Remembering the Crusades and Crusading, ed. Megan Cassidy-Welch

Abstract

Academic interest in memory and crusading, as Cassidy-Welch writes in this volume’s introduction, has advanced in recent years and this book represents another stride forward in the field. It neatly succeeds in its aim ‘to draw attention to the diverse ways in which Crusades and crusading were remembered in the Middle Ages and beyond’ (p. 8) through elucidating the contexts and vectors of crusading memory. The format of an essay collection serves this end well by allowing for the gathering of considerable and diverse expertise. The book is divided into three parts, of which the first surveys—largely successfully—the broad array of source material for the crusades and crusading. The second section focuses on communities of memory while the third examines the longer term ‘cultural memory’ of the crusades. The whole, then, provides a valuable and learned introduction to the variety and breadth of crusader studies for undergraduates and established scholars alike.