Life During the Crusades

Rice Jr., Earl. Life During the Crusades. Part of The Way People Live series. 1998. 96p. ISBN 1-56006-379-3. Available at  909.07 RIC on the library shelves.

The Middle Ages constituted a period of transition between the fall of the Roman Empire in the West and the emergence of the Renaissance. It was a period where nation states began to emerge on the basis of a feudal system. Islam had spread throughout the Middle East and the southern shores of the Mediterranean, and had begun pushing into Europe from the South and from the East. In Europe itself, decades of raids by Vikings and others promoted the feudal system to protect land and people.

It is in this environment that the Emperor of Byzantium called upon the Pope to assemble an army of Christians to come and fight the Muslim forces that were putting pressure on his Empire. A purely geopolitical calculation, this declaration of help from all Christendom led to the Crusades, which would take place over the following two centuries.

The Crusades bring to mind honorable knights wearing shiny armor riding into battle against masses of soldiers. Though the knight is an important part of the story, the history of the Crusades is the story of conflict between two major religions which proved to be the greatest motivator on either side. The societies on either side of the conflict were very different, both in their power structures and their military organizations, but the unfolding of the Crusades ironically created a sharing of information and provided the impetus for a re-discovery of knowledge in the West that culminates with the Renaissance.

This book explores the life of both Christian and Muslim people in the early 1100s, as well as the similarities and differences between Western and Eastern soldiers. The eight crusades are reviewed, the march to Jerusalem during the first crusade is explored, and the impact of the Crusader states which emerged in Palestine and ruled for two hundred rules is examined. A dynamic period in history, the Crusades had a lasting impact on popular culture and political divisions and continue to be referenced by terrorist groups as a reason to fight against whom they perceive as non-believers.