The Later Crusades 1274-1580

The expulsion of the Christians from the Holy Land in 1291 was far from being the end of the crusading movement. Crusades continued for three centuries over a vast area stretching from Morocco to Russia, and played an important role in the politics and society of late medieval Europe. Norman Housley's comprehensive survey is the first to focus in depth on the later crusades. He explores with clarity and insight developments in all the areas touched by crusading activity, and examines the evolution of the international Military Orders and the Christian `frontier states' associated with crusading, especially Greece and Cyprus. Dr Housley illuminates the massive range and energy of the crusading movement in the late Middle Ages. He reveals the formidable problems which, as the period progressed, increasingly doomed crusades to failure, and shows how practical crusading was in a condition of decay even before the Reformation destroyed the religious framework in which it had once flourished. This is a wide-ranging and lucid study, which will be invaluable to students of the crusades. It is supplemented by fourteen maps and a guide to further reading.