The Crusades

I remember reading Oldenbourg's "The Crusades" for a tenth grade history presentation (late 1990s) and was quickly drawn into the socio-political portrait created by the author, the first history book to have ever interested me so thoroughly. Having forgotten the author's name (and with the plethora of other works with similar titles) I was unable to relocate it for years despite scouring the internet. It was only through LibraryThing that I was able to find it again by recognizing the original book cover design from the 1966 edition. Here, Oldenbourg is a very accessible writer. Some of the events described, such as the Children's Crusade, might be out of date in the face of more recent research. But on the whole, this account of the show more crusades manages to weave together various figures, their personal backgrounds and motivations, and how they fit into the overall history of the period. To this day I can vividly recall the imagery the author invoked when describing Emperor Alexius looking out upon the host of the western european forces arriving at Constantinople and realizing by their numbers that his request for aid against the border incursions of the Seljuk Turks had been used as a pretext to advance through his territory and to conquer Jerusalem. This is one of the most engaging historical texts I have read. show less

I figured with my love of history and reading habits, this is would a quick and easy way to learn about the crusades.

I was very wrong.

I bought this book and started reading it in my freshman year of college. I finally finished it two months after graduating college. Let me phrase that a different way. It took me over three years to finish reading this book. Not because the book is incredibly long (though it does manage to squeeze 700 pages in the size of a regular thriller novel) but because it was such a slog to get through.

The prose was detailed but incredibly dry at times. Most of the characters had the same or similar names, which made it nearly impossible to skim through. The writing style also assumes that you have some prior show more knowledge about the geography of Europe and the Middle East. It will just list place after place after place, accompanied only occasionally by small, blurry, black-and-white maps. The author did include family trees at the back, but they are upside down and awkwardly structured. And given the complex political situation at the time, this made it all very hard to follow who was in control of what area at what time. (Also, the index is completely wrong).

I did enjoy some aspects of reading this book. But they were few and far between. In general, I would advise readers to pick up a modern book or find a documentary crusades. They would likely be easier to follow, or at least more interesting. I will hold onto this book, but only because it is cool to own a book this old, not because I am planning to re-read it.
⭐⭐⭐ 3/10 show less

At this point, a bit dated, but a well-written general history of the Crusades.

1515 The Crusades, by Zoe Oldenburg translated from the French by Anne Carter (read 25 Apr 1979) This covers the period from 1096 to roughly 1192, and hence covers only the first three Crusades. It actually spends little time on the Second Crusade (1147) but covers the First and Third quite thoroughly, and devotes much time to the Frankish kingdom established in Palestine. It is really a fascinating story, and sad. This book is not well organized like Runciman's three volumes. (which I read in November and December of 1974) but it was a good refresher of a fantastic era. I wonder what my ancestors did about the Crusades. How I would love to be able to trace myself back that far.

y, dj
First Printing

LOS CÁTAROS EN LA HISTORIA, LA HOGUERA DE MONTSEGUR

INTRODUCIÓN

Mientras Felipe Augusto, el más importante de los reyes que gobernaron antes
de Enrique I «construía Francia» por las llanuras flamencas,' un cierto número
de sus vasallos, puestos bajo la égida de la Iglesia católica, la aconstrufan» a
su manera por las tierras del Languedoc.

La historia nos enseña que, si era preciso, el vencedor de Bouvines sabía
mostrarse duro γ despiadado, pero podemos estar seguros--el precedente de la
anexión de Normandía asi lo atestigua- de que se habría comportado de
otra forma si le hubiera convenido, y la vergüenza de las masacres, los incendios
y las torturas con la que ha quedado mancillada para siempre la memoria de la
cruzada show more albigense no hubiera manchado los anales de la historia de Francia.

Sin embargo, si prescindimos de todo tipo de consideraciones de orden
sentimental y moral, si nos limitamos a mirar las cosas de un modo realista, cabe
reconocer que el dominio de la Corona francesa sobre el Languedoc constituye
un acontecimiento de una importancia capital para Francia, del que obtuvo
sin duda alguna inapreciables ventajas, en el sentido de que inauguró la
transformación radical de su estructura externa e interna, modeló su nuevo
rostro y le confirió un nuevo armazón.

Así como la anexión de Normandía abrió a Francia los mercados marítimos
del norte, la sumisión del Languedoc le aportaba la llave de la cuenca
mediterránea, lo cual, además de unos beneficios comerciales incalculables, permitía
vislumbrar para el futuro una nueva orientación de la política francesa, en dirección
hacia Italia. Por otro lado, la Corona, impregnada todavía en alto grado show less

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