Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote the beautiful essay On Loving God, also urged Christians to fight for Christ. Here are some excerpts from a letter written in 1147.

The great preachers, planners, and fighters of the Holy Land crusades.

As the crusaders assaulted Jerusalem, the holy and savage joined hands.

Christians thought they had liberated Jerusalem from infidels. But what did Muslims think?

Usama ibn Munqidh was emir of Shizar in the twelfth century, when Christians occupied much of the Holy Land. Here are three accounts of his experience with the clash of cultures.

In the new religious orders, Christians blended poverty, chastity, and military fervor.

A historian looks at the causes and lingering effects of Christian warfare.

The last few decades have seen a resurgence of crusades studies. Here are several of the many fine works available.

The church has been programmed to accept the inevitabilities of meager results.