Finance and the Crusades

England, c.1213-1337

Daniel Edwards

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9780367705572
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000469875
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

This book investigates the financial aspects of crusading in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Taking the kingdom of England as a case study, it explores a variety of themes, such as how much crusades cost, how they were financed, how funds were transferred to the East and how crusaders fared financially after their return. Its fundamental argument, in contrast with current historiography, is that it was the "private" fundraising of individuals – not the "public" fundraising of the Crown and the Church – that constituted the life-blood of the crusade movement in the period under consideration. Indeed, it is likely that the crusades were only able to remain central to the religious and political life of England, and indeed western Christendom, because participants, and those in their connection, continued to be willing to sacrifice their own financial wellbeing for the interests of the Holy Land.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Note on Money
• Introduction
• 1 The cost of crusading
• 2 “Public” fundraising by the Crown
• 3 “Public” fundraising by the Church
• 4 “Private” fundraising by individuals
• 5 Money and logistics
• 6 Aftermath
• Conclusion
• Postscript
• Appendix 1: The gifts of Henry III in support of cru-sades, 1227–72
• Appendix 2: Sales of property
• Appendix 3: Pledges and leases of property
• Appendix 4: Graph 1 – the evidence
• Bibliography
• Index