There are few medieval events that are still as politically loaded as the Crusades. Even though the First Crusade was launched well over 900 years ago people are still debating it’s merits. The debate becomes even more complicated when you consider all of the mythology, falsehoods, and popular misconceptions that surround this event. How should we make sense of this deeply complex and sometimes downright unbelievable story. Tune and find out how people being hung from their bits, the Sultan of Rome, and the end of the world all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Karen. Holy War: the Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World. Doubleday, 1991.

Asbridge, Thomas. Crusades – the War for the Holy Land. Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2012.

Asbridge, Thomas. “The Holy Lance of Antioch: Power, Devotion, and Memory on the First Crusade”. Reading Medieval Studies vol. 33, 3-16: 2007.

Blake, E.o., and C. Morris. “A Hermit Goes to War: Peter and the Origins of the First Crusade.” Studies in Church History, vol. 22, 1985, pp. 79–107., doi:10.1017/s0424208400007890.

Cobb, Paul M. The Race for Paradise: an Islamic History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2016.

Daileader, Phillip. “How the Crusades Changed History”. The Great Courses. Audible: The College of William and Mary, 2013.

Peters, Edward. The First Crusade: the Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.

Riley-Smith, Jonathan Simon Christopher. The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading. Continuum, 2012.

Rubenstein, Jay. Armies of Heaven: the First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse. Basic Books, 2011.