The Crusades’ declared aim was the recovery of the Holy Land from the Muslims in the name of universal Christendom. Nevertheless it has been claimed that the Eastern Christians came to be the main victims of the Crusader phenomenon. The focus of this exercise is to examine the impact that the Crusades had for the Greek-Orthodox world and the polity that represented it, the Eastern Roman Empire, whose weakness was perhaps one of the principal reasons that led to the Western intervention in the affairs of the East. Through the sources of the period we will try to trace a story that started in Christian concord and ended in bitter conflict and long-lasting division: the story of the ”Byzantine” long 12^th century.

The class will be held in English but essays can be also delivered in German.

Kurs im HIS-LSF