Maren Hance
Professor Rick Cherok
History of Christianity
September 20th, 2017
God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark Book Review
Rodney Stark, author of God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, writes about how Crusaders, which were holy warriors, considered themselves to be true servants in God’s battalions. Author Rodney Stark, Professor of Social Sciences at Baylor University, clears up and explains many misunderstandings about the Crusades in this book. In his book, Stark examines each of the Crusades and address the myths presented in each one. In addition to addressing these myths, Stark also narrates each of the crusades chronologically, describing the cause, methods, and effects of each campaign while depicting the political conflicts of the time. There is a lot of debate surrounding whether the Crusades were started by evil, unprovoked Christians that sought to defeat the advanced Muslim civilization or were the Crusaders, who were being oppressed by the Muslims, left with no choice but to protect the Holy Lands. Professor Stark seeks to prove, using actual historical data, that the later argument is the case. That in fact, the Crusaders were forced to fight in a response to the Muslim aggression. Far from being un-provoked, the crusades began after more than 300 years of Muslim …show more content…
This is because colonization does not officially happen until this period of time. So people believe that the Crusades were only mistreated for a little amount of time which is extremely false. Crusades were certainly provoked, and the Crusaders were mainly concerned to free the Holy Lands from Muslim oppression and to protect religious pilgrims who travelled there. Stark portrays the idea that the Crusades were triggered by the Muslims, and that the Crusaders felt that their duty to God was to free the Holy Lands from the Muslim people’s
Professor Rick Cherok
History of Christianity
September 20th, 2017
God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark Book Review
Rodney Stark, author of God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, writes about how Crusaders, which were holy warriors, considered themselves to be true servants in God’s battalions. Author Rodney Stark, Professor of Social Sciences at Baylor University, clears up and explains many misunderstandings about the Crusades in this book. In his book, Stark examines each of the Crusades and address the myths presented in each one. In addition to addressing these myths, Stark also narrates each of the crusades chronologically, describing the cause, methods, and effects of each campaign while depicting the political conflicts of the time. There is a lot of debate surrounding whether the Crusades were started by evil, unprovoked Christians that sought to defeat the advanced Muslim civilization or were the Crusaders, who were being oppressed by the Muslims, left with no choice but to protect the Holy Lands. Professor Stark seeks to prove, using actual historical data, that the later argument is the case. That in fact, the Crusaders were forced to fight in a response to the Muslim aggression. Far from being un-provoked, the crusades began after more than 300 years of Muslim …show more content…
This is because colonization does not officially happen until this period of time. So people believe that the Crusades were only mistreated for a little amount of time which is extremely false. Crusades were certainly provoked, and the Crusaders were mainly concerned to free the Holy Lands from Muslim oppression and to protect religious pilgrims who travelled there. Stark portrays the idea that the Crusades were triggered by the Muslims, and that the Crusaders felt that their duty to God was to free the Holy Lands from the Muslim people’s