The Crusades
Thursdays, 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., April 15, 22, 29 and May 6, 13, 20.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Few moments in medieval history have been as sensationalized as the crusades. From Hollywood to white supremacists, the legacy of the crusaders has been manipulated and assumed for various purposes. An examination of the history of this movement, from 1095 to 1291, will call these assumptions into question. Were those who ‘took the cross’ solely moved by faith, or were there other motivations? How did the establishment of the crusader states impact the evolving relationship between peoples of different creeds, ethnicities, and languages? Was there a consistent narrative of ‘Holy War’ or do the leaders and sources of the period indicate what one recent historian has referred to as a sort of ‘rough tolerance.’ Through analysis of written material from the period, this course will examine the cultural, economic, religious and political consequences of the crusading movement.
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jeffrey Brubaker, adjunct Professor in the Canisius Classics Department, completed his PhD in history at the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology of the University of Birmingham in 2016. He is the author of multiple articles on the history of the crusades, church schism, and medieval diplomacy. His volume, Disputatio of the Latins and Greeks, 1234: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, is due for publication in the Translated Texts for Byzantinists series by Liverpool University Press in late 2021.