The Expansion of the Faith: Crusading on the Frontiers of Latin Christendom in the High Middle Ages, ed. Paul Srodecki and Norbert Kersken

Abstract

Recent decades have witnessed an augmented interest in crusading movements on the peripheries of medieval Latin Christianity. Beside the notoriously well studied Holy Land crusades and the Reconquista expeditions to Iberia, other theatres of war have been examined in detail. The present book, edited by Paul Srodecki and Norbert Kersken, is the outcome of one of such project, which started at an international conference (‘Crusading and the Crusader Movement in the Peripheries of the Christian West, 1100–1500’) held in Marburg, Germany in 2017. This, the first of two planned volumes, deals with crusading on the frontiers of Latin Christendom in the High Middle Ages (the sequel will cover the late medieval period). The book opens with a well-written introduction by Paul Srodecki, which provides a solid overview of the historiography of the crusades, examines the various approaches and sketches out new directions of research, especially connected to the periphery of Latin Christianity (East Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Baltic region, etc.).