In God's Battalions, award-winning author Rodney Stark takes on the long-held view that the Crusades were the first round of European colonialism, conducted for land, loot, and converts by barbarian Christians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. Stark reviews the history of the seven major Crusades from 1095-1291, demonstrating that they were precipitated by Islamic provocations, including bloody attempts to colonize the West, and attacks on Christian pilgrims and holy places.
Stark corrects widely-held misconceptions about the Crusades, including accusations of atrocities on the part of the Crusaders. He argues that is utterly unreasonable to impose modern notions about proper military conduct on medieval warfare, as both Christians and Muslims observed quite different rules of war. He also responds to claims that Muslims have been harboring bitter resentments about the Crusades for a millennium; Muslim antagonism about the Crusades did not appear until about 1900.
God's Battalions is an important addition to the study of the Crusades and their aftermath; readers will be captivated by this fascinating reconsideration of medieval history.
Rodney Stark is professor of Social Sciences at Baylor University. His twenty-six books on the history and sociology of religion include The Rise of Christianity, One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism, For the Glory of God, which won the 2004 award of merit for history/biography from Christianity Today, and The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success.
Rodney Stark turns what we "know" about history on its head. -- Relevant Magazine
