It seems absurd now, but when I was a child, “Crusaders” was the name of a popular children’s program in church. A campus ministry was titled, “Campus Crusade for Christ.” (They changed their name to the less offensive “Cru” in 2012.) These names point to the staying power of one of the darkest eras in church history: the Crusades.

The crusades began in November of 1095, when a church council issued the following decree:

Whoever for devotion alone, not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the church of God can substitute this journey for all penance. (12)

For the next few centuries, going to war in the name of Christ was an expression of popular piety. Although the crusades began with the so-called liberation of the Holy Land, they expanded to various locations and assumed correspondingly diverse rationale.

Medieval Historian Christopher Tyerman provides a concise overview of the crusades in this Very Short Introduction. He explores both the crusades themselves as well as the broader concept of holy war and how the crusades have shaped modern Western culture.

Unlike many of the books in this series, I found the first couple chapters to be hard going. This is likely due to my unfamiliarity with the overwhelming number of names and dates. That said, this is a great reference work on the topic.

Tyerman, Christopher. The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, 2004.