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The armies of the Fourth Crusade that left Western Europe at the beginning of the thirteenth century never reached the Holy Land to fight the Infidel; they stopped instead at Byzantium and sacked that capital of eastern Christendom. Much of what we know today of those events comes from contemporary accounts by secular writers; their perspective is balanced by a document written from a monastic point of view and now available for the first time in English.The Hystoria Constantinopolitana relates the adventures of Martin of Pairis, an abbot of the Cistercian Order who participated in the plunder of the city, as recorded by his monk Gunther. Written to justify the abbot's pious pilferage of scared relics and his transporting them back to his monastery in Alsace, it is a work of Christian metahistory that shows how the sack of Constantinople fits into God's plan for humanity, and that deeds done under divine guidance are themselves holy and righteous.The Hystoria Constantinopolitana is one of the most complex and sophisticated historiographical work of its time, deftly interweaving moods and motifs, themes and scenes. In producing the first English translation and analysis of this work, Alfred Andrea has captured the full flavor of the original with its alternating section of prose and poetry. His introduction to the text provides background on Gunther's life and work and explores the monk's purpose in writing the Hystoria Constantinopolitana-not the least of which was extolling the virtues of Abbott Martin, who was sometimes accuse of laxity by his superiors in the Order.Gunther's work is significant for its effort to deal with problems raised by the participation of monks in the Crusades, making it a valuable contribution to both crusading and monastic history. The Capture of Constantinople adds to our knowledge of the Fourth Crusade and provides unusual insight into the attitudes of the participants and the cultural-intellectual history of the early thirteenth century.

Istanbul (Turkey) --- Byzantine Empire --- Europe --- History --- History. --- Church history

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"This book is an effort to explode (or at least modify) seven popular myths or misconceptions of the Crusades. Despite the seemingly ever-expanding outpouring of first-rate books on the Crusades that has taken place over the past half century, including some fine surveys intended for general audiences, distortions of the crusades seem to be proliferating in all the popular media. These include pseudo-documentaries for TV, big- and small-budget movies, novels, mainstream news reporting, editorials, political speeches by highly visible and influential politicians, the sermons and writings of radical clerics and zealous laity of all three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and textbooks prepared for collegiate and high school students enrolled in Western civilization and world history courses"-- "Seven Myths of the Crusades' rebuttal of the persistent and multifarious misconceptions associated with topics including the First Crusade, anti-Judaism and the Crusades, the crusader states, the Children's Crusade, the Templars and past and present Islamic-Christian relations proves, once and for all, that real history is far more fascinating than conspiracy theories, pseudo-history and myth-mongering. This book is a powerful witness to the dangers of the misappropriation and misinterpretation of the past and the false parallels so often drawn between the Crusades and later historical events ranging from nineteenth-century colonialism to the protest movements of the 1960s to the events of 9/11. This volume's authors have venerable track records in teaching and researching the crusading movement, and anyone curious about the Crusades would do well to start here"--Jessalynn Bird, Dominican University, co-editor of Crusade and Christendom.

Crusades --- History --- Crusades --- Crusades in literature --- Crusades in motion pictures --- Errors, inventions, etc --- Public opinion

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History --- History --- Methodology.

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