Admirably steers the study of the crusades away from the somewhat repetitive narration of specific campaigns and focuses it on the heart of the matter - the spiritual experience of crusading.
SPECULUM
A valuable contribution to crusade studies. [It] contributes to understanding crusaders on their own terms.
AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
An informative discussion about spirituality, motivation ... Read moreand the appeals that popes, preachers, theologians and secular writers made to get those capable of bearing arms to do so in what was widely seen as the most just of all causes. The author has done a careful and nuanced reading of a wide variety of source materials ranging from papal encyclicals to well-known chronicles.
EHR
A thoughtful, useful, and well-ordered discussion that fits into a number of current debates on the nature of crusading and its relation with changes in western European spirituality. Historians of the early crusades and of twelfth-century spirituality will benefit from Purkis's lively suggestions.
CHURCH HISTORY
Offers a distinctive and original reading of the contemporary sources. [.] This fine first book argues persuasively for the enduring importance of spiritual ideals in understanding the impulses to violent action.
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
A valuable contribution to our understanding of eleventh- and twelfth-century spirituality.
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This book makes us rethink parts of how we understand the early crusades and how they are woven into the very fabric of twelfth-century European society.
THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW
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