Retrato do autor

Ronald C. Finucane (1939–2009)

Autor(a) de Soldiers of the Faith: Crusaders and Moslems at War

7 Works 206 Membros 5 Críticas

About the Author

Obras por Ronald C. Finucane

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Data de nascimento
1939-08-10
Data de falecimento
2009-09-01
Sexo
male
Locais de residência
Auburn Hills, Michican, USA
Ocupações
historian
professor (History)
Organizações
Oakland University
Prémios e menções honrosas
Oakland University (Distinguished Professor, Research Excellence Award)

Membros

Críticas

This is a clearly written and (to me, anyway) interesting book about the crusades. Finucane's purpose was not to provide a chronological narrative of the the several crusades that took place over several centuries during the Middle Ages, but instead to provide, to the extent possible from this far remove, a look into what it was like to take part in the events, looking, as the title suggests, from the perspectives of both European Christians and the Moslems they went to do battle with. Finucane began with an overview chapter laying out relatively briefly the timeline, goals and results of the various crusades to provide a context. But then he presents a series of explications of the different factors of the events, showing the patterns that held true throughout the centuries and differentiating between the various eras when appropriate. So we get insights into "Enlisting for the Crusades," "The Journey," "God's Armies," "Fighting and Dying," "Searching for God: Christian Enthusiasm, Moslem Beliefs," "Christian-Moslem Interactions," "Minorities at Risk: Women and Jews" and, finally, "Decline of an Ideal." Finucane didn't romanticize or admire any of this, but instead tried to present a clear-eyed view of it all. His writing was not particularly graceful, but was, as I mentioned up top, clear and straightforward enough to allow for a relatively unfettered reading experience.

The book's 212 pages were just about enough for me, so I will also give Finucane credit for knowing how much detail to include. He illustrates the ways in which, especially, the later Crusades became money-making schemes for the Papacy, the ways in which failure, in the longterm, was assured by the European nobles' rivalries between each other, the reasons why common folk would have signed on to go (from a hope of immediate entrance to heaven to a desire for plunder to a wish to get out from under debts and the drudgery their lives) and the horrors and depravations, not to mention the very high risk of sudden death, that the Crusaders, both high-born and low, were letting themselves in for.

Finucane was a British historian who died in 2009. Here is an obituary: https://www.oakland.edu/history/faculty-staff/ronald-c-finucane/
… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
rocketjk | 2 outras críticas | Mar 16, 2020 |
An attempt to present a nuts and bolts front line picture of the major components of crusading warfare, from both Christian and Moslem perspectives. Not a lively read, but informative.
 
Assinalado
DinadansFriend | 2 outras críticas | Dec 11, 2013 |
My reaction to reading this book in 1993.

I picked this book up on a lark and am glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed this witty, informative book.

The cultural history of ghosts is fascinating – from the gibbering spirits who hung about tombs in the Classical (they’re sometimes angry, often hideous in appearance) period, to the shades that early Christian writers puzzled over (demons? delusions? Or return spirits of the dead?) to the blazing straw figures, disembodied hands, and other apparitions of suffering souls from purgatory in the Middle Ages to the debt, honor, and revenge obsessed characters of the Restoration, to the stupid, vague Victorian and modern ghosts.

I was interested to see how ghosts came into play in the arguments of the Reformation. Catholics viewed them as proof of souls in purgatory. Protestants as demonic or angelic apparitions (or perhaps and “aerial” spirits – that portion of the soul that hung about the Earth unlike the “astral” part that returned to heaven – a minority opinion). Finucane does a nice job showing the social functions of ghosts. In mediaeval times, they were object lessons of souls consigned to purgatory, sometimes pleas for social justice (admonishing charity to the poor, confession of crimes) and appeals for piety, crusades, and indulgences. Many accounts of ghosts asking the living – almost always known to them – to perform acts that will shorten their time in purgatory. I liked the baroque ghosts of the seventeenth century who want to pay their debts, avenge crimes, and look after their heirs. Often they are very life-like. Even the bland, blatantly fraudulent sometimes, ghosts of Victorian and modern times serve a function: a touchy-feeling affirmation of the afterlife. I liked the court case of Tours in 1575 (so much like a modern case in New York) involving the renting of an allegedly haunted house. The arguments of both credulous plaintiff and skeptical defendants sound very modern. Another proof of the oldness of many occult beliefs and superstitions are the many cases of Catholic clerics talking to rapping ghosts to allegedly prove purgatory exists. I also liked Thomas Huxley wickedly saying ghosts were an argument against suicide – better to live a poor life than die and speak their typical nonsense.
… (mais)
1 vote
Assinalado
RandyStafford | Mar 4, 2013 |
The devout, combative, and scandalous women who shared in the crusades
 
Assinalado
kijabi1 | Jan 2, 2012 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
7
Membros
206
Popularidade
#107,332
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Críticas
5
ISBN
19
Línguas
2

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