Crusades

Defining “Winning”: Criteria and Challenges Understanding Victory’s Complexity To determine who “won” the Crusades, we must first establish the criteria for victory. Is it the acquisition of territory? The lasting impact on religious control? The achievement of strategic goals? Or perhaps a more subtle measure of cultural influence? This seemingly simple question immediately reveals a … Read more

Introduction The clash of steel, the roar of the battlefield, the fervor of faith – these are the images most readily conjured by the Crusades. These centuries of religious warfare, spanning from the late eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, witnessed a tumultuous exchange of bloodshed and ambition, predominantly between Christian Europe and the Islamic world. … Read more