Power and Piety: Monastic Houses of Medieval Britain and Ireland - Volume 8 - The Warrior Monks

Power and Piety: The Warrior Monks

It was the increasingly aggressive expansion of Islam, which was spreading to Europe, Africa, and throughout the Middle East, threatening the Christian hold on the Holy Land, whose sacred sites had been visited by pilgrims for centuries, that gave rise to the First Crusade. Two major Military Orders of Crusader Knights then emerged, one to care for the needs of sick and injured pilgrims, the other to provide a fighting force to resist the Muslim advance. Th...