The Principality Of Antioch 1098 1130

Download or read book The Creation of the Principality of Antioch, 1098-1130 written by Thomas S. Asbridge and published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd. This book was released on 2000 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first major study of the principality of Antioch, reasserting its significance and challenging the dominance of Jerusalem in modern crusading historiography. The First Crusade wrought many changes across the medieval world, not least in Levant, where the expedition culminated in the Frankish conquest of much of Syria and Palestine. This book is the first major study of the early history of one of these Latin settlements, the principality of Antioch; it reasserts the significance of Antioch, and challenges the dominant position of the kingdom of Jerusalem in modern crusading historiography. Thomas Asbridge examines the formation of Antioch's political, military and ecclesiastical frameworks and explains how the principality survived in the hostile political environment of the Near East. He also demonstrates that Latin Antioch was shapedby the complex world of the Levant, facing a diverse range of influences and potential threats from the neighbouring forces of Byzantium and Islam. Historians of the Frankish East and of medieval Europe in the eleventh century will find this an important contribution to crusading history; it is also a significant contribution to the study of frontier societies and medieval communities. THOMAS S. ASBRIDGE is lecturer in early medieval history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.