Jonathan Phillips
their impact elsewhere in the Christian world shows just how long- lasting
and destructive they were.
Dr. Jonathan Phillips, The Independent September 18, 2001
Dr. Jonathan Phillips is a Reader in Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London. His scholarly contributions to the crusades include the books Defenders of the Holy Land: Relations Between the Latin East and West, 1119-1187, The Crusades, 1095-1197, and most recently, The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople. His articles have appeared in a number of British publications including BBC History, History Today, and the Independent. Additionally, he is regularly consulted on radio and television programs as a leading expert on crusades history.
On his faculty webpage at the University of London Dr. Phillips lists his research interests as "The Origins and Structure of the Second Crusade (1145–9); the Development of Crusading in the Twelfth Century; the Evolution of the County of Flanders 1050–1200." Among the courses he teaches are "Conquest and Colonisation: Europe 1000-1300 , The Crusades and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1095-1291, The Origins and Impact of the Second Crusade (1145-9), and Women, the Crusades and the Frontier Societies of Medieval Christendom, 1000-1300 [co-taught with Susan Edgington]. Dr. Phillips book on the Fourth Crusade, The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople (Penguin 2004),has received especially high praise from the scholarly community. Norman Cantor has said of the book that it is "The best book I have read on the Fourth Crusade." Dr. Thomas Madden, a specialist on the Fourth Crusade, has also praised the work. Dr. Madden has written:
Having devoted much of my professional career to the study of the Fourth Crusade, I am a
tough critic when it comes to this subject. I have never read a popular treatment of this
Crusade that is not riddled with errors of fact and laughable assumptions. That is, until now.
Phillips’ book is a story well told, and the story is all the better for being true. Phillips has no
need for made-up villains or half-baked conspiracies in order to craft a compelling and exciting
read. Based on the best research and a thorough reading of the primary texts, Phillips uses the
Fourth Crusade as a gateway to the Middle Ages. It is a teaching tool, a way of introducing the
general public to a world very different from our own. He cleverly engages his readers’ interest
and imagination by finding apt modern analogies.(1)
As a crusades scholar, Dr. Phillips has not shyed away from involving himself in the modern politics of the Middle East. He wrote an article in September of 2001 for the left-wing British newspaper the Independent titled Why a Crusade Will Lead to Jihad. The work was written shortly after the events of the infamous terrorist attack on New York city commonly referred to as 9/11. The work was intended as a rebuke to U.S. President George Bush for his use of the word "crusade" in describing the U.S. led "war on terror." In this article Dr. Phillips refers to how the "legacy of the brutality and fanaticism of the crusades has long cast a shadow across relations between the two faiths." He also notes that, "In 1099, the armies of the First Crusade (representing the Catholic Church of Western Europe) captured Jerusalem and were popularly reported as wading in the blood of their slain Muslim foes."
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Oddly, Dr. Timothy Furnish cites Dr. Phillip's article in his online essay decrying the lack of popular knowledge of the crusades when he notes, "Attacks have not been all from West to (Middle) East, and it is high time the 'Muslim street' received the solid food of historically accurate teaching rather than the milk of Islamic propaganda." (2) Dr. Thomas Madden has also written quite a bit on popular misunderstandings of the crusades. His article for the conservative publication National Review, also written in the wake of 9/11 (November 2, 2001), has a much different tone, so much so that a comparison of his article with Dr. Phillips's is quite striking. For example, Dr. Phillips cautiously warns, "The West's apparent lack of regret for the crusades, the close identification of Israel with the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem and the memory of the atrocities committed against the Muslims of the Levant fan the flames of the jihad today." Dr. Madden, on the other hand, writes, "Muslims in the Middle East — including bin Laden and his creatures — know as little about the real crusades as Americans do. Both view them in the context of the modern, rather than the medieval world. The truth is that the crusades had nothing to do with colonialism or unprovoked aggression. They were a desperate and largely unsuccessful attempt to defend against a powerful enemy."
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Dr. Jonathan Phillips Christian vs.Christian in the Fourth Crusade Military History Quarterly, Autumn, 2005.
Dr. Jonathan Phillips Why a Crusade Will Lead to Jihad The Independent, September 18, 2001
Dr. Jonathan Phillips Saladin, Richard the Lionheart and the Legacy of the Crusades Channel 4
Dr. Jonathan Phillips Review of Thomas Madden's The Crusades: The Essential Readings, Blackwell, 2002.
Faculty Page for Jonathan Phillips, University of London
Fourth Crusade- Crusades-Encyclopedia
Thomas Madden- Crusades-Encyclopedia
Timothy Furnish- Crusades-Encyclopedia
1. Dr. Thomas Madden. Crusaders and Historians First Things 154 (June/July 2005): 26-31.
2. Dr. Timothy Furnish. How the Media Misconstrue Jihad and the Crusades History News Network january 13, 2003.
(c) Andrew Holt, November 2005- Permission is granted for electronic copying and distribution in print for educational or personal use. No permission is granted for commercial use.