|
|
Article: Why they crusaded.(The First Crusade: A New History)(book)(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- September 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The First Crusade: A New History, by Thomas Asbridge; Simon & Schuster, 2005, $26.95.
THE DUALITY of temporal and spiritual worlds represents the fundamental tension throughout the political and theological history of the Catholic Church. It was central to the eleventh-century reforms implemented under Pope Gregory VII, who sought to weaken the power of monarchs and in effect make them obedient to the spiritual dictates issuing from Rome.
The tension is probably most acute in the case of Gregory the Great, the sixth-century contemplative who turned his back on monastic existence in order to take upon himself the more burdensome life of politics. He was ...