The age of the Crusades exerts a powerful grip on the contemporary imagination. The word 'crusade' is still in everyday use - and misuse - as invoking a sense of right or moral worth. But what really motivated the crusaders back in the eleventh and twelfth centuries? What impelled men to march 4000 kilometres, risking starvation and battle, to take the holy city of Jerusalem, and then to establish a Christian presence in the Levant? And what was the response of the Muslim world to this new phenomenon? The Crusades, 1095-1197 explores the origins and development of the crusades in their proper historical context. Narrative chapters cover: * the First Crusade and the capture of Jerusalem (1099)* the decades of Frankish settlement* the failure of the Second Crusade (1145-49)* the rise of Saladin* Richard the Lionheart and the Final Crusade (1189-92) Thematic chapters also consider issues such as the Military Orders, kingship, castles and warfare. A Chronology, Who's Who and Documents from Christian and Muslim writers ensure that the book provides an accessible and lively insight into one of the most compelling periods of history. Jonathan Phillips is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations. Maps. 1. Introduction 2. The First Crusade 3. The Early Decades of the Latin East c.1097-c.1152: Establishment and Consolidation 4. The Challenges of a New Land: Frankish Rule and Settlement 5. The Military Orders 6. The Second Crusade 7. Warfare, Strategy and Castles in the Levant 8. The Aftermath of the Second Crusade - Recovery and Expansion 9. The Frankish Rulers of the Latin East: Power and Succession, c.1100-1174 10. Religios Life and Pilgrimage in the Levant 11. The Reign of Leper-King, Baldwin IV; The Rise of Saladin and the Battle of Hattin 12. The Third Crusade and Beyond. Conclusion. Documents. Chronology. Genealogy of the Rulers of Jerusalem. Who's Who. Bibliography. Index

Author Biography

Jonathan Phillips is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of "Relations between the Latin East and the West, 1119-1187 "(OUP, 1996) and editor of "The First Crusade and the Second Crusade" (MUP, 1997, 2001).