At
the start of each month + Real Crusades History + brings you a review
of a book relevant to the crusades or the crusader states. Today Dr.
Schrader reviews and recommends the seminal work by Professor Peter Edbury and reproduces a review of The Last Crusader Kingdom, a novel that describes the establishment of crusader rule on Cyprus at the end of the 12th Century:
This is the "definitive" modern history of the crusader kingdom of Cyprus by the leading scholar, Peter W. Edbury. Professor Edbury is the author of numerous books on the crusader kingdoms, their history, architecture, legal code and some of the leading figures in the kingdoms. This book is a concise, chronological history of roughly the first two hundred years of the crusader kingdom, starting with the conquest of the island by Richard I of England in 1191 and ending with the war with Genoa in 1373-1374. The latter triggered the economic decline of the island, and saw the slaughter of many of the noblemen descended from the Syrian nobility, among them the last Ibelin. It is an absolutely essential source for anyone interested in medieval Cyprus, and an excellent introduction to the last but most enduring of the crusader states.
Edbury writes in an easy, straight-forward style, avoiding the
excessive use of footnotes and not overloading the text with his evidence.
Indeed, unlike many academic works, he is clearly concerned with telling the
story of Lusignan Cyprus rather than debating with his fellow scholars
about sources and interpretation thereof -- perhaps because his subject matter
has not been as heavily researched as, say, the Kingdom of Jerusalem or the
various crusades. The result is a book that intrigues and inspires
greater curiosity, rather than bludgeoning the reader with details or debates
about arcane topics.
The only weakness of the book is in its admirable (but inhibiting)
goal of covering two hundred years of complex history in just over 200 pages.
Inevitably, some events are condensed and simplified, perhaps, in some places
too much so. For example, he follows the conventional (but patently absurd)
version of Guy de Lusignan's arrival on Cyprus, suggesting Guy de Lusignan
arrived on a depopulated island whose remaining population was happy to receive
him -- despite that same population of 100,000 having just driven the Knights Templar
from the island by an armed insurrection. Ultimately, however, occasional
oversights such as this are a small price to pay for getting such a great deal
of fascinating history in a few hundred pages. The greater frustration is that
after Edbury creates an appetite for more in-depth study of the crusader Cyprus,
one discovers there are far too few books that look more closely at individual
aspects of the history available on the market today.
For more information on The Last Crusader Kingdom: Dawn of a Dynasty in Twelfth-Century Cyprus, please visit the website: crusaderkingdoms.com
The following is a FEATHERED QUILL review.
Reviewers have stated this before: This author knows more history than
anyone out there. In addition, she also knows exactly how to put on paper a
historical book that excites, offers suspense, sparks adventure, and brings
together a cast of characters that are literally impossible to forget once the
last page has been read.
In this newest tale, readers join up with John d’Ibelin, who is the son of
the legendary Balian who readers met and became loyal to in previous tales
written by Helena Schrader. We begin at a monastery on the island of Cyprus in
the year 1193. Dozens of villagers have reached the monastery’s doors, and look
like they have met with men of war, which they most definitely have. The
villagers have had to defend their homes (yet again) and fight for their very
lives against an enemy they cannot beat. However, this is nothing new for these
people on the island of Cyprus.
The English King first sold the island to the Templars, whose rule was not
exactly popular with the natives. The Templars were forced out and now the
island has been placed in the hands of one who has a mighty pack of supporters
desperate to gain Cyprus as compensation for their own lands lost. If something
is not done soon, the name of Richard the Lionheart – the ultimate crusader –
will no longer have a legacy that includes Cyprus. There has to be hope
somewhere; a man who could stand up to the battle and win the ultimate war.
Enter...John d’Ibelin. As the son of a true hero, John has a legacy of his
own he will one day have to live up to. At this moment, he is away from his own
father and family, apprenticing for a Constable. A pounding comes on the door
of the home owned by the Constable of Jerusalem. He is arrested for treason,
sending John on horseback to alert his father of this horrible news. After all,
if anyone would know what to do, it would be Balian. He is the man who enabled
3,000-plus to escape the Saracen and negotiated the surrender of Jerusalem
which saved tens of thousands of more lives.
When John arrives before his father, they are both confused as to how on
earth the ‘paragon of chivalry’ who is Lord Aimery would possibly have
committed treason. Something is truly wrong with this picture, and another war
is about to commence.
From a faltering dynasty to meeting up with pirates sailing the
Mediterranean, this intricate and exciting book offers up the early history of
the Kingdom of Cyprus. As the author states at the beginning, this is one
kingdom that has largely been lost over time. There are very few facts left in
regards to the founding of Cyprus, so this fictional work focuses on ways that
these things could have happened.
Quill says: Historical fiction fans, adventure fans – there is something in The
Last Crusader Kingdom for everyone. Yet again, Helena Schrader has hit the
ball out of the “proverbial park” with her intelligence and creativity.
For more information on The Last Crusader Kingdom: Dawn of a Dynasty in Twelfth-Century Cyprus, please visit the website: crusaderkingdoms.com
Dr. Helena P. Schrader holds a PhD in History.
She is the Chief Editor of the Real Crusades History Blog.
She
is an award-winning novelist and author of numerous books both fiction
and non-fiction. Her three-part biography of Balian d'Ibelin won a total
of 14 literary accolades. Her most recent release is a novel about the
founding of the crusader Kingdom of Cyprus. You can find out more at:
http://crusaderkingdoms.com
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