BBC History Magazine

BBC History Magazine aims to shed new light on the past to help you make more sense of the world today. Fascinating stories from contributors are the leading experts in their fields, so whether they're exploring Ancient Egypt, Tudor England or the Second World War, you'll be reading the latest, most thought-provoking historical research. BBC History Magazine brings history to life with informative, lively and entertaining features written by the world's leading historians and journalists and is a captivating read for anyone who's interested in the past.

BBC History Magazine

WELCOME

Europe and the Holy Land in the 13th Century

Timeline • Sophie Thérèse Ambler describes the events that shaped Christendom and the Islamic world during the long struggle for the Holy Land

FAITH & FIRE

Launching the First Crusade • When Muslim power grew in the east, Pope Urban II called on the knights of Europe to defend the Holy Land. Rebecca Rist recounts a quest that devolved into massacres, treachery and greed

ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE PEOPLE'S CRUSADE • How mob fervour led to forced baptism and murder

“Religious war isn't an irrational act, and we shouldn't dismiss it as irrational” • Christopher Tyerman talks to BBC History Magazine about the process of manning, planning and executing a crusade – and argues that their complexity reveals much about the rational minds at work in the Middle Ages

CRUSADE SUPER HEROES • Legends were woven around fighters of the First Crusade to persuade knights to take up arms again. It was a medieval propaganda masterclass, writes Jonathan Phillips

Dissension, derision and defeat THE SECOND CRUSADE (1147–49)

FAT CATS OF THE CRUSADES • Waging holy war could be a lucrative business. Dan Jones tells the story of the crusaders who returned from the front line with their souls cleansed - and their pockets full

PRIZE FIGHTERS • Three money-mad crusaders

Crusading beyond the Holy Land • Our standard image of the crusades shows Europeans fighting Muslims in faraway places. But, says Susanna Throop, holy war also took place much closer to home – and even against Christians

Holy war on the HOME FRONT • The nobleman Simon de Montfort saw himself as a righteous general leading his army in a holy struggle. As Sophie Thérèse Ambler recounts, not only did he fight infidels overseas but, in the 1260s, he also challenged the authority of the crown on home soil

WARRIORS

RAYMOND of TRIPOLI: CRUSADER, DESERTER, TRAITOR • In 1187, a crusader army confronted Saladin in a decisive battle for the Holy Land – but was crushed when one power-hungry count fled the fight. Jeffrey Lee explores the life and legacy of Raymond III of Tripoli, whose treacherous desertion cost the kingdom of Jerusalem

LIONHEART KING OF WAR • Richard I knew the business of war from his early victories in France. But, says Thomas Asbridge, it was on the Third Crusade that the English king honed his military genius and transformed himself into the best commander of his generation

TIMELINE Richard the Lionheart: life of a crusader king

Three kings square up to Saladin THE THIRD CRUSADE (1189–92)

HOW TO LEAD LIKE SALADIN • You don't unite the Muslim world and strike fear into the west's fanatical crusaders without being an exceptional ruler. John Man reveals the eight qualities that made Saladin one

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR GOD'S ELITE WARRIORS • Dan Jones tells the story of a crack unit of holy hard-men who spent 200 years defending crusaders' interests in the Middle East with unblinking ferocity

TIMELINE The rise and fall of the Templars

Dark knights • The crusades sparked centuries of violence and chaos – and not just on the battlefield. Steve Tibble describes...