"In tracing the causes of the Crusades, that fearful drama whose nine acts ran the weary length of nearly two centuries, and at a low computation cost Europe two millions of lives, the word itself becomes our guide. The dictionaries give the obsolete croisade as well as the modern form crusade, and plainly show that the word, like the thing itself, is of French origin, and in the first instance denoted a league of Christians against heretics and infidels, especially miscreants of the Mohammedan faith; afterwards it was applied to Christian expeditions undertaken in vindication of the right of pilgrims to visit the Holy Sepulcher. These pilgrims wore on their garments a cross, the sign and pledge of their new vocation. Thus the French croix, cross, gave to the expeditions the name croisade, crusade, and to the pilgrims that of crusaders. Public opinion in the tenth and eleventh centuries approve as holy not only the primary object of the crusades (free access to the Holy Sepulcher), but also the conquest of the Holy Land, into which it speedily expanded, and for this reason the crusades are often defined as Holy Wars. A holy war may justly strike us as a strange combination, especially when we call to mind the incontestable fact that of all wars those called holy are the most sanguinary and cruel." - J.I. Mombert
Contents: Pilgrimage. The Council of Clermont. First Crusade, 1096-1099. Peter and his Hosts. The Army Proper. The Cross Triumphant. The Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1100-1145. Second Crusade, 1146-1148. Bernard. Kingcraft. The Campaign. The Fall of Jerusalem, 1154-1187. Moslems and Christians. The Crescent Victorious. Third Crusade, 1187-1192. Frederic Barbarossa. Richard and Philip. Sicilian Affairs. Conquest of Cyprus. Ptolemais. Progress and End of the Campaign. Henry VI.’s Expedition, 1194-1198. The Papacy and the Empire. Preparation. Headless Armies. Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204. Innocent III. Work in Earnest. Dandolo. Capture of Constantinople. A Dangerous Throne. Final Conquest. The Latin Empire of Romania, 1204-1261. The Albigeois Crusade, 1208-1249. Fifth Crusade. 1217-1221. Sixth Crusade, 1228-1229. Frederic II. The Crusaders in Egypt. Failure of the Expedition. Struggle for Supremacy. Frederic Victor. Seventh Crusade, 1248-1254. Eighth Crusade, 1270. Commotion in the East. Catastrophe and Nemesis, 1262-1312. Conclusions.
Contents: Pilgrimage. The Council of Clermont. First Crusade, 1096-1099. Peter and his Hosts. The Army Proper. The Cross Triumphant. The Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1100-1145. Second Crusade, 1146-1148. Bernard. Kingcraft. The Campaign. The Fall of Jerusalem, 1154-1187. Moslems and Christians. The Crescent Victorious. Third Crusade, 1187-1192. Frederic Barbarossa. Richard and Philip. Sicilian Affairs. Conquest of Cyprus. Ptolemais. Progress and End of the Campaign. Henry VI.’s Expedition, 1194-1198. The Papacy and the Empire. Preparation. Headless Armies. Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204. Innocent III. Work in Earnest. Dandolo. Capture of Constantinople. A Dangerous Throne. Final Conquest. The Latin Empire of Romania, 1204-1261. The Albigeois Crusade, 1208-1249. Fifth Crusade. 1217-1221. Sixth Crusade, 1228-1229. Frederic II. The Crusaders in Egypt. Failure of the Expedition. Struggle for Supremacy. Frederic Victor. Seventh Crusade, 1248-1254. Eighth Crusade, 1270. Commotion in the East. Catastrophe and Nemesis, 1262-1312. Conclusions.
