The Spiritual Capital of Defeat: Christian Morality and Territorial Loss at the Time of the Crusades (c. 1144–1221)

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The Spiritual Capital of Defeat: Christian Morality and Territorial Loss at the Time of the Crusades (c. 1144–1221)

Zürcher, Emma Lydia; (2022) The Spiritual Capital of Defeat: Christian Morality and Territorial Loss at the Time of the Crusades (c. 1144–1221). Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

This thesis examines medieval morality through the lens of defeats suffered in the Holy Land between 1144 and 1221. It argues that the loss of territory could be used to instigate changes in Christian attitudes and behaviours as contemporaries were forced to question established beliefs and practices to explain why events had not turned out as expected. The successes of the first crusade were thought to have been divinely sanctioned. Therefore, when the territories won during this initial expedition were progressively lost to Muslim enemies, proponents of the crusading movement had to explain why God had not continued to guarantee the success of his people without challenging the validity of Christian settlement in Outremer. Their efforts to resolve this tension constitute what I refer to as their narratives of loss. These narratives show that authors often connected defeat to the promise of salvation by proposing that military failure had been a divine punishment for Christian sin. The primary aim of such interpretations was often to encourage spiritual fervour. However, not all those who responded to defeat along these lines conveyed this in the same way. Through an analysis of a broad range of source material, I show that medieval authors used many different variations on this broad explanatory theme. I argue that they opted for particular rhetorical strategies to manipulate their audiences’ thoughts, feelings, and reactions. The influence that authors were consequently able to exercise frequently pertained to the devotional experience of twelfth- and thirteenth-century Christians. In these instances, they realised the moral potential of defeat by connecting the loss of territory to different aspects of salvation history. This endowed their accounts with authority on how faith was to be lived.

Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification:	Ph.D
Title:	The Spiritual Capital of Defeat: Christian Morality and Territorial Loss at the Time of the Crusades (c. 1144–1221)
Open access status:	An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language:	English
Additional information:	Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
UCL classification:	UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of History
URI:	https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10162562