Andrew Jotischky: 3 books

In 1095 Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade to recover Jerusalem from the Seljuq Turks. Tens of thousands of people joined his cause, making it the single largest event of the Middle Ages. The conflict would rage for over 200 years, poisoning Christian and Islamic relations forever. In this new...

Crusading and the Crusader States explores how the idea of holy war emerged from the troubled society of the eleventh century, and why Jerusalem and the Holy Land were so important to Europeans. It follows the progress of the major crusading expeditions, offering insights into initial success and...

The Egyptian hermit Onuphrios was said to have lived entirely on dates, and perhaps the most famous of all hermits, John the Baptist, on locusts and wild honey. Was it really possible to sustain life on so little food? The history of monasticism is defined by the fierce and passionate abandonment...