ENGLISH

Crusader Castles and Modern Histories

By Ronnie Ellenblum

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2007
ISBN
0521860830, 9780521860833
LCC
D156.58 .E45 2007
Open Library ID
OL17902281M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
3 MB (2875813 bytes)
Pages
376\376
Topic
Geography
Library
torrents.ru tech collections 2009-11-14
Scanned
yes
Time added
2010-01-11 02:35:34
Науки о Земле;География;Историческая география

Description

For the last 150 years the historiography of the Crusades has been dominated by nationalist and colonialist discourses in Europe and the Levant. These modern histories have interpreted the Crusades in terms of dichotomous camps, Frankish and Muslim. In this revisionist study, Ronnie Ellenblum presents an interpretation of Crusader historiography that instead defines military and architectural relations between the Franks, local Christians, Muslims and Turks in terms of continuous dialogue and mutual influence. Through close analysis of siege tactics, defensive strategies and the structure and distribution of Crusader castles, Ellenblum relates patterns of crusader settlement to their environment and demonstrates the influence of opposing cultures on tactics and fortifications. He argues that fortifications were often built according to economic and geographic considerations rather than for strategic reasons or to protect illusory 'frontiers', and that Crusader castles are the most evident expression of a cultural dialogue between east and west.

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