JOINVILLE AND VILLEHARDOUIN: CHRONICLES OF THE CRUSADES

Chronicles of the Crusades

It's an important chronicle that can be pleasantly digested by readers with a basic understanding and knowledge of the topic, but it can be truly enjoyed by those who will attempt to read it in the manner it was written.

I loved reading this book, a combined volume of two sets of translated diaries written during the first crusade and fifth crusade respectively by genuine French Crusaders. Now I've no truck with crusades or religious wars, but just reading eye-witness accounts of these times is fascinating. It also sounded like the worst thing to do in the world; ever. I don't think anyone would be able to prop me up on a horse in blistering desert temperatures while dying of dysentery and still expect me to fight for the sheer devotion of it. My advice is - if anyone asks you to go on a Crusade, tell them politely to piss off.

Few events in history are brought in such a colorful form, as a number of expeditions to the Holy Land (Palestine), known as the Crusades. This very name is a representation of the courageous knights, who, full of pure religious zeal, they left their homes and the country went on a holy war against the enemies of the Christian faith. Each of the two narratives written by people who themselves participated in these campaigns, and each gives a true picture of these enterprises, and when light and dark sides of human nature vividly displayed in the actions of those who bore the cross. Although these books are talking only about two Crusades, in this introduction will be included in a context that will give at least part of the presentation of the struggle between Christians and Muslims for the possession of ...