by Alex Mallett
Series: Past Imperfect
120 Pages, Trim size: 4.5 x 7 in
The popular view of the Crusades is that of two zealous armies ranged against each other in a state of practically permanent warfare, lacking mutual respect, understanding, or co-operation. Scholars long ago replaced such ideas with a much more nuanced understanding, in which rulers from both sides could work together for mutual benefit, even while pretending to ascribe to the principles of crusade and jihad. This perspective, however, focused almost exclusively on the actions of the elites; the attitudes of those who made up the vast majority of the society in the Levant have been all but ignored.
In a clear and accessible form, this book explores everyday relations and interactions between Christians and Muslims in the Levant during the Crusades, demonstrating that it was usually practicality rather than religious scruples that dictated their responses to the religious other.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Alliances and Treaties
Chapter 3: Scientific Exchange
Chapter 4: Inter-Religious Perspectives
Chapter 5: Everyday Life
Chapter 6: Religious Conversion
Conclusion
Further Reading
Alex Mallett (Waseda University in Tokyo) is an expert on Christian-Muslim relations during the Crusades and author of Popular Muslim Reactions to the Franks in the Levant, 1097-1291 (2014), and co-editor of the series Christian-Muslim Relations, A Bibliographical History (2009-13)
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)
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