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The Crusader States and their Neighbours is a region-wide military history of the Near East at the time of the early Crusades (1099-1187). It explores the major military events of this period, from the sieges of Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo to the battle of Hattin, offering substantial revisions to many key orthodoxies concerning the crusades.
List of contents
- Introduction
- 1: Frankish Expansion
- 2: Friends and Foes (1099-1129)
- 3: Aleppo and Damascus (1117-1129): The challenge of the Big Cities
- 4: The evolving balance of power (1130s-1148)
- 5: The rise of Nur al-Din 1149-1174
- 6: Saladin and the battle Hattin
- 7: Innovation and cross-cultural exchange in the evolution of Near Eastern warfare
- Why did the Crusader States lose the contest for the Near East?
About the author
Nicholas Morton is a lecturer in History at Nottingham Trent University where he specialises in the history of the Crusades, the Military Orders, and the Medieval Mediterranean. He is especially interested in interfaith relations, medieval biblical exegesis, and military history, and has written extensively on these themes. His recent publications include: The Field of Blood: The Battle for Aleppo and the Remaking of the Medieval Middle East (2018), The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources (2017, co-edited with Elizabeth Lapina), and Encountering Islam on the First Crusade (2016). He is also an editor of the Routledge series: Rulers of the Latin East and The Military Religious Orders: History, Sources and Memory.
Summary
The Crusader States and their Neighbours is a region-wide military history of the Near East at the time of the early Crusades (1099-1187). It explores the major military events of this period, from the sieges of Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo to the battle of Hattin, offering substantial revisions to many key orthodoxies concerning the crusades.
Additional text
Morton ambitiously sets out to offer a comprehensive analysis of all the military activity of the region in the twelfth century, with as many military episodes considered as possible, from the smallest to the largest. In this, he has succeeded impressively. The results of his extensive research have led to not only an invaluable book on warfare in the Middle East in the twelfth century, but one which also contributes notably to our understanding of medieval warfare in general. It is a thoroughly engrossing read.
