The Archaeology of Crusading

Level: Master's

CEU credits: 2

ECTS credits: 4

Academic year: 2009/2010

Semester: Spring

Start and end dates: 7-9 June 2010

Unit: Department of Medieval Studies

Instructors: Aleks Pluskowski, Lisa-Marie Shillito (Department of Archaeology, University of Reading)

Brief course description: 

This course reviews the archaeological approaches to the crusading movement and the related processes of colonisation, religious conversion and inter-cultural exchange at the fringes of medieval Christian Europe – covering the years AD1095-1492.

Additional information: 

The crusading movement, which took off at the end of the eleventh century with the conquest of Jerusalem and the establishment of a Christian kingdom in the Middle East, came to dominate European society throughout the Middle Ages. This course will focus on how crusading institutions and colonising groups transplanted their society into the areas they occupied, and how this related to crusading ideals. Three major regions will be compared: the Middle East where a crusader kingdom was established from AD 1099-1291; the Baltic where the Teutonic Order carved out its own independent state, accompanied by aggressive military campaigns, mass colonisation and religious conversion, which lasted into the fifteenth century, and Iberia, where the Reconquista – or ‘reconquest’ of lands from Muslim groups concluded with the fall of Granada and the unification of Spain in 1492. Within this brief comparative survey, various aspects of the archaeology of the crusading movement will be explored, such as the structures and material culture of the military orders, the problems associated with identifying religious affiliation and conversion in the archaeological record, the diverse traces of inter-cultural interaction ranging from artefacts to architecture and the increasingly important contribution of archaeological science.

Learning Outcomes:

This course aims to provide students with a working knowledge of the comparative contribution of archaeology towards understanding the impact of the crusading movement on societies in the Middle East, Baltic and Iberia. By the end of the course it is expected that the student will be able:

• To identify, discuss and explain the main issues and events of the period.

• To assess the character and quality of archaeological data associated with crusading, and the related trends of colonisation, religious conversion and inter-cultural exchange.

• To demonstrate an understanding of how archaeology engages with other disciplines – particularly documentary sources – to reconstruct the period, and a critical awareness of the diversity of sources used by archaeologists.

• To follow up independently via self-study topics and questions raised in class discussions.

Assessment: 

Regular and well-prepared participation in the seminar counts fifty percent of the final grade. The remaining fifty percent of the grade will be determined by result of test at the end of lectures.

Full description: 

Session 1: Introducing the Archaeology of Crusading: Historical Framework and Key Issues

(Aleks Pluskowski)

This session introduces the historical framework of the crusades in the Near East, Baltic and Iberia. It considers how archaeologists can contribute to an understanding of a cultural process which continues to be dominated by historical studies, and surveys the diversity of archaeological data, its key concepts and issues of debate, as well as the limitations of a material culture perspective.

Recommended Readings

• Asbridge, T. 2010. The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land.

• Boas, A. J. 1999. Crusader Archaeology: the Material Culture of the Latin East.

• Blomkvist, N. 2004. The medieval Catholic world-system and the making of Europe, in Staecker, J. (ed.) The European Frontier: Clashes and Compromises in the Middle Ages, 15-34.

• Phillips, J. 2009. Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades.

• Tyerman, C. 2006. The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction.

Session 2: A Frontier Society? Crusader Castles in Outremer

(Aleks Pluskowski)

This session considers whether the most striking monuments of the crusader states in Outremer (the Latin East) represent an insecure, militaristic frontier society. It surveys the diversity of castles forms, their builders and the range of functions that have been assigned to these structures by archaeologists.

Recommended Readings

• Boas, A. 2006. Archaeology of the Military Orders: a Survey of the Urban Centres, Rural Settlement and Castles of the Military Orders in the Latin East.

• Ellenblum, R. 2006. Crusader Castles and Modern Histories.

• Molin, K. 2000. Unknown Crusader Castles.

• Pringle, D. 2000. Fortification and Settlement in Crusader Palestine.

Session 3: Crusading as Colonisation? Town and Country in the Holy Land

(Aleks Pluskowski)

The Crusades have often been perceived as a form of European colonialism, a view challenged in recent decades by many historians. Instead, the process may be defined as one of colonisation, situated within the broader expansion of medieval Europe/Christendom. To what extent did the movement of Europeans and European ideas into the Near East from the end of the 11^th century leave physical traces which can be understood as a form of colonisation? This question is considered in this session by exploring trends in urbanisation and rural settlement in the Latin East in the 12^th and 13^th centuries.

Recommended Readings

• Boas, A. 2001. Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades: Society, Landscape, and Art in the Holy City under Frankish Rule.

• Ellenbllum, R. 1997. Frankish Rural Settlement in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.

• Ehrlich, M. 2002. The Frankish impact on the urban landscape of medieval Palestine. In Lev, Y. (ed.) Towns and Material Culture in the Medieval Middle East.

• Pringle, D. 2000. Fortification and Settlement in Crusader Palestine.

Session 4: Environment, Diet and Health: Applications of Archaeological Science to Crusader Studies

(Lisa-Marie Shillito)

Scientific approaches in archaeology include environmental archaeology, geoarchaeology, bioarchaeology and archaeological chemistry. These methods are used to study diverse materials from the macroscopic to microscopic, including charred plant remains, soils and sediments, faunal remains and human remains. Such methods are becoming increasingly used in historical archaeology to complement and enhance evidence from documentary, material culture and architectural sources. This session considers the applications of archaeological science to Crusader studies, including environmental reconstruction and the impact of colonisation, studies of migration and diet through isotopic analysis, and palaeohealth studies using chemical approaches. The major techniques are introduced, with a discussion of their application to Crusader sites in Europe and the Latin East.