The Crusades is an area of rapidly expanding interest. Students increasingly see an understanding of the roots of religious violence and of interaction between Christian and Islamic cultures as a critical tool for citizenship in the modern world. This is borne out by the large number of general books written on crusading, from 'popular' narrative histories to more academic analyses. Not even the best general survey, however, can afford the level of detailed argument based on careful analysis of evidence that can be presented in a more narrowly focused article or essay. This collection makes available a group of carefully selected articles which, taken together, develop themes and problematics in crusading history.

Articles include the papal reform movement, the development of a theory of holy war, the Reconquista in Spain, the theology of penance, pilgrimage and devotion to the Holy Land, the Seljuqs and the political dynamics of the Near East in the late 11th century, military and logistical technologies in crusading, the Islamic response under Nur ad-Din and Saladin and the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the fall of the Ayyubid dynasty and the rise of the Mamluks, the emergence of the Mongols, the kingdom of Cyprus, the fall of the Crusader States 1260s-1291, crusading in the later Middle Ages, the treatment of indigenous peoples under western rule, the development of crusader visual culture in the east, church building, castles, settlement patterns and the economy of the crusader states.

Comprehensively indexed and with an introduction by the editor, a leading expert in the field, The Crusades is a key work of reference destined to be an essential research and teaching resource.