The Avignon Papacy and the Crusades, 1305-1378

Oxford / New York: Clarendon Press / Oxford University Press, 1986. Hardcover. VG (ex-library with stamps and labels on dust jacket, block, end papers. Book is otherwise very clean and clear.). Black cloth boards with gilt lettering; bw illustrated dust jacket with mylar cover; xii, 348 pp. The crusading movement in the fourteenth century, and the support given to it by the Popes at Avignon, form the central theme of this study. By focusing on the crusading policy of the papal Curia it also illuminates other fields of Avignonese activity, such as papal taxation and relations with Byzantium, as well as offering general comments on papal objectives, approaches, and limitations. The author examines the contribution made by the Avignonese Curia to all aspects of the crusades: their initiation, their organization and financing, their control in the field, and their diplomatic repercussions ... he extends his study to cover all areas where crusading occurred--the eastern Mediterranean, Spain, eastern Europe, and Italy ... he analyses the Curia's approach to ... peacemaking between warring Christian powers, the work of the Military Orders, and western attempts to maintain a trade embargo on Mamluk Egypt. -Dust jacket. Contents include: Introduction -- The campaigns : (1) the Eastern Mediterranean -- The campaigns : (2) Spain, Eastern Europe, and Italy -- The making of a crusade : propaganda, pressure, and policy -- Crusade recruitment : the role of Pope and church -- War finance and crusade taxation. The cost of war ; Crusade taxation : the background ; Popes, rulers, and taxes ; The transfer of papal funds : bankers and hospitallers -- Obstacles to crusading in the Eastern Mediterranean and the papal response -- Crusade armies in action : the problem of control -- The papacy and the military orders : Templars, Teutonic knights, and hospitallers -- Conclusion -- Appendix I. The cost of Clement VI's contribution to the Smyrna Crusade, 1343-1349 -- Appendix II. Smyrna uder papal rule, 1344-1374 -- Appendix III. A schedule of indulgences, 1368.