Crusading and Masculinities

This book explores the complex relationship between crusading and masculinity, enhancing our understanding of medieval experiences and societal constructs.

This volume presents a significant exploration of the interplay between crusading and masculinity. It delves into the various ways this relationship manifested across medieval settings and sources, highlighting the impact of societal ideas about masculinity on both the participants and observers of the crusades. By examining these concepts, the contributors provide a richer context for understanding how crusading events were experienced, interpreted, and documented.

Crusading and Masculinities is organized around five key themes: sources and models, contrasting masculinities, emasculation and transgression, masculinity and religiosity, and kingship and chivalry. Each theme allows for a nuanced analysis of how masculinity influenced the ideals and realities of crusading. The essays cover a range of topics, including Western campaigns to the Middle East, Islamic responses, and events from the Iberian Peninsula and Prussia, facilitating a cross-cultural comparison of medieval manhood.

By integrating masculinity into the study of the crusades, the contributors enhance our understanding of crusading as both an ideal and a lived experience. The collection underscores the importance of gender in examining the relationships between different groups of men, whose values and behaviors were shaped by distinct social and cultural contexts. This comprehensive approach ultimately enriches the discourse surrounding crusading and its historical significance.