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Martyrdom and Crusading in the Thirteenth Century: Remembering the Dead of Louis IX's Crusades

Martyrdom and Crusading in the Thirteenth Century: Remembering the Dead of Louis IX's Crusades Death and remembrance of the dead were of great significance to Christians in the Middle Ages, and those men and women who were believed to have died as martyrs for the faith were worthy of particular renown. In the context of the crusades, during which thousands of Christian participants placed their lives at risk, the possibility that those who died were martyrs was therefore inevitably raised. Belief relating to the martyrdom of crusaders has interested historians for some time. Thus far, though, attention has largely been focused on the earliest stages of the crusade movement and the first crusade in particular. These studies suggest that after this time a popular belief that crusaders could be, and often were, martyrs was firmly established. This paper is intended to extend this debate, which has largely ignored how ideas relating to Christian martyrdom developed beyond the initial stages of the crusade movement. For, while the possibility that crusaders might achieve martyrdom is consistently present in our source material for later crusades, this does not necessarily mean that the issue had become uncontroversial. This subject will be tackled through an examination of material relating to the campaigns of the French king Louis IX (d. 1270) in North Africa and the Levant during the mid- and later-thirteenth century. The first part of the paper is intended to illustrate some of the inconsistencies present in approaches to the subject of the martyrdom of crusaders in this period. The second part will focus on a specific text, the Vie de saint Louis of John of Joinville (d. 1317), in order to show that the lack of clarity which characterises the wider picture concerning martyrdom and crusading should not deter us from trying to explore and explain the attitudes of individuals. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean Taylor & Francis

Martyrdom and Crusading in the Thirteenth Century: Remembering the Dead of Louis IX's Crusades

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Martyrdom and Crusading in the Thirteenth Century: Remembering the Dead of Louis IX's Crusades

Abstract

Death and remembrance of the dead were of great significance to Christians in the Middle Ages, and those men and women who were believed to have died as martyrs for the faith were worthy of particular renown. In the context of the crusades, during which thousands of Christian participants placed their lives at risk, the possibility that those who died were martyrs was therefore inevitably raised. Belief relating to the martyrdom of crusaders has interested historians for some time. Thus far,...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1473-348X
eISSN
0950-3110
DOI
10.1080/0950311032000117485
Publisher site
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Abstract

Death and remembrance of the dead were of great significance to Christians in the Middle Ages, and those men and women who were believed to have died as martyrs for the faith were worthy of particular renown. In the context of the crusades, during which thousands of Christian participants placed their lives at risk, the possibility that those who died were martyrs was therefore inevitably raised. Belief relating to the martyrdom of crusaders has interested historians for some time. Thus far, though, attention has largely been focused on the earliest stages of the crusade movement and the first crusade in particular. These studies suggest that after this time a popular belief that crusaders could be, and often were, martyrs was firmly established. This paper is intended to extend this debate, which has largely ignored how ideas relating to Christian martyrdom developed beyond the initial stages of the crusade movement. For, while the possibility that crusaders might achieve martyrdom is consistently present in our source material for later crusades, this does not necessarily mean that the issue had become uncontroversial. This subject will be tackled through an examination of material relating to the campaigns of the French king Louis IX (d. 1270) in North Africa and the Levant during the mid- and later-thirteenth century. The first part of the paper is intended to illustrate some of the inconsistencies present in approaches to the subject of the martyrdom of crusaders in this period. The second part will focus on a specific text, the Vie de saint Louis of John of Joinville (d. 1317), in order to show that the lack of clarity which characterises the wider picture concerning martyrdom and crusading should not deter us from trying to explore and explain the attitudes of individuals.

Journal

Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean – Taylor & Francis

Published: Sep 1, 2003

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