The Later Crusades, 1274-1580 From Lyons to Alcazar [Paperback]

The expulsion of the Christians from the Holy Land in 1291 was far from being the end of the crusading movement. Crusades continued for three centuries over a vast area stretching from Morocco to Russia and played an important role in the politics and society of late medieval Europe. The first study to focus in depth on the later crusades, this book explores with clarity and insight developments in all the areas touched by crusading activity. Housley examines the evolution of the international military orders and the Christian frontier states associated with crusading, focusing especially on Greece and Cyprus. Illuminating the massive range and energy of the crusading movement in the late middle ages, he reveals the formidable problems which, as the period progressed, increasingly doomed crusades to failure, and shows how practical crusading was in a condition of decay before the Reformation destroyed the religious framework in which it had once flourished.

Housley's summaries of recent work on relations with the Turks and the Iberian and Baltic crusades and his final chapters on the ideological and institutional legacies of the crusades are especially valuable. --Religious Studies Review

Housley's scope is far broader than the loss of the Holy Land....an extremely useful book, written in a highly literate and slightly elevated style....the suggestions for further reading are extensive and informative without being esoteric or deadening. There is a useful list of rulers, and a good index. Those wishing a survey of this subject cannot do better. --History: Reviews of New Books

Housley's study stands as a commendable achievement in campaign expositions recommended for their detail and contextual analysis, and his vision of pious devotion is considerate of medieval culture's persistence through centuries of change. --The Historian

Must be welcomed for its thoroughness and scholarship in confirming l³-