For half a millennium, throughout almost the entire medieval period, the
Catholic church sanctioned military campaigns against what it perceived
as its enemies. The rise of Islam and its spread across large parts of
the Middle East, Asia, North Africa, and even the peripheries of Europe,
saw Muslim warriors seize the Holy Land, occupy Jerusalem, and threaten
Constantinople. In response, Pope Urban II advocated a crusade to retake
the Holy Land - the first of nine military campaigns that stretched over
the succeeding 200 years.
Other, lesser-known crusades were subsequently mounted with the aim of
Christianizing the more remote regions of northern and north-eastern
Europe, as well as against the Cathars in southern France. The advance
of the Ottomans into the Balkans saw further crusades to halt the
Muslims in Bosnia and Serbia, and the re-conquest of Spain from the
Muslim Moors.
Such diverse theaters of conflict have resulted in an equally diverse
number of relics still to be found in a score of countries. From
magnificent castles, swords, artillery and coats of arms, to
Crusader-struck coins and even the brass pen box used by Muslim writers
to spread the word of Islam, this remarkable collection of artifacts and
structures tells the story, much of it largely forgotten, of the
conflicts which shaped the nature of the Western World known today, both
in spiritual and geographical terms.
Beautifully illustrated and written by acknowledged period expert James
Waterson, The Crusades in 100 Objects opens a window into the past as
never seen before.
