Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Beyond Warfare: Armies, Tribes and Lords
- Part II The Violence of Governments and Rulers
- Part III Social, Interpersonal and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
- 17 Religion and Violence in China
- 18 Buddhism and Violence in Premodern Japan
- 19 Human Sacrifice and Ritualised Violence in the Americas before the European Conquest
- 20 ‘Not Cruelty but Piety’
- 21 Chivalric Violence
- 22 Jihad in Islamic Thought
- 23 Christian Violence against Heretics, Jews and Muslims
- 24 ‘Fighting for Peace’
- Part V Depictions of Violence
- Index
- References
20 - ‘Not Cruelty but Piety’
Circumscribing European Crusading Violence
from Part IV - Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Beyond Warfare: Armies, Tribes and Lords
- Part II The Violence of Governments and Rulers
- Part III Social, Interpersonal and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
- 17 Religion and Violence in China
- 18 Buddhism and Violence in Premodern Japan
- 19 Human Sacrifice and Ritualised Violence in the Americas before the European Conquest
- 20 ‘Not Cruelty but Piety’
- 21 Chivalric Violence
- 22 Jihad in Islamic Thought
- 23 Christian Violence against Heretics, Jews and Muslims
- 24 ‘Fighting for Peace’
- Part V Depictions of Violence
- Index
- References
Summary
Was there such a thing as ‘crusading violence’? Traditionally the crusades have been distinguished from other forms of Christian warfare and violence motivated, or at least justified, by religion. However, as this chapter demonstrates, crusading violence cannot be distinguished by its practices, brutality, or complex ideologies. Given its diversity, crusading violence can only be demarcated as violence against purported enemies of Christ that was organized, communal, purportedly authorized, and believed to be spiritually beneficial. Viewed in this light, the distinction between crusading violence and other forms of Christian violence is tenuous indeed.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Violence , pp. 411 - 425Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020