Propaganda for War the Dissemination of the Crusading Ideal in the Twelfth Century

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 79-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Morris
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Technical Aspect ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Total Absence ◽  
Northern France ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Military

It was accepted in western Europe, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, that there was an obligation upon the military classes, and indeed on Christians generally, to take up arms in defence of the Holy Sepulchre, or to participate in other expeditions authorised by the ecclesiastical hierarchy. War ceased to be, for Christians, a regrettable necessity, and became a virtue, and armies were summoned by the trumpet-blasts of the Prince of Peace. There has been a great deal of work by historians in recent decades on the transformation of earlier Christian ideology, and we now understand much more about the origins of crusading ideas, the discussion of warfare by theologians and canon lawyers, and the profound changes in spirituality which accompanied the rise of militarism. There is however a technical aspect of the subject which is less often considered: the actual methods by which the new ideals were communicated to western society generally. By any standards, it was a remarkably successful exercise in publicity. It was also, in the first instance, very rapid. Urban II announced the expedition to Jerusalem at the Council of Clermont in November 1095, and he fixed the date of departure as 15 August 1096. The summons was heard by groups far wider than the princes and their households, and by Easter 1096 an army led by Peter the Hermit had already arrived in Cologne on its way from northern France. Within a few months, therefore, and well in advance of the papal deadline, the message had spread to all levels of society over a wide geographical area. A system of communication as effective as this deserves our respect and study. It would be a mistake to conclude from the total absence of modern technology that the control of opinion was unimportant in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Ideas and Reality: Some Attempts to Control and Defuse War in the Twelfth Century

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 59-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Holdsworth
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Hundred Years War ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
The Military ◽  
Working Out ◽  
The Church

The track to be explored in this paper was laid down when I realised how relatively unexamined the actual working out of Christian ideas about war within the medieval period is. Recent years have seen appear a notable book about the development of ideas on the Just War, and a great deal of work on the role of the military aristocracy and on its ideals, but upon the coming together of Christianity and actual events there seemed to me very little, at least in the period which interests me most. The one series of events which has attracted attention within what one can call loosely the twelfth century is, of course, the Crusades, but I decided to put them rather at the edge of my focus since they raised special questions, and to invite a scholar who has devoted much time to their elucidation to give a paper upon a crusading theme later in the conference. Yet when one turns for guidance for the history of western Europe there is only one book which stands out, La Guerre au Moyen Age by Philippe Contamine which appeared in the Nouvelle Clio series as recently as 1980, and it, as one would expect from its author’s earlier achievement, is strongest when it deals with the period of the Hundred Years War. Nonetheless it is a remarkable achievement, and one to which I am deeply indebted. But given the fact that the subject is still so unmapped, only two approaches seemed feasible to me, one where I would try to look at a series of specific wars and see what the Church did about them, or one where I would look at a source or group of sources, and see what it, or they, had to say about war and the Church.

Electoral Campaigning and Latin American Democratization: The Grancolombian Experience

1990 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Martz
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Latin American Politics ◽  
Bibliographic Analysis ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Civilian Regimes ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The Military ◽  
Theoretical Developments

Does electoral campaigning in Latin America make a difference, and does it merit the attention of scholars? This was at the core of an extensive bibliographic analysis, published nearly two decades ago, which noted the paucity of literature on the subject, extending throughout the Third World and even including Western Europe (Martz, 1971). However, the rising tide of military authoritarianism dramatically reduced the relevance of the question in the region, and students of Latin American politics turned away, understandably, from concerted attention to campaigns, elections, and parties. Only with the reemergence of democratic regimes in recent years has interest turned back toward older emphases (Martz, 1990). Once again, theoretical developments have been colored by the events of the day, reorienting scholarly attention “from the military overthrow of civilian regimes and Latin American authoritarianism toward the prospects and processes of redemocratization” (Malloy, 1987).

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Frank Griffel
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Islamic Philosophy ◽  
Colonial Expansion ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Military

Starting with the observation that the beginning of the European Enlightenment coincided with the military defeat of Ottoman armies that threatened Central Europe and with the Western colonial expansion into Muslim territories, the introduction reviews how earlier generations of Western scholars have thought about philosophy in Islam. The earliest academic studies of philosophy in Islam were dominated by the Hegelian assumption of a Weltgeist that moved from Greece to Western Europe. It assumed that the philosophical tradition ended in Islam the moment it was passed unto Western Europe during the 12th century. Yielding a strong influence on the study of Islamic philosophy during the 19th and 20th centuries, this idea also determined the widespread conviction that books like al-Ghazali’s (d. 1111) Precipitance of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa) are not works of philosophy, rather they are directed against it. The introduction suggests to accept these works as books of philosophy and to draw the full consequences of that insight. It means that many books of philosophy were written in Islam after the 12th century, of which a certain kind is the subject of this study.

Introduction

PMLA ◽  
1889 ◽  
Vol 4 (S1) ◽  
pp. i-xv
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Military Leader ◽  
First Crusade ◽  
Chansons De Geste ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Way

The name “Cycle of the Crusade” was first given by M. Léon Gautier, in his ‘Epopées françaises,’ to the chansons de geste which grew up in celebration of the heroes and exploits of the First Crusade. The same series of poems was, in 1877, made the subject of a collective study by H. Pigeonneau, under the title, ‘Le Cycle de la Croisade et de la famille de Bouillon.’ It would not be here in place to outline what has been done in the way of publishing, analysing and classifying the various poems of this cycle. Their nucleus is the Chanson d'Antioche, written in the second quarter of the twelfth century, probably by Richard le Pèlerin, and describing the First Crusade, from the preaching of Peter the Hermit to the capture of Antioch. Following soon after this, but not by the same author, comes a continuation, entitled the Chanson de Jérusalem, reciting the dénoûment of the Crusade with the renowned victory of the Christians at the battle of Ascalon, written probably near the beginning of the Second Crusade, i. e., towards the year 1147. The conspicuous and natural hero of these poems was the military leader of the Crusade, Godfrey of Bouillon, the same who at a later date becomes the central personage of the more famous Gerusalemme Liberata of Tasso. The literary popularity as well as historical prominence of the name of Godfrey, as we are prepared to expect from what is known of the evolution of other mediæval cycles, led to the development of a branch carrying the story further back and recounting the origin and earlier career of the crusader hero, under the title of Chanson du Chevalier au Cygne et de Godefroi de Bouillon. According to the earliest version of the poem, the birth of Godfrey was on this wise:—Otto, being emperor at Nimwegen, is appealed to by the widowed Duchess of Bouillon and her daughter Beatrice, for his protection against the threatened usurpation of Renier, Duke of Saxony. At the same moment there arrives on the river an unknown knight, in a boat which is drawn in tow by a white swan. The “Knight of the Swan” disembarks, undertakes the defense of the duchess and her daughter, slays the usurper, and marries Beatrice, imposing upon her, however, an oath never to question him as to his birth or antecedents, with the warning that her first indiscretion in this matter will result in their certain separation. A daughter, Ida, is born to the couple thus united; but by the time she has reached the age of seven years, the mother's curiosity can no longer be restrained, and she propounds to her husband the fatal question. At this the knight, in sorrowful obedience to his destiny, bids farewell to his vassals, recommends his daughter to the emperor, and repairs to the shore, where the swan that first brought him to that land is awaiting him with his boat; and the knight, departing as he came, disappears never to be heard of more. Ida, having attained her fourteenth year, is married by the Count Eustace of Boulogne, and from this union spring three sons, Godfrey, Eustace and Baldwin, that is to say, our Godfrey of Bouillon and his two distinguished brothers.—So much is briefly given here, with a view to indicating broadly the relation to the Cycle of the Crusade in general, and to the Chanson de Godefroi de Bouillon in particular,1 of the poem of the Naissance du Chevalier au Cygne, which is the subject of our present study.

Latin Syria and the West, 1149–1187

1969 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Smail
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The West ◽  
First Crusade ◽  
Holy Places ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

Historians of the crusades have given most of their attention to the major crusading expeditions, especially to the first, and to the surface history of the Latin states in Syria, especially to that of the kingdom of Jerusalem. They have shown less interest in those conditions in western Europe from which all crusading activity grew. It is true that the roots of the movement prior to the First Crusade were traced by Erdmann in a magisterial study which remains the most important contribution made to the subject during the present century. But the First Crusade was not the end of the matter. European sentiment about the crusades and the Latin states continued to develop during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and beyond. Even in the twelfth century there was a body of opinion which was highly critical of crusading activity and this grew in the course of time; but the main weight of conventional opinion in the later twelfth and earlier thirteenth century came to accept the crusade, and the maintenance or recovery of Latin possession of the Holy Places, as a Christian responsibility.

Anne O. Krueger, Constantine Michalopoulos and Vernon W. Ruttan. Aid and Development. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1989. xiv + 386 pp.Price: U.S. $ 52.00

1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-217
Author(s):  
Mir Annice Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
International Development ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Infrastructure ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Impact

Foreign aid has been the subject of much examination and research ever since it entered the economic armamentarium approximately 45 years ago. This was the time when the Second World War had successfully ended for the Allies in the defeat of Germany and Japan. However, a new enemy, the Soviet Union, had materialized at the end of the conflict. To counter the threat from the East, the United States undertook the implementation of the Marshal Plan, which was extremely successful in rebuilding and revitalizing a shattered Western Europe. Aid had made its impact. The book under review is by three well-known economists and is the outcome of a study sponsored by the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. The major objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of assistance, i.e., aid, on economic development. This evaluation however, was to be based on the existing literature on the subject. The book has five major parts: Part One deals with development thought and development assistance; Part Two looks at the relationship between donors and recipients; Part Three evaluates the use of aid by sector; Part Four presents country case-studies; and Part Five synthesizes the lessons from development assistance. Part One of the book is very informative in that it summarises very concisely the theoretical underpinnings of the aid process. In the beginning, aid was thought to be the answer to underdevelopment which could be achieved by a transfer of capital from the rich to the poor. This approach, however, did not succeed as it was simplistic. Capital transfers were not sufficient in themselves to bring about development, as research in this area came to reveal. The development process is a complicated one, with inputs from all sectors of the economy. Thus, it came to be recognized that factors such as low literacy rates, poor health facilities, and lack of social infrastructure are also responsible for economic backwardness. Part One of the book, therefore, sums up appropriately the various trends in development thought. This is important because the book deals primarily with the issue of the effectiveness of aid as a catalyst to further economic development.

A Short Survey of Yemeni Sufism from Its Inception up to the Thirteenth Century

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Muhammad Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Short Survey ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Intellectual Activities

This paper analyzes the historical conditions of Yemen’s Sufi movement from the beginning of Islam up to the rise of the Rasulid dynasty in the thirteenth century. This is a very difficult task, given the lack of adequate sources and sufficient academic attention in both the East and theWest. Certainly, a few sentences about the subject can be found scattered in Sufi literature at large, but a respectable study of the period’s mysticism can hardly be found.1 Thus, I will focus on the major authorities who first contributed to the ascetic movement’s development, discuss why a major decline of intellectual activities occurred in many metropolises, and if the existing ascetic conditions were transformed into mystical tendencies during the ninth century due to the alleged impact ofDhu’n-Nun al-Misri (d. 860). This is followed by a brief discussion ofwhat contributed to the revival of the country’s intellectual and economic activities. After that, I will attempt to portray the status of the major ascetics and prominent mystics credited with spreading and diffusing the so-called Islamic saintly miracles (karamat). The trademark of both ascetics and mystics across the centuries, this feature became more prevalent fromthe beginning of the twelfth century onward. I will conclude with a brief note on the most three celebrated figures of Yemen’s religious and cultural history: Abu al-Ghayth ibn Jamil (d. 1253) and his rival Ahmad ibn `Alwan (d. 1266) from the mountainous area, andMuhammad ibn `Ali al-`Alawi, known as al-Faqih al-Muqaddam (d. 1256), from Hadramawt.

Marie De France's Eliduc: the Play of Aventure

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 3-57
Author(s):  
Eve M. Whittaker
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Marie De France ◽  
Philosophical Consideration ◽  
Adult Lives

AbstractThis work proposes that for Eliduc, the culminating statement of her Lais, Marie de France selected a metaphor which was then new to Christianity: the game of chess. Eliduc is a "chess morality," marking the transition between the Muslim game and its varieties in western Europe. Like its Muslim ancestor, but explicating a central Christian text, it teaches philosophical consideration of human life in this world. This paper demonstrates the correspondences between the story of Eliduc and the twelfth century game of chess-its ancestry, objectives, strategies, and equipment, and then describes the game, as it proceeds, of the adult lives of three people.

Twelfth-Century Italian Prices: Food and Clothing in Pisa and Venice

1983 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-403
Author(s):  
Louise Buenger Robbert
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
American Philosophical Society ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
Good Opportunity ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Material ◽  
The Cost

Seventy-three years ago pioneer American medievalist Dana Carlton Munro (1911: 504) delivered a paper in Philadelphia to the American Philosophical Society entitled “The Cost of Living in the Twelfth Century.” He threw down the gauntlet by concluding that in this paper an attempt has been made to set forth only a few of the facts, merely to indicate the nature and importance of the problem. Every one of the subjects here discussed is susceptible of elaboration, and needs to be worked out in detail for each country of Western Europe and each period in the twelfth century. The material is voluminous…. This field, as a whole, offers a good opportunity for many monographs, and such work is essential before we can understand the economic history of the century which was most important in the advance of western Europe.This article takes up this challenge with new material on the cost of living in Italy in the twelfth century.

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