The First Crusade: A New History

by Thomas Asbridge

Book Overview

On the last Tuesday of November 1095, Pope Urban II delivered an electrifying speech that launched the First Crusade. His words set Christendom afire. Some 100,000 men, from knights to paupers, took up the call--the largest mobilization of manpower since the fall of the Roman Empire.
Now, in The First Crusade, Thomas Asbridge offers a gripping account of a titanic three-year adventure filled with miraculous victories, greedy princes and barbarity...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195178238
• ISBN13: 9780195178234
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

An enjoyable narrative, from a European slant

The First Crusade is an enjoyable read. It starts a little slow, but once the Crusaders reach Constantinople, things get really interesting. It has lots of drama and action. I think the author is fairly un-biased, though the book is definitely from the European perspective. Many reviewers took exception with this book based on their OWN biases. Some Islamic readers felt that Asbridge tried to justify atrocities by the Crusaders, but I felt rather that he was trying to explain their motivations and beliefs, not putting forth his own. Indeed, if he was trying to make the Crusaders look better, he would have left out entire events as other writers have done. A note to the Christian crowd: this is a secular text. Asbridge does not attribute to God any of the 'miraculous' events or victories of the Crusaders. He does write that specific events were viewed as divine intervention or miracles to the Crusaders, but makes no judgements as to whether this is perception or reality. This is as it should be in a historical text. Christians have already written much mythology about the Crusades; this is an attempt to disseminate some facts. If you really want to learn about the Crusades, you should follow this up with a book from the Islamic perspective. Only by the synthesis of several sources can a true understanding of these history-shaping events be reached. A highly recommended read.

Asbridge's book offers a fast moving, yet detailed overview of the First Crusade

Thomas Asbridge's book The first Crusade, A New History, offers the reader a well-written and fast-moving chronicle of the First Crusade and the events leading up to it. The book is very readable and covers the period with enough detail to acquaint the reader with significant events while moving at a pace that encourages you to want more. The author sets the stage by examining the political, cultural and spiritual milieu of the time. Some important points that he makes include: -The pervasive influence the Roman Catholic Church had over the people of Christian Europe at the time, instilling within them a fear of eternal damnation that exhibited substantial influence over how they conducted their lives. This made many European Christians willing to "take up the Cross" once the idea of a Crusade was preached. -The medieval mindset was completely different from the manner in which we think today. This environment allowed Church leaders such as Pope Gregory VII and Urban II, as well as Peter the Hermit and others to preach the idea that warfare could be conducted in such a manner as to offer salvation to the combatants. This extension of St. Augustine's "just war" conditions fit neatly with the desire of European Christians to achieve salvation through acts of penance, charity, and devotion. - The First Crusade was not conducted under unified command, but rather, consisted of expeditionary forces under the command of nobles from various parts of the continent. Even after the various forces met at Constantinople, tensions existed among the various factions that caused the effort to lose direction and falter over the course of the march to Jerusalem. -Even as the Christian forces had several factions, the forces on the Muslim side suffered from their own feudal and tribal differences. The Crusaders capitalized upon these factions, often entering into negotiations with one Muslim sect or population to gain advantage over another. What is amazing is that, in spite of all of the challenges they faced, the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem on July 15th, 1099 and held onto the city until Muslim forces under Saladin conquered it in 1187. The story of this conquest is a fascinating one as told by Thomas Asbridge, who made considerable use of primary and secondary sources in the course of writing this book. I highly recommend this book to all those who have an interest in learning more about the First Crusade, whether you are a serious student of the topic or just a casual reader.

Well-written, fair, accessible

Asbridge must have had an academic audience in mind, but his book is accessible even to one with no background in Medieval warfare or history. He is an excellent story-teller; the battles come alive, and the characters' motivations are real. A huge strength of the work for me was the author's ability to represent the Medieval worldview to a modern reader. The disconnect is huge, but Asbridge is equal to the task, and it makes the history all the more real. I recommend this book whole-heartedly.

A book that reads like an action movie

This is one of the best history books I have read in a long time. It is incredibly well-written and contains a fascinating account about the first crusade. It will keep you riveted until the end. Asbridge doesn't merely give a blow-by-blow of the action - although action is certainly not lacking. He explores how the crusade got started and the varied motivations of the participants. Characters like Bohemond, Godfrey of Boullion and Peter the Hermit come to life and fascinate. One of the great strengths of this book is Asbridge's discussion of the history of crusade scholarship - the ideas scholars both modern and medieval had about why the crusade happened and how it played out. I also found that some of the things I learned in college (and I didn't graduate that long ago!) about the crusades have been disproved by further scholarship. I always have found it ironic that, in a later crusade, western knights pillaged Constantinople when they were supposedly Christians united against a common foe. The roots of breakdown of the relationship between the crusaders and the Byzantine empire are explored, answering my questions. Asbridge is remarkably balanced and objective when discussing the sensitive area of Christian and Muslim relations. My only complaint is that a couple of times in the beginning of the book that the author includes some snide comments about Christianity. Kudos to Thomas Asbridge! I hope he decides to write another book about the other, less "successful" crusades.

Taking the Cross

This is a wonderful book. The author, Thomas Asbridge, has written a taut, clear account of a time in history that, at least for me, has always seemed terribly murky and shrouded in fable. The main strength of the book is its strong, direct, linear flow. The reader follows the First Crusade from its birth in Clermont and Pope Urban's preaching tour across France; to the Crusade's bloody finale and the Christian army's rampage through Jerusalem. Asbridge is, plain and simply, a good writer, and his vivid language bring the time and place to remarkable light. He has a good writer's eye for drama and the telling detail, and he brings in amazing writings from Crusade participants to flesh out the telling. Characters and events really came to life in my mind's eye while reading, whole landscapes and battles, so that I found myself setting the books aside more than once, simply to let the movie play for a moment. All in all, a great reading experience. As the book progressed, I really came to visualize the Crusading armies marching from Western Europe across the known world, slowly transforming itself through the crucible of starvation, decease, horrific battles, and hardship. They had begun as an unorganized, splintered assortment of rabble and soldier, princes and false prophets, numbering perhaps 100,000 souls, barely able to mount a cohesive attack. By the time they had reached Lebanon, the army had hardened down to a pack of fast moving, ruthless veterans, sending terror through the Muslim world. Muslim cities, hearing of their barbarity, began begging for peace, throwing riches at them, usually to no avail. Finally, this efficient juggernaut simply stormed against the heavily fortified Holy City of Jerusalem, taking it quickly and horribly despite overwhelming odds against them, then tore through the city like starved wolves, killing everything (including children and women). The image of the victorious crusaders, coming to fall in tearful prayer at the Holy Sepulchre, their faces and clothes still drenched in blood, is one of the most perfect in the book - at once capturing the strange amalgamation of genuine religious fervor and blood-curdling terror that marked the times. The author also poses many new ideas about the Crusades as well (such as his view of the effect of the religious relic, the Holy Lance, which the author feels had much less importance than is traditionally thought), which make this book good for both history novice and expert alike. The author does a good job of viewing the times in a fair light. The magnificent achievement of the crusading armies is not understated. After reading what the soldiers and knights of this crusade went through, it is easier to understand why they truly considered many of their victories "miracles" and sure evidence of God's hand. The author does not overlook the grimmer realities of the First Crusade either, which can be summed up in this simple sentence near the end of the book: "In bitt