L.HIS 243 - The Crusades-EI

Credits: 3

This course will examine the history of the Crusades, its role in the emergence of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and its relationship to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (especially Just War Theory). The chronological focus will be on the first hundred and nine years of crusading, from the summons to the First Crusade and the conquest of Jerusalem to the fall of Jerusalem and the sack of Constantinople, the world’s greatest Christian city at the time. It will look at the lives of famous characters such as the Norman general Bohemond, the remarkable queen Melisande, the Leper-King, and the romantic favorites Richard the Lionheart and Saladin; and it will listen to the voices not only of European Christians, but also of Jews and Muslims.
Prerequisite: None
Co-requisite: None
General Education Classification: Identity, Culture, & Society-EI