Medieval History
When he began looking at the First Crusade (1095-1099 ), Jay Rubenstein was expecting to write an academic paper or two demonstrating that the European Christians who answered the call of Pope Urban II to liberate Jerusalem from its Muslim rulers were motivated by something other than an apocalyptic vision. In fact, his research led Rubenstein, an associate professor of medieval history at the University of Tennessee, to write a highly accessible history of the First Crusade arguing that the nobles and peasants who fought the Crusade intended to usher in the End of Days and the return of Jesus Christ. In Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse (Basic Books; 448 pages, $30 ), Rubenstein tells the story of the blood-drenched, costly and logistically ambitious war from the point of view of those who conducted and experienced it, and the chronicles they left behind indeed suggest not only that they believed the Apocalypse was approaching, but that it had arrived.
Rubenstein, 44, grew up in Oklahoma, and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His honors have included a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, and, in 2007, selection as a MacArthur Fellow, a lucrative honor that brings a grant of $500,000 over a five-year period. He spoke with Haaretz from his home in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Click here to read this interview from Haaretz
Click here to read another interview with Professor Rubenstien from Metro Plus
- Historian Peter Frankopan Is Challenging A Millennium Of Scholarship In His View Of The First Crusade
For a thousand years the idea of the crusade has defined nations and empires, justified wars and acts of terrorism and inspired everyone from medieval minstrels to Ridley Scott. But is all that potency built on a misunderstanding? New historical research...
- Crusaders Massacre Of Jerusalem Was Done In Cold-blood, Not Religious Frenzy, Historian Argues
A leading historian of the Crusades believes that 1099 massacre of Jerusalem?s inhabitants by the army of the First Crusade was not the result of religious fervour, but rather, ?the cold-blooded implementation of??ethnic cleansing?.? In his recent article,...
- On Language And Violence (the Health Care "debate")
(image: crusaders killing Jews, 13th c. MS)I have something to say. In May 1096, Christians attacked the Jews of Speyer. The bishop of Speyer protected the Jews & arrested a couple of the perpetrators. This ended the violence at Speyer. ...
- Ta-da! (podcast Edition)
Due to some technical difficulties, the podcast for the 1st event in the lecture series "Crusades, Then & Now," a talk by Prof. Gregory Bell (Duke) on "The Experience of the First Crusade," brought to you by Medieval & Early Modern Studies at...
- Macarthur Medieval Genius
I'm happy to note that a medievalist has just been named a 2007 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow: Jay Rubenstein, of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His work is as exciting as it gets in Medieval Studies and just about as exciting as it gets in the...
Medieval History
Interview with Jay Rubenstein - Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse
Rubenstein, 44, grew up in Oklahoma, and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His honors have included a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, and, in 2007, selection as a MacArthur Fellow, a lucrative honor that brings a grant of $500,000 over a five-year period. He spoke with Haaretz from his home in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Click here to read this interview from Haaretz
Click here to read another interview with Professor Rubenstien from Metro Plus
- Historian Peter Frankopan Is Challenging A Millennium Of Scholarship In His View Of The First Crusade
For a thousand years the idea of the crusade has defined nations and empires, justified wars and acts of terrorism and inspired everyone from medieval minstrels to Ridley Scott. But is all that potency built on a misunderstanding? New historical research...
- Crusaders Massacre Of Jerusalem Was Done In Cold-blood, Not Religious Frenzy, Historian Argues
A leading historian of the Crusades believes that 1099 massacre of Jerusalem?s inhabitants by the army of the First Crusade was not the result of religious fervour, but rather, ?the cold-blooded implementation of??ethnic cleansing?.? In his recent article,...
- On Language And Violence (the Health Care "debate")
(image: crusaders killing Jews, 13th c. MS)I have something to say. In May 1096, Christians attacked the Jews of Speyer. The bishop of Speyer protected the Jews & arrested a couple of the perpetrators. This ended the violence at Speyer. ...
- Ta-da! (podcast Edition)
Due to some technical difficulties, the podcast for the 1st event in the lecture series "Crusades, Then & Now," a talk by Prof. Gregory Bell (Duke) on "The Experience of the First Crusade," brought to you by Medieval & Early Modern Studies at...
- Macarthur Medieval Genius
I'm happy to note that a medievalist has just been named a 2007 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow: Jay Rubenstein, of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His work is as exciting as it gets in Medieval Studies and just about as exciting as it gets in the...