Michael Lower

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to get out of this book, but it turned out to be one of the more informative monographs I've read in awhile. Basically, Lower had an issue with how the history of Medieval Europe and Near Eastern Studies were not in conversation with each other, particularly as it related to the Crusades, and resolved to do something about it. What this means is that Lower weaves together a lot of disparate threads into an organized tapestry examining the state of play of show more international and cross-cultural relations as the classic crusades ended.

While the book essentially begins and ends with the crusading career of St. Louis, the fulcrum point is the relationship between period Sicily and Muslim Tunis. Both were necessary foundation pieces for the wider schemes of more powerful princes in Christendom and the Islamic world, but Charles of Anjou and Emir Al-Mustansir were not compromising their own intertwined interests, with the ultimate irony being that the Crusade of 1270 saw a new agreement over social and commercial intercourse between the Muslims and Christians being negotiated. It might have taken the death of St. Louis, an interregnum between pontiffs, and Sultan Baybars of the Mamluks concentrating on repulsing Mongol offensives, but more pragmatic souls who were mostly interested in reviving business as usual got their chance to concentrate on business.

Apart from this, Lower gives you a kaleidoscopic take on the diplomacy of the time, and how this last crusade was a "Pan-Eurasian" affair, before delving into how St Louis could convince himself that North Africa would be fertile ground for bringing Muslim souls to Christ. show less