Crusades

Detail of a miniature of the meeting between Alexander and the Amazons in the French manuscript Le Livre et le vraye hystoire du bon roy Alixandre, c. 1420. British Library. Public Domain.

Queens of the Crusades

As promoters, propagandists, patrons and warriors, women were everywhere during the Crusades.

Miniature of the Battle of Cresson from Les Passages d’outremer by Sébastien Mamerot, c.1474. Wikimedia Commons

Against the Odds

The Battle of the Springs of Cresson marked the beginning of the end for the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Charles V of France and Emperor Charles IV feast while the Siege of Jerusalem is re-enacted, from the Grandes Chroniques de France, c.1380.

The Long Shadow of the First Crusade

The taking of Jerusalem in 1099 established in Europe a fascination with the Crusades which has never been exhausted.

Drawing of two knights on a horse, the emblem of the Knights Templar, from the Chronica Majora of Matthew Paris.

The End of the Templars

Pope Clement V suppressed the order on 22 March 1312.

The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades

The Crusader state of Acre was the most cosmopolitan city in the medieval world. Its inhabitants thought it too valuable to destroy. They were wrong.

Why Didn’t The Crusades Succeed?

The reasons for the brevity of the Latin presence in the 12th-century Eastern Mediterranean.

The Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade in 1098, 15th-century manuscript.

Weapons of War in the Crusades

Turkish archers versus Frankish heavy cavalry. The Crusades marked a period of technological breakthroughs in the art of war that would decide the conflict.

Was the First Crusade really a war against Islam?

It is widely believed that the Crusades were a clash of civilisations. But a closer examination reveals a complexity that has eluded many historians.

A Teutonic Knight on horseback, Artur Grottger, c.1856. Museum Narodowe w Warszawie. Public Domain.

The Rise of the Teutonic Knights

The success of the medieval Teutonic Knights owed much to the charismatic leadership of Hermann von Salza, one of the most dynamic individuals of the 13th century.