Steven Runciman in volume 1 of his History of the Crusades:The First Crusade and the Foundations of the Kingdom of Jerusalem describes an 11th century that witnessed massive movements of peoples and political reorganizations. The Byzantine and Latin churches had parted company in 1054. The Turks ...
This book was an excellent reference for the factual details of the period. But, unless you are very interested in the topic, it is dry and tough read because it is so full of the facts. I liked the fact that he got into a lot of the details about the political happenings in the arab world duri...
When war broke out between Ayub and Ismail in the spring of 1244, they persuaded the barons to intervene actively on the latter’s behalf. An-Nasir of Kerak and the young Prince of Homs, al-Mansur Ibrahim, had both joined Ismail; and al-Mansur Ibrahim came in person to Acre to seal the alliance an...
Towards the end of March the imperial army moved up to Antioch and was joined there by the troops of the Prince of Antioch and the Count of Edessa, together with a contingent of Templars. On 1 April the allies crossed into enemy territory and occupied Balat. On the 3rd they appeared before Biza’a...
The elder, Eustace III, Count of Boulogne, was an unenthusiastic Crusader, always eager to return to his rich lands that lay on both sides of the English Channel. His contribution of soldiers was far smaller than Godfrey’s, whom he was therefore content to regard as leader. He probably travelled ...