WEEK 1 (August 23-25): Introduction

• Problematic concepts: holy war, jihad, crusade [Richard 1-4; Allen and Amt 5-15, 403-404, 407-418]; for the use of violence in the Old Testament, see Exodus 20:13 (one of the Ten Commandments), Exodus 21:12 and Exodus 22:22-24, Deuteronomy 20:16, Joshua 6:21 and Joshua 10:40; for the attitude towards violence in the New Testament, see Matthew 26:52; for the use of violence in the Quran, see sura 25:52; 22:39-41; 9:5; 8:61; 9:29; 2:216; see the portraits of Ahmad Urabi, Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb; see the cover of Thomas Jefferson’s Crusade Against Ignorance (1786);  also modern views on the different meanings of jihad and crusade (as something requiring apologies)
• West European society on the eve of the crusade [Richard 4-10; Allen and Amt 24-27]
• The Middle and Near East in the eleventh century: Byzantium and the Seljuks [Richard 11-18; Allen and Amt 28-32]; see a map of the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk territories in the 11th century; see a portrait of Alexius Comnenus

WEEK 2 (August 28-September 1): The call to Crusade

• The Church Reform, the Truce (Peace) of God movement and the papacy [Richard 19-34; Allen and Amt 24-27 and 31-32]; see portraits of Pope Gregory VII, Emperor Henry IV, Pope Clement III, Count Roger of Sicily, emperor Conrad II, and Pope Urban II; read a biography of Carl Erdmann
• Urban II and the Council of Clermont [Allen and Amt 34-42]; see a map of  Southeastern Europe on the eve of the First Crusade
• The People’s Crusade and the Byzantine problem [Richard 36-47; Allen and Amt 42-57]; see a map of the itinerary of the First Crusade

WEEK 3 (September 4-8): The First Crusade and its aftermath

• Monday, September 4: Labor Day – no classes
• From Constantinople to Jerusalem [Richard 47-69; Allen and Amt 61-63 and 67-79]; read some of the letters written by participants in the Crusade; see a map of the expedition in the Near East, and maps of Nicaea (with the surviving Constantinople gate), Antioch (with an image of the Church of St. Peter), and Jerusalem (with an image of Tancred’s Tower) in the late 11th and 12th centuries; see also an icon of St. George and a view of the ruins of Maarat al-Nuaman
• The Crusader states [Richard 77-94; Allen and Amt 82-89]; see a map of the crusader states to the mid-12th century and a statue of Godfrey of Bouillon in Brussels
• Muslims, Christians and Jews in the Crusader States [Richard 94-124; Allen and Amt 91-100, 104-116]; read a biography of Joshua Prawer and see pictures of René Grousset and Ronnie Ellenblum; visit the castles of Montreal and Kerak, and the mausoleum of Bohemond of Taranto in Canosa di Puglia

WEEK 4 (September 11-15): The Second Crusade and its aftermath

• The military orders and the rise of Zengi [Richard 124-155; Allen and Amt 118-125, 128-135]; see Paschal II’s bull “Piae postulatio“; visit the site of the monastery of Santa Maria Latina in Jerusalem, the fortresses of Calatrava, Alcántara, and Evora; visit the fortress of Alamut in northwestern Iran; see a map of Zengi‘s expansion into Syria and Kurdistan
• Bernard of Clairvaux and the Second Crusade [Richard 155-169; Allen and Amt 125-128, 135-140];see portraits of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Emperor Conrad III, Otto of Freising, and Emperor Manuel I Comnenus; visit Vézelay; see a map of the Second Crusade, and read an account of the fiasco at Damascus (1148)
• Nur al-Din and the revival of jihad [Richard 170-190]; see a map of the Seljuq domain around Outremer created by Nur al-Din and one of the coins struck in his name; visit the mosque al-Nuri in Hama and the Bimaristan hospital in Damascus (with a view of the facade), and see a picture of minbar in the al-Aqsa mosque as it looked like before its destruction in 1969

WEEK 5 (September 18-22): Crusades elsewhere

• The conquest of Lisbon and the proclamation of the crusade in the Iberian Peninsula [Allen and Amt 292-296, 303-306, 313-318]; see maps of the Almoravid Empire, of Spain after the Almoravid conquest and of  Reconquista after the death of Alfonso VII, of Europe and Africa at the time of the Second Crusade, and of the Iberian Peninsula in the early 13th century; see a portrait of Ramon Berenguer IV; see the commemorative monument at Ourique (with a map location), and vist Arcos de Valedevez, San Esteban de Gormaz, Santarem, Lisbon, Almería, Tortosa, Lleida (Lérida), Evora, Trujillo, Beja, and Silves
• The Wendish crusade [Allen and Amt 258-266]; see maps of limes saxonicus and of the Baltic tribes, ca. 1200; visit Arkona, Szczecin (Stettin), Rostock, Ikšķile (Uexküll), Riga, as well as the abbeys of Doberan, Dargun, and Kolbacz
• The Teutonic Knights, Livonia and the Baltic Crusade [Allen and Amt 267-275]; see maps of medieval Hungary and of the Baltic Crusades; visit Toruń (Thorn), Kwidzyn, Radzyń, and Kaliningrad (Königsberg); see the effigy of Ottokar  Přemysl I in the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

WEEK 6 (September 25-29): The Third Crusade

• The rise of Saladin and the Horns of Hattin [Richard 190-215; Allen and Amt 144-157]; see the statue of Saladin in Damascus and a map of Outremer before the fall of Jerusalem; see depictions of King Amalric’s repudiation of his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, and of his marriage to his second wife, Maria Comnena, as well as a modern versions of Queen Sybil (played by Eva Green) and Baldwin IV (played by Edward Norton); see a map of the battle at Hattin, and read excerpts from medieval accounts of the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin; see a map of  Outremer after Saladin’s conquests
• Calling of the Third Crusade [Richard 216-224; Allen and Amt 157-165]; see the statue of Richard I  in London and a portrait of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa; visit Harverfordwest (Wales), Acre (Akko, Israel), and the castle of Beaufort; see maps of the siege of Acre and of the itineraries of the Third Crusade; see a depiction of Conrad of Montferrat’s marriage to Isabella
• A comparison: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin  [Richard 224-231; Allen and Amt 169-177]; visit Famagusta (Cyprus) and Ascalon (Ashkelon, Israel); see maps of Richard’s campaigns in the Holy Land  and of the situation after the Treaty of Jaffa (1192)

WEEK 7 (October 2-6):  The diversion of the Fourth Crusade

• The crusade of Emperor Henry VI and Innocent III [Richard 231-242; Allen and Amt 216-239]; see a brief biography and a portrait of Pope Innocent III; see also a portrait of Fulk of Neuilly
• Venice, Zara, and the sack of Constantinople [Richard 242-252; Allen and Amt 220-234]; see the seals of Theobald, Count of Champagne, Louis, Count of Blois, and Simon of Montfort; see the statue of Baldwin, Count of Flanders (first emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople); see a coin struck for Conrad of Krosigk, Bishop of Halberstadt and portraits of Alexius IV Angelos and Alexius V Mourtzouphlos; visit Zara (Zadar); see maps of the political situation in Southeastern Europe on the eve of the Fourth Crusade, the itinerary of the Fourth Crusade, and of the siege of Constantinople
• Friday: Homecoming (no classes)

WEEK 8 (October 9-13): More crusades in Europe

• • The consequences of the Fourth Crusade [Richard 252-258]; see views of Galata, the Golden Horn, and the remains of the Blachernae Palace; see a map of the Latin Empire of Constantinople and its neighbors in the 13th century
  • The Albigensian Crusade and the children’s crusade [Allen and Amt 234-244]; visit Albi, Béziers, and Carcassonne; see maps of Languedoc in the early 13th century and of the Albigensian Crusade; see the seals of the count of Toulouse, Raymond VI and Raymond VII, and of Duke Leopold VI of Austria; see the oldest depiction of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin (and a modern re-enactment)
  • Midterm 

WEEK 9 (October 16-20): Crusades as an institution

• Theory and recruitment [Richard 259-270; Allen and Amt 180-191]
• Finances and logistics [Richard 271-282; Allen and Amt 194-199]; see examples of coins struck in Lucca and Valence; visit the Acciaiuoli Palace in Florence
• Army  morale, women, and crusading literature [Richard 287; Allen and Amt 199-213]; see portraits of Georges Duby, Jonathan Riley-Smith, and Denys Pringle; see the relief of the returning crusader from the Belval Priory in Lorraine and the effigies of Otto of Botenlauben and his wife Beatrix of Courtenay in the church of Frauenroth; see a medieval Western depiction of mamluks; see a medieval depiction of the qabaq and a page from the manuscript of al-Aqsara’i’s treaty of furusiyya (1366); see also a modern reconstructions of a composite bow, a mangonel, a ballista, a siege tower, and a battering ram; see the plan of  an ideal concentric castle; visit the castles of Toron, Casal Imbert, Chastel Blanc, Kerak of Moab, Saone, Belvoir (with plan), the citadel in Aleppo, and the Muslim castles at Misyaf (better known as Masyaf from its version for the “Assassins’ Creed” game), Ajlun, and Qalat Subayba (with its inscriptions comemmorating Baybars’ rebuilding); listen to troubadour songs by William IX of Aquitaine, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, Conon of Bethune, and to Walter von der Vogelweide’s Palästinalied; listen to one of the most famous crusading songs, “Chevalier, mult es guariz“

WEEK 10 (October 23-27): Egypt and the crusades

• The Fifth Crusade [Richard 294-307; Allen and Amt 249-254]; see a map of the Ayyubid “Empire” in the 13th century and a portrait of King Andrew II of Hungary; visit the castle of Athlit and the main mosque of Damietta; read the basic narrative of the events and see a map of the Egyptian campaign; see the encounter between sultan al-Kamil and Francis of Assisi, as imagined by Giotto
• The crusade of Frederick II [Richard 307-331; Allen and Amt 275-285]; see portraits of Gregory IX (as imagined by Raffael Sanzio) and Frederick II; visit Brindisi, the Montfort Castle, and Frederick II’s tomb in Palermo; see the seals of Theobald IV of Champagne and Richard of Cornwall
• The crusades of St. Louis [Richard 332-356; Allen and Amt 328-332]; see a map of the Khwarazmian Empire before the Mongol conquest and a medieval illustration of the battle of La Forbie (1244); visit Bahr al-Nil, Aigues Mortes, and the Sainte Chapelle in Paris (with a view of the interior); see a map of Louis IX’s expedition in Egypt and a medieval representation of his siege of Mansurah; see a coin struck for the “queen of the Muslims,” Shajar al-Durr and a map of William of Rubruck‘s travel to the court of the Great Khan in Karakorum

WEEK 11 (October 30-November 3):  The crusading territories during the Late Middle Ages

• Crusade and mission [Richard 361-368; Allen and Amt 353-357]
• Frankish lordship, trade, and Italians [Richard 369-393]; see maps of Acre, of the trade routes in the 13th century;, and of the travels of the Polo brothers to China; read a brief account of the war of St. Sabas
• Crusader society and art [Richard 393-407]; see a portrait of Louis Madelin and pictures of the cathedrals in Jubayl and Tortosa; see the frescoes of the damned in the chapel of the Hospitaller castle of Margat; see an historiated capital from the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth; see the Psalter of Melisende, an illuminated page of the Arsenal Bible, another from the Riccardiana Psalter, and an unfinished illumination by the “Hospitaller Master” in the manuscript of William of Tyre’s History of Outremer; see icons of the Mother of God (Kahn Madonna and Mellon Madonna) and of St. Marina

WEEK 12 (November 6-10): The Mamluks, the Mongols, and the end of the crusader states

• The rise of the Mamluks and the Mongols [Richard 408-420; Allen and Amt 337-340]; see portraits of Ögedei, Möngke, and Hülegü;  see maps of the Mongol great campaign planned at the quriltai of 1229 and of the Mongol successor states in the mid-13th century; see a medieval representation of the sack of Baghdad in 1258 and a map of the campaign leading to the battle at Ayn Jalut (1260); see the inscription placed by Baybars in 1266 on the mausoleum in Hims; see the cover of one of the most influential works of ibn Taymiyya
• The Eighth Crusade and other subsequent expeditions [Richard 424-441]; see a map of the itinerary of the Eighth Crusade and a medieval representation of Louis IX’s death in Carthage; see a portrait of Edward I
• Baybars and the end of the crusader states [Richard 442-466; Allen and Amt 340-351]; see a portrait of Michael VIII Palaeologus and map of Cilician Armenia and of Asia under the Mongols; see a medieval representation of the siege of Acre (1291)
• November 10: Veterans’ Day – no classes

WEEK 13 (November 13-17): Crusades after crusades

• The transformation of the military orders [Allen and Amt 357-364]; see portraits of Philip IV of France, Clement V, Jogaila, Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Jean de la Valette, and Manuel Pinto de Fonseca; see a medieval representation of the burning of the stake of Jacques de Molay and his fellow Templars; see a map of the territorial expansion of the Teutonic Ordenstaat in the Late Middle Ages; visit the Teutonic castle in Marienburg (now Malbork, Poland), the recent excavations in the crypt of the Cathedral in Kwidzyn (Poland), the headquarters of the Teutonic Order in Mergentheim, the priory of the Order of Christ in Tomar, the Hospital in Rhodes, Valletta and the fort of Sant’Angelo (Malta); see a nineteenth-century representation of the battle at Grunwald (Tannenberg) and a contemporary picture of an early eighteenth-century ship-of-the-line; read an English translation of Martin Luther’s exhortation to the Teutonic Knights
• The kingdom of Cyprus and the rise of the Ottomans [Richard 466-473]; see maps of early Ottoman conquests under Orkhan, and of the early Ottoman Empire; visit the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Famagusta; see portrait of King Peter I, sultan Mehmet II, and Skanderbeg; see a plan of the Venetian walls of Nicosia (with a view of some of the remains)
• Nicopolis, Varna, Constantinople, and Granada [Allen and Amt 370-377]; see portraits of King Sigismund of Hungary, Philip the Bold, John of Nevers, John Hunyadi, and John Capistrano; see a map of the itinerary of the Nicopolis crusade, a map and a medieval representation of the battle at Nicopolis; see the insignia associated with the Order of the Golden Fleece; see a map and a medieval representation of the battle at Varna; see a map of the emirate of Granada, a view of the Alpujarras Mountains, and a nineteenth-century representation of the surrender of the city in 1492; see the 1590 edition of Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata, and a picture of the battle at Lepanto

WEEK 14 (November 20-24): Crusades in the modern era

• Crusades in literature (from Walter Scott to Steven Runciman [Allen and Amt 388-397]); see the portraits of Etienne Pasquier, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Thomas Fuller, Voltaire, and William Robertson
• November 22-25: Thanksgiving break – no classes

WEEK 15 (November 27-December 1):  Between myth and reality: why do we study the crusades?

• Crusades and nationalism, West and East [Allen and Amt 398-402]; see the portraits of Joseph François Michaud, Walter Scott (with an illustration of the 1887 edition of his Tales of the Crusaders), Heinrich von Sybel, Friedrich Wilken, and Claude Reignier Conder; visit the Salle des croisades at Versailles (and see Delacroix’s Entry of the crusaders into Constantinople, 1204); listen to Ismael’s aria in Rossini’s Ivanhoe, and watch the scene of the duel between Ivanhoe and Brian of Bois-Gilbert in  the 1982 television movie Ivanhoe
• The legacy in the Middle East [Allen and Amt 418-425]; visit Saladin’s tomb in Damascus and a kibbutz in Israel; see portraits of the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II and of Kaiser Wilhelm II and of his entry into Jerusalem in 1898 (compare it with General Allenby’s entry into the city in 1917); see portraits of Claude Cahen and Steven Runciman
• Modern scholarship and 09/01; visit the site of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East

WEEK 16 (December 4-8): Conclusion and revision for the final exam.

Final exam: Tuesday, December 12, 3:00-5:00