Deus Vult: The Crusades

The crusades stand as a watershed in Western Civilization, where two paths lay before its future: Islam or Christendom, the crescent or the cross. Few events tell so great a moment of history so little known by its posterity. This course seeks to shed light on the Dark Ages, so-called more from our ignorance of the era than its true brilliance and wonder. Students will study the religious, political, and cultural background that motivated the crusades; the series of crusades themselves; their successes, failures, criticisms, and implications for today. Students will be placed, as much as possible, in the context of the era itself via primary source material offered in class for home study. Our purpose in the study of history is to honor our ancestors and respect the providence of Almighty God.

Course Objectives

1. Examine the causes of the war and its consequences upon society
2. Study the effect of Christianity upon warfare, suffering, revival, social order
3. Participate in history by familiarity with first-hand writings
4. Understand our own time by tracing a period of its development
5. Honor our ancestors by keeping their memory
6. Acknowledge and give thanks for God’s providence

Required Texts

• God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, by Rodney Stark (course text)
• The Crusaders: The Struggle for the Holy Land, by Regine Pernoud (social/cultural view)
• The Song of Roland, by Dorothy L. Sayers (primary text, background)

Optional Texts

• The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, by Thomas Asbridge (definitive work)
• The Templars: Knights of Christ, by Régine Pernoud (biographical)
• Chronicles of the Crusades, by Jean de Joinville and Geoffroy de Villehardouin (biographical)