Encounters: The Crusades in 50 Objects

Reviews / Votes

"Through a rich, varied and stimulating collection of carefully chosen objects, this book offers a state-of-the-art and fascinating new way with which to engage with the crusading movement as an idea and with the polities established in the East following the Crusades. Ranging from objects attesting to daily life, commerce and cultural encounters, to objects attesting to aspects of warfare and conflict, the book presents a balanced, nuanced and vivid picture of life in the 'crusader states.' Eloquently written and beautifully illustrated, this captivating book will be of interest to both scholars and the general public alike."

- Gil Fishhof, University of Haifa

"This is a marvelous volume that conveys the complexity of life in the eastern Mediterranean and the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the period of the crusades, ca. 1099-1291. The authors have chosen fifty objects spanning from buttons to drinking glasses, altars to swords, reliquaries to game boards that demonstrate the histories of conflict, but also shared practices of exchange, religiosity, power, and remembrance. Often beautifully written and enhanced by high-quality images the book offers a material history of encounters in the crusading world. Taken together it is an argument for the power of assembled fragments over a unified narrative. A model of collaborative scholarship the volume will be useful to anyone working on the crusader world and to all who teach this and related subjects."

- Anne E. Lester, Johns Hopkins University

"An understanding of the past needs more than written sources. Readers of this volume see how archaeologists and art historians use objects, art and material culture to reveal the details of past societies, from the everyday to the elite. Each of the fifty objects described in this book becomes the focus of a deep dive into the Middle East of the crusader period, showing how Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived alongside each other in peace and war, sharing some aspects of their culture and also repurposing each other's art and manufacture for new functions. Detailed explanations of each item provide both an accessible introduction for students and a scholarly resource for the more knowledgeable reader."

- Helen Nicholson, Cardiff University