Author Archives: Ruth

Peter the Hermit and Crusade Evangelism

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Ruth

A century before, when the year changed from 999 to 1000, many people had anticipated the end of the world. Coming up to 1100, the same expectation was in the air. In the months surrounding Pope Urban II’s call to … Continue reading →

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Pilgrims and Maps

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Ruth

Geographical maps are extremely important in our world. Everyone owns some kind of map, even a redneck yahoo with a state map in his glove compartment. Maps have been part of our culture so long that we can’t conceive of … Continue reading →

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Monastic Ideal and the Popular Spiritual Vacuum

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Ruth

We’ve been talking about 11th century Europe in terms of its political strife and church reform movements at the top. To understand the next event in the new Crusade, we have to look at the vacuum left among the common … Continue reading →

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The Crusading Counts of Boulogne

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Ruth

Nobility on crusade, pt. 2 During the same period that Norman knights were conquering Sicily and parts of Italy, the Duke of Normandy conquered the island nation of England. The Anglo-Saxons continued to use the traditional Germanic war method of … Continue reading →

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Nobility on Crusade, 1095-6

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Ruth

Pope Urban II appointed a bishop, Adhemar of Monteil, Bishop of Le Puy, as his official legate, or representative on the official mission. Adhemar had been to the Holy Land, and recently; he knew what Seljuk Muslim Palestine was like. … Continue reading →

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The Council of Clermont: The First Crusade, 1095

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Ruth

There was a second reason for Pope Urban II to announce a new military adventure. We’ve seen the first reason: he was in a high-stakes battle against the kings of France and Germany to retain Europe’s allegiance, after they had … Continue reading →

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The Council of Piacenza, 1095: Politics Just Before the First Crusade

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Ruth

We remember the Council of Clermont, in 1095, as the launchpad of the First Crusade. But in order to understand why the Crusade was called, we need to look at the Council of Piacenza, held earlier in the same year. … Continue reading →

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Another Ismaili split: Nizaris, 1095

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Ruth

Al-Hakim’s son ruled after him, then his grandson al-Mustansir. Caliph al-Mustansir ruled for sixty years in Cairo, starting when he was only an infant. His reign was the longest among Muslim rulers, but he controlled only Egypt, rather than an … Continue reading →

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Toledo and the Proto-Crusade, 1085

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Ruth

Before the First Crusade to the Holy Land, the idea of religious war was tried out in Spain. The Christian kingdoms in the north were, from west to east (left to right): Galicia with two Atlantic borders; Castile and Leon, … Continue reading →

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Church vs. State Rivalry in Europe

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Ruth

We traced earlier how the rise of the Pope’s power was tied to the military support of Charlemagne’s family. But after the land of the Franks broke up for the last time in an inheritance distribution, separate branches of the … Continue reading →

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