Here’s a helpful article describing the real history of the Crusades.
For those who feel that the article is too long, Here are some key facts:
* They were a defensive response to centuries of Muslim aggression.
* Attacking Jews was condemned by the Pope and never the purpose of a Crusade
* Crusaders for the most part were pious men who sacrificed a great deal to go on a crusade
* The real history of the crusades isn’t clean, and it’s a lot more complicated than the common misconception.
Historian Thomas Madden summarizes:
“So what is the truth about the Crusades? Scholars are still working some of that out. But much can already be said with certainty. For starters, the Crusades to the East were in every way defensive wars. They were a direct response to Muslim aggression—an attempt to turn back or defend against Muslim conquests of Christian lands.”
I also found Bruce Shelley's article on the Crusades an interesting examination of the motivations behind the Crusades: the Crusades were defensive to start, the papacy was aggressive militarily, and Europe was entering an era of self-conscious unity. Shelley examines the historical context, but also raises some questions worth asking in any era.
"The Crusades raise deep questions about the human heart. What is the nature of a "good" society? How do we restrain evil? Can "good" be defined by Christian doctrine? If so, how shall destructive ideas (called "heresy") be eliminated from society? Such questions are not buried in the twelfth century. Thoughtful Christians today, concerned about the moral decline in our own society, are asking essentially the same questions."
I have a copy of Desmond Sewards “Monks of War”
Will read all later.