Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources

Elizabeth Lapina, Ph.D. (2007), is Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is the author of Warfare and the Miraculous in the Chronicles of the First Crusade and co-editor of Crusades and Visual Culture.Nicholas Morton, Ph.D. (2008) is a lecturer in History at Nottingham Trent University. He is the author of several books and articles on crusading and the military orders, most recently Encountering Islam on the First Crusade.

"The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources makes an important and timely intervention in the field of crusader studies. As the title suggests, the volume aims not only to advance our understanding of crusade ideology, by analysing its biblical foundations and relationship with contemporary exegetical interpretations, but also to contribute to wider scholarship on the assimilation of scriptural imagery in medieval texts... In short, anyone interested in the ideology and spirituality of crusading, and the construction of crusade sources, would benefit enormously from reading this book, which looks set to become a standard reference work."Stephen J. Spencer, in Reviews in History, review no. 2193. Date accessed: 20 November 2017. Click here."This is a deeply interesting, impossibly important book that successfully builds upon existing scholarly trends related to medieval Christian holy war but then also manages to move in new, exciting directions... In the end, this might be the most important contribution of all these fine essays—to remind us that the lens of analysis refracts, that it shapes how an author sees their subjects... Thanks to this collection of essays we now understand better how religion was embedded not just in how the medieval Christian holy war was conducted but also in how it was narrated and reimagined, both in the Middle Ages and today."Matthew Gabriele (Virginia Tech), in Reading Religion, September 12, 2018. ''This volume represents an important contribution to emergingefforts to integrate thestudy of the Crusades into the history of medieval Christian practice. In recent years, scholars of the Crusades have emphasized the importance of focusing on the intersection of the Crusades with medieval piety,in order to develop a fuller understanding of the crusading mind-set and the cultural influence of crusading. One area that both demands attention and offers considerable opportunity for research is the role of biblical texts in the crusading movement. Although historians have traced Bible references in crusading texts before, remarkably few works have made them the central focus of a study of the Crusades. Thisbook attempts to encourage and promote such investigations by providing a survey of biblical exegesis of the Crusades''. Richard Allington, in Speculum 95/1 , January 2020. "Lapina and Morton’s volume is comprehensive and it offers an informative catalogue of views, sources, and accounts […] an excellent panoramic view of the biblical exegesis in the crusades that is thought-provoking and critical […] One hopes there will be a continuation on the topic in future publications and volumes. In general, this a thoughtful and excellent volume on the matter". Angela P. Pacheco, in De Re Militari, January 2020.