This is a study of the feudal nobles in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem; their status in Palestinian society, their lordships and their political ideas; and the development of these ideas as expressed in constitutional conflicts with kings and regents from 1174 to 1277.

Eleven distinguished contributors have produced essays which deal with the organisation of the crusade in Europe, internal developments in the Crusader Levant, issues of the contemporary Muslim East, and Crusader-Muslim confrontation in twelfth-century Syria. Some break new ground entirely, for instance Malcolm Lyons' investigations of the Arab Hero cycles and Penny Cole's work on Crusader preaching. Others offer important new perspectives on well-known themes: Jonathan Riley-Smith on Crusader ideology and Peter Edbury's revisionist view of the events leading up to the battle of Hattin. Still others offer important overviews which will be appreciated by a broad readership of medieval historians.

In medieval warfare, the siege predominated: for every battle, there were hundreds of sieges. Yet the rich and vivid history of siege warfare has been consistently neglected. Jim Bradbury's panoramic survey takes the history of siege warfare in Europe from the late Roman Empire to the 16th century, and includes sieges in Byzantium, Eastern Europe and the areas affected by the Crusades. Within this broad sweep of time and place, he finds, not that enormous changes occurred, but that the rules and methods of siege warfare remained remarkably constant. Included are detailed studies of some of the major sieges including Constantinople and Chateau-Gaillard. Throughout, Bradbury supports his narrative with chronicles and letters. irst-hand accounts of danger, famine and endurance bring the acute reality of siege warfare clearly before the reader.

Modern study of the Hospitallers, of other military-religious orders, and of their activities both in the Mediterranean and in Europe has been deeply influenced by the work of Anthony Luttrell. To mark his 75th birthday in October 2007 twenty-three colleagues from ten different countries have contributed to this volume. The first section focuses on the crusading period in the Holy Land, considering the Hospital in Jerusalem, relations with the Assassins, finances, indulgences, transportation and the careers of the brothers and knights. The second and third sections move to the later Middle Ages, when the Hospitallers had their centre on Rhodes, and military and charitable activities in the East had to be supported with men and money from the West. The papers in the second section consider the Hospitallers on Rhodes, relations between Rhodes and the West and plans for crusades, while the third section includes papers on the Hospitallers in the Iberian Peninsula and in Hungary, the territorial administration of the Order of Montesa in Valencia, a plan to transfer the headquarters of the Teutonic Order from Prussia to Frisia, and a Hospitaller reconsideration of warfare and learning on the eve of the council of Trent. The final paper proposes new definitions and guidelines for future work on the military-religious orders. The authors include both well-known experts and younger scholars who promise to follow in the footsteps of Anthony Luttrell and to continue research into the Hospitallers and their fellow orders, these peculiar European communities avant la lettre.

These articles seek to understand the attitudes and reactions of medieval society to both external threat and internal dissension, whether real or imagined. The crusaders encompass the Templars and the Knights of St Lazarus, members of military orders committed to the cause of perpetual battle for the faith; more reluctant secular knights urged into the complicated conflicts of Latin Greece by the papacy; and peasant enthusiasts from northern France, ultimately turning their frustration on the clergy and the Jews. Heretics range from Cathars, real opponents of the Church, to the lepers, imaginary subverters of society, allegedly in league with the two other perceived enemies of Western Christendom, the Jews and the Muslims.

During the late 11th through the early 14th centuries at least seven major expeditions were made between Western Europe and the Holy Land with the goal of ending Muslim control of Jerusalem. Ultimately the crusaders were driven out, but not before a cultural exchange had taken place that had an immense impact on Western Europe and an equally enormous, albeit less positive, impact on Arabs and the Islamic world. Although the crusades occurred many centuries ago, echoes still resound through the current clashes of nations and ideologies, kidnappings for ransom, assassinations, and the declaring of "jihad"--all making the crusades an eminently timely subject. This one-volume overview provides an accessible reference work for scholars, students, and general readers on the period with numerous entries on key persons, places, events, battles and sieges, use of weapons and armor, and the deeper issues of the political and cultural background. Complete with a detailed chronology and a bibliography, this work allows readers to learn how Europe was changed forever by these battles with Islam.