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IMC 2016: Sessions

Session 810: Crusading Masculinities

Tuesday 5 July 2016, 16.30-18.00

Organiser:Katherine J. Lewis, Department of History, University of Huddersfield
Moderator/Chair:Kim M. Phillips, Department of History, University of Auckland
Paper 810-aCrusade and Masculinities in the Historia Albigensis of Peter of Les Vaux de Cernay
(Language: English)
Natasha Ruth Hodgson, School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent University
Index terms: Crusades, Gender Studies
Paper 810-bContextualising Masculinities in Matthew Paris: 13th-Century Crusading Motives and Scepticism
(Language: English)
Matthew Mesley, Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich
Index terms: Crusades, Gender Studies
Paper 810-cCaxton's Crusades: Kingship, Masculinity, and Holy War in Late Medieval England
(Language: English)
Katherine J. Lewis, Department of History, University of Huddersfield
Index terms: Crusades, Gender Studies
Abstract

In the last decade significant research on the role and representation of women in the crusades has been produced, yet the rich varieties of ideas about medieval manhood prevalent throughout crusade sources remain largely untapped. Gendered comparisons were often used to draw distinctions between the men who took the cross and their enemies, and authors of crusade narratives regularly commented on the manliness of different individuals and groups during crusade expeditions. Masculinity was also a feature of preaching: gendered language was central to the communication of the crusade message and to its enduring popularity. Medieval men existed in a hierarchical world, but even during the short time at which crusading was at its height, social constructs such as masculinity were subject to change. This session will compare and contrast representations of crusading masculinity in different sources and settings and consider the role these played in the developing debate over ideal manhood in medieval society more broadly.