Author : Phillip Wynn
Release : 2020-11-30
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Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 285/5 ( reviews)
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Book Synopsis Christianity and War in the Early Medieval West, 500-1100 by : Phillip Wynn
Download or read book Christianity and War in the Early Medieval West, 500-1100 written by Phillip Wynn. This book was released on 2020-11-30. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity and War in the Early Medieval West, 500-1100, challenges the longstanding assumption that the First Crusade represents the culmination of a long process whereby Christianity gradually evolved from advocating pacifism to inspiring holy war. Phillip Wynn argues this is a misleading oversimplified of the role of the religion in shaping warfare during the earlier centuries of Western Christendom. Instead, the actual developments varied widely with time and place: there had been religiously-motivated wars for centuries before 1095, including wars of Christian expansionism. A Christianized culture of war emerged in Western Europe during the seventh century, in which political and ecclesiastical elites used Christian ideas and symbols to forge a collective identity in times of armed conflict. Rather than a ¿Dark Age¿, Wynn depicts a time of enduring relevance for later periods, especially concerning holy war, just war, nationalism, and the early medieval penitential practices for returning warriors.