Charting the development of crusading ideolgy : an examination of proto-crusade primary sources

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the development of crusading ideology. First Crusade source materials are examined initially in order to identify the ideological elements that underpinned the crusading movement. Four concepts are identified in this research: ‘bellicose martyrdom’, a coined term referring to the idea of martyrdom in battle; papal spiritual sanction for warfare, in particular remissio peccatorum or remission of sin; imagery and language used to identify both Christian forces and the Muslim enemy and, lastly, recurring accounts of direct divine intervention in warfare. The incidence of each of these concepts in the source texts for the First Crusade is evaluated.