Crusades

The Familiar and the Fresh

Steven Runciman’s profile of Richard the Lionheart, written at a time of impending crisis in Anglo-Cypriot relations, offers a nuanced and sensitive portrait, writes Minoo Dinshaw.

William Marshal , The Greatest Knight

The warrior and tutor-in-arms to the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine promised his dying charge that he would complete the sacred task of crusading to the Levant. Did he succeed in his mission and fight the forces of Saladin?

The Franks in the Peloponnese

Nicolas Cheetham describes how the Fourth Crusaders captured Byzantium in 1204 and French noblemen created feudal principalities in Southern Greece.

Nicaea, Byzantine City

Anthony Bryer takes a visit to Nicaea; The seat of early Church Councils and, for a while, of the Byzantine Emperors, it has a history stretching from the reign of Alexander the Great to the present day.

The Siege of Rhodes, 1480

A.D. Lacy describes how, under the leadership of Pierre d’Aubusson, the Knights Hospitallers at Rhodes withstood a ferocious attack by the Turks.

The Battle of Manzikert

On August 26th, 1071, Byzantine army was defeated by the Seljuk Turks, and Anatolia was forever lost to Christendom.