted to achieve a rapprochement between the Eastern and Western Churches and to strengthen the position of the papacy in western Europe

John A. Dempsey

Urban II's launch of the First Crusade was part of a broad counterstrike against Islam in Spain, Sicily, and the eastern Mediterranean

Mark T. Abate

Vow Redemption: Did vow redemption, a knight's promise to send a substitute soldier to the Holy Land or provide a monetary pledge to Rome, hamper the crusading movement?

Yes. Vow redemption weakened the crusading movement by sapping it of manpower and diverting financial resources

Christopher Libertini

No. Vow redemption strengthened the crusading movement by improving its financial organization and making it more adaptable to changing conditions

Mark T. Abate

Western Imperialism: Were the Crusades the beginning of Western imperialism and colonialism in the Middle East?

Yes. The Crusader States were the first European colony in the Middle East

Todd Marx

No. Western imperialism and colonialism in the Middle East were products of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Carl Hill

References

Contributors' Notes

Index