European Receptions of the Crusades in the Nineteenth Century. Franco-German Perspectives

Abstract

The aim of the workshop was to inspire debate about the reception of the Crusades from a comparative European perspective. France and Germany were at the centre of the discussion since French and German historical writings have had a significant impact on European memories of the Crusades. The main focus was on the nineteenth century because this period marked a caesura in the emergence and change of European patterns of Crusader memories, and witnessed the rise of interconnected European and national discourses expressing superiority and colonial interests. The workshop reflected upon the preliminary findings of the research group ‘Myths of the Crusades’ at the Georg Eckert Institute together with experts in the historiography of the Crusades, of European history, and of nationalism. "The working papers presented at our workshop are published here electronically as an ‘Eckert.Dossier’. We chose this format in order to extend and broaden the debate about representations of the Crusades in historiography and other media. Publications of this kind offer considerable potential to reach a wide readership, and we are confident that this form of papers will stimulate scholarly discussion and generate new knowledge. Scholars are therefore very welcome to comment and discuss our papers or submit further contributions which are related to this topic." Jonathan Phillips (University of London) and Stefan Berger (University of Manchester) were invited to the workshop as experts in Crusader historiography, European history, and modern nationalism. They also provided commentaries of the workshop papers. Jonathan Phillips also provides a shorter version of his evening lecture and Stefan Berger a revised version of the commentaries he gave on the contributions by Ines Guhe and Matthias Schwerendt. Kristin Skottki (University of Rostock) was invited as an expert in cultural contacts between Christians and Muslims during the First Crusade, which she is researching with regard to both its history and the history of its historiography. Finally, Felix Hinz (University of Hildesheim) presents his current project about the portrayal of the Crusades in historical novels, which was not originally part of the workshop.