Description
Book SynopsisThe Crusades were among the most astonishing historical events that took place during the Middle Ages. After centuries of relative isolation following the fall of the Roman Empire, Western Europe looked again towards the Middle East in search of lands to conquer. Incited by the Church to believe that the Holy Land must be liberated' from its Muslim rulers (who had by then occupied it for centuries), and that to do so would bring spiritual salvation, many thousands from all over Christian Europe took the cross' and joined the Crusades. Led by some of the most illustrious personalities of the age, such as Richard the Lionheart and Frederick Barbarossa, they fought numerous campaigns and even founded new Crusader states', some of which lasted for almost two centuries.Gabriele Esposito gives an overview of the key events of these campaigns, from the First Crusade in 1096 to the fall of Acre, the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land, in 1291. He analyses the various contingents that m
