Robert of Nantes was Latin patriarch of Jerusalem from 1240 to 1254, and, according to Bernard Hamilton, was “the most important single person” in the Frankish Kingdom of Jerusalem after the Battle of Forbie in 1244. Despite this importance, he was a rather obscure figure: almost nothing is known about him before he became bishop of Nantes in 1236. How did he rise to such a prominent position in Jerusalem? Robert of Nantes, Patriarch of Jerusalem (1240–1254) follows Robert from his probable origins in Aquitaine, to Italy where he might have been the unnamed bishop of Aquino. He was briefly transferred to Nantes in the duchy of Brittany, but soon returned to Rome, where he was appointed patriarch of Jerusalem in 1240. As patriarch, he was present for the fall of Jerusalem to the Khwarizmian Turks, the Frankish defeat at Forbie, and the subsequent crusade of Louis IX of France. This is the first book-length biography of any of the Latin patriarchs of Jerusalem. It will be of interest not only to historians of the crusades but also to historians of Italy, Sicily, the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, Aquitaine and Brittany. It will hopefully inspire further research on other ecclesiastical and secular leaders of Jerusalem and Cyprus, who may not be traditionally considered “rulers”, but who nevertheless helped govern the Frankish kingdoms.

This book studies the archaeological record of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, surveying past excavations as well as recent research carried out within the church over the past three decades. An archaeological survey provides historical context for the second part of the book—a collection of primary sources pertinent to the history of the church.

Crusades covers seven hundred years from the First Crusade (1095-1102) to the fall of Malta (1798) and draws together scholars working on theatres of war, their home fronts and settlements from the Baltic to Africa and from Spain to the Near East and on theology, law, literature, art, numismatics and economic, social, political and military history. Routledge publishes this journal for The Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East. Particular attention is given to the publication of historical sources in all relevant languages - narrative, homiletic and documentary - in trustworthy editions, but studies and interpretative essays are welcomed too. Crusades also incorporates the Society's Bulletin.

Crusades covers seven hundred years from the First Crusade (1095-1102) to the fall of Malta (1798) drawing together scholars working on war, theology, law, literature, art, numismatics and economic, social, political and military history. It publishes both historical sources of the Crusades - narrative, homiletic and documentary - in European and oriental languages, and interpretative studies. Ashgate publishes this journal for The Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East in both print and online editions, and the subscription price covers both. The print edition also incorporates the Society's Bulletin. The journal is available on-line via IngentaConnect: www.IngentaConnect.com/Crusades. The on-line edition does not include the Society’s Bulletin.

The first comprehensive survey of monasteries and monasticism in the Near East during the 'Crusader' period.

The Old French ’Rothelin’ Continuation of William of Tyre’s Historia provides one of the best contemporary narratives of the history of the crusades and of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the mid-thirteenth century. Covering the period 1229-61, it has vivid accounts of the disastrous expeditions led by Count Theobald of Champagne (1239-40) and King Louis IX of France (1248-54) as well as of other events in the East. But the text contains far more than this, with a detailed description of Jerusalem itself, songs of protest written by crusaders, and a variety of marvels and adventures, including stories of Alexander the Great, and the poisonous snakes encountered by the Roman army under Cato. This text is here translated into English for the first time, together with a narrative for the same years taken from another Old French Continuation of William of Tyre’s work, part of L’Estoire de Eracles. Both accounts are translated from the Receuil des historiens des croisades: Historiens occidentaux vol. 2 (Paris, 1859). An introduction and full notes make these thirteenth-century events and ideas accessible to students of medieval history and to anyone interested in the lives and patterns of thought of people of that time.

Monasticism was the dominant form of religious life both in the medieval West and in the Byzantine world. Latin and Greek Monasticism in the Crusader States explores the parallel histories of monasticism in western and Byzantine traditions in the Near East in the period c.1050-1300. Bernard Hamilton and Andrew Jotischky follow the parallel histories of new Latin foundations alongside the survival and revival of Greek Orthodox monastic life under Crusader rule. Examining the involvement of monasteries in the newly founded Crusader States, the institutional organization of monasteries, the role of monastic life in shaping expressions of piety, and the literary and cultural products of monasteries, this meticulously researched survey will facilitate a new understanding of indigenous religious institutions and culture in the Crusader states.