Browsing by Subject "Crusades"

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    Actions and Receptions of the Knights Templar from 1118-1192
    (2019-04-15) Wu, Neil
    In 1118, a quasi-monastic military order known as the Knights Templar was founded in the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. Church leaders saw this organization as an opportunity to inspire the religiosity of the crusading movement. In 1129, their aspirations were expressed through the Latin Rule of the Knights Templar, a document that regulated the Templars’ conduct. The Latin Rule’s rigid guidelines prescribed a lifestyle that combined elements of monasticism and knighthood. However, the Templars were quick to form their own interpretations of purpose. Rather than living under strict adherence to the original mandates of the Latin Rule, what resulted was an organization that excelled in battle and utilized its military abilities to pursue their own financial and political agendas in the Holy Land. Many contemporaries took note of the Templars’ choice of actions and of their apparent priorities. The contemporary reception was organized into two different camps. The first camp believed that the Templars served a necessary purpose in military matters, despite recognition that the order had harnessed a considerable amount of economic resources and political influence along the way. The other camp maintained a narrative in which the Knights Templar had grown greedy and corrupted, and that due to this degradation, they had outgrown their usefulness.
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    Out of Many, One?: the voice(s) in the crusade ideology of Las Navas de Tolosa
    (2010-05-17T15:36:27Z) Holt, Edward
    The record of Las Navas de Tolosa offers two competing narratives: one papal and the other monarchical. Both possessed claims to leadership; but which one actually led in this case? My thesis explores the ways in which the monarchy of Castile under Alfonso VIII and the papacy under Innocent III transformed crusade ideology through the incorporation of institutional ambitions into crusade records. Through the rhetoric and careful definition of unity, pilgrimage and penance, these two institutions presented different claims on the leadership of Las Navas de Tolosa and more importantly their identity as a power in medieval Europe. The medieval church was the dominant institution of the Middle Ages and Pope Innocent III was arguably its most powerful ruler. During Las Navas de Tolosa, Innocent III furthered the temporal reach of the see of St. Peter by promoting the papacy as the leader of crusade against all foes. King Alfonso VIII of Castile recognized the encroachment on his powers and contested the ideology with crusade ideology of his own. Not only did he combat the papal threat but also he elevated Castile as the principal kingdom of Spain. And, while each of the voices had their own agenda, they worked as one to form a Christian response to Miramolin, one of the largest threats to the medieval west. Through their changes to crusade ideology, they altered the landscape of monarchical and papal relations for the next three hundred years.