This volume has been created by scholars from a range of disciplines who wish to show their appreciation for Professor John France and to celebrate his career and achievements. For many decades, Professor France s work has been instrumental in many of the advances made in the fields of crusader studies and medieval warfare. He has published widely on these topics including major publications such as: Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade (1994) and Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades (1999). This present volume mirrors his interests, offering studies upon both...

This book investigates the life and posthumous cultural reputation of Godfrey of Bouillon (d.1100). Godfrey is a hugely significant figure in whom a number of crucial themes in medieval history intersect. As duke of Lower Lotharingia, he occupied a position of considerable political importance in the German Empire in the latter part of the eleventh century, the age of the 'Investiture Controversy'. He was a leader of the First Crusade, a seminal event in medieval history. At the conclusion of the expedition in July 1099, he was appointed as the first ruler of the kingdom of Jerusalem, the...

This study of the monument of Godfrey of Bouillon offers new insights to the political uses of public monuments devoted to figures from the past, modern uses and appropriations of the Middle Ages, and the role of historical culture in the creation of national identity. On 15 August 1848, a bronze equestrian statue of the crusading hero Godfrey of Bouillon (d.1100) was unveiled in the Place Royale in Brussels, Belgium's capital. Conceived and largely funded by the national government, its creation was a major element in a programme of political and cultural consolidation put into place after...