English Society and the Crusade, 1216-1307

A study examining various aspects of the impact of the crusade movement upon English society in the late 13th century. Its primary aim is to elucidate the effect of the crusading call upon contemporaries and to assess the factors and influences which conditioned their response.

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This study examines various aspects of the impact of the crusading movement upon late 13th century English society. The primary aim is to elucidate the effect of the crusading call upon contemporaries and to assess the factors and influences which conditioned their response. The author surveys the way in which the crusade was promoted and preached and the nature of the support which was sought. Drawing on a range of sources, he seeks to show that recruitment to the crusade is best understood by close reference to the combined workings of the social and political structure, and to the preferences of papal policy and crusade leaders. These were the factors that largely determined the composition of the crusading forces. The preparations of individual crusaders are also discussed together with the nature and scale of their impact on English society and the economy. The reactions of Henry III and Edward I to the crusade are assessed, shedding light on the Plantagenet policy in Europe and in the Mediterranean, and on the way in which the crusading forces, once assembled, were organized and financed. A title related to this book is "The Avignon Papacy and the Crusades" by Norman Housley.