Did people speak out against the Crusades? Yes, but as historians Louise and Jonathan Riley-Smith explain,"Criticism of crusading…was much less widespread…than is often believed." And when objections did arise, they could be forcefully answered, as shown in the following treatise. Humbert of Romans, a former leader of the Dominican Order, wrote this "closely argued tour de force" in about 1272. Here are brief excerpts, translated by the Riley-Smiths:

There are some men given over to leisure who avoid all labor for Christ and are in the habit of condemning the measures the church has undertaken against the Saracens, like people, to use Jerome's words, who always pass judgments on everything and can think of nothing to do themselves. These people are like those spies who disparaged the task of gaining the Promised Land,and frightened the people, and therefore were destroyed in the desert.

Objection: Some of these critics say it is not ...

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