Christian-Muslim Relations during the Crusades

Mallett (Waseda Univ., Japan) investigates the accommodating interactions of Christians and Muslims during the crusades “in order to demonstrate that they [the crusades] not only resulted in violent conflict, but also produced some of the most tolerant and multicultural spaces of the whole medieval period” (p. 1). After an introduction summarizing both the events of crusading history from 1095 to 1291 and their modern historiography, additional chapters address five topics that embodied interchanges: alliances and treaties; knowledge exchange (educational forms, technological science, medicine, geography, magical lore); inter-religious knowledge and perspectives; aspects of everyday social, professional, religious, and cultural relations; and religious conversions. As much as he is able, Mallett attempts to highlight non-elitist attitudes, but such written sources are admittedly meager. In the end, readers will decide whether the evidence presented here supports the convivencia that the author presents, namely that “everyday life in and around the crusader states was as tolerant and mutually cooperative as anywhere else in the medieval world, and perhaps predominantly more so” (p. 98).

~R. C. Figueira, Choice Connect 61, no. 8 (April 2024)