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Book Reviews by Trevor J Davis
De Rei Militari, 2022
The crusades are a source of nearly constant and perennial fascination for scholars and a wide se... more The crusades are a source of nearly constant and perennial fascination for scholars and a wide section of the public. The complex mixture of medieval politics, warfare, and religious idealism, coupled with debates over the relevance of medieval holy wars to modern conflicts, has effectively enshrined the crusades as an important fixture of medieval scholarship. Indeed, every year sees the publication of new books on the crusades, ranging from narrative histories aimed at popular audiences to specialist monographs for other scholars. By contrast, books specifically focused on the history of the Crusader States of Outremerthe Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the Counties of Edessa and Tripolitend to generate far less buzz and interest, particularly outside of academia, leaving the study of Frankish Outremer as the purview of specialized historians and archeologists. Helena P. Schrader's newly published The Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades: Kingdoms at the Crossroads of Civilizations, 1100-1300 aims to rectify this dearth of popular literature by writing an accessible book aimed at amateur hobbyists and college undergraduatesan admirable goal, considering the difficulty in accessing specialized academic studies on the history of Frankish Outremer. However, while the resulting work is not without merit, it unfortunately has significant flaws that prevent it from being easily recommended without substantial caveats and corrections. Schrader is not a crusades historian by profession; she earned her PhD in history at the University of Hamburg, where her research primarily focused on the life and career of Gen. Felix Olbricht (a participant within the July 20 th 1944 plot against Adolf Hitler). She has since written extensively about the crusades (among other historical topics) in the context of historical fiction, and this marks her first foray into writing a non-fiction book on either the Crusaders or the Crusader States. Her experience in writing historical fiction is evident in her prose, which is concise, elegant, and generally straightforwardall virtues when writing for a popular audience, although this can come at the cost of specificity and nuance. In terms of internal structure, the book is divided into ten chapters, not including the introduction, a small concluding chapter, end notes, and a bibliography of recommended readings; these are supported by some (truly excellent) maps, examples of period art, dynastic family trees, and artistic reconstructions of archeological findings, all of which contribute to the attractiveness of the work and provide useful assistance to an amateur or undergraduate reader.
De Rei Militari, 2020
In this excellent monograph, Peter Purton endeavors to shed new light on the important role of mi... more In this excellent monograph, Peter Purton endeavors to shed new light on the important role of military engineers in medieval warfare. Rather than focus on the fairly well-known technical accomplishments of medieval architects and engineers, this study is devoted primarily to uncovering the elusive individuals who designed and produced these formidable devices, the means they used to create them, as well as the avenues by which professional knowledge was transmitted and developed by successive generations of engineers. Purton ambitiously seeks to cover technological and intellectual developments in Europe from the 5th century Roman empire up through the beginning of the 16th century, with some coverage (where relevant) of similar events in the Islamic world. Given that most medieval architects and engineers remain anonymous (given the scant explicit mention of them in most of the primary sources), this is an ambitious task, but Purton does a remarkable job of scouring chronicles, military manuals, pipe rolls, and other primary sources to try and draw as full a sketch as possible of medieval military engineers and their craft.
Papers by Trevor J Davis
"Political Betrayal in the Peloponnesian War - Success by Treachery," in Ancient History #44, June 2023, ed. by Owain Williams
Ancient History, 2023
Entries in Religion and World Civilizations: How Faith Shaped Societies from Antiquity to the Present, ed. Andrew Holt. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023.
Religion and World Civilizations: How Faith Shaped Societies from Antiquity to the Present, ed. Andrew Holt. , 2023
“Crusader States – Missionary Efforts”; “Medieval Europe (1000-1450) - Christianity and the Found... more “Crusader States – Missionary Efforts”; “Medieval Europe (1000-1450) - Christianity and the Founding of Medieval Universities”; "Witch Hunts”; and “Enlightenment Critique of Religion”; “Platonic Influences on Christianity”; “Christian Missionary Efforts in China”; “Founding and Influence of Cluny Monastery”; “Founding of Pennsylvania”; “Creation of the Underground Catholic Church in China”; “Francis Xavier’s Mission to Japan (1549)”; “Tokugawa Shogunate’s Anti-Christian Policies”; and “Impact of the New Laws of 1542”.
"Orosius’ Historiae and Late Antique Christian Identity in the Roman Empire" in Ancient History Magazine, #41, October 2022, ed. by Owain Williams.
Ancient History, 2022
“Military Strategy in the Historia Ierosolimitana: William of Tyre’s Art of War,” in Medieval Warfare Magazine, IX-6, March 2022, ed. by Peter Konieczny.
Medieval Warfare Magazine, 2022
Teaching Documents by Trevor J Davis
Dual Credit course syllabus for the second half of the standard US History survey course.
De Rei Militari, 2022
The crusades are a source of nearly constant and perennial fascination for scholars and a wide se... more The crusades are a source of nearly constant and perennial fascination for scholars and a wide section of the public. The complex mixture of medieval politics, warfare, and religious idealism, coupled with debates over the relevance of medieval holy wars to modern conflicts, has effectively enshrined the crusades as an important fixture of medieval scholarship. Indeed, every year sees the publication of new books on the crusades, ranging from narrative histories aimed at popular audiences to specialist monographs for other scholars. By contrast, books specifically focused on the history of the Crusader States of Outremerthe Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the Counties of Edessa and Tripolitend to generate far less buzz and interest, particularly outside of academia, leaving the study of Frankish Outremer as the purview of specialized historians and archeologists. Helena P. Schrader's newly published The Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades: Kingdoms at the Crossroads of Civilizations, 1100-1300 aims to rectify this dearth of popular literature by writing an accessible book aimed at amateur hobbyists and college undergraduatesan admirable goal, considering the difficulty in accessing specialized academic studies on the history of Frankish Outremer. However, while the resulting work is not without merit, it unfortunately has significant flaws that prevent it from being easily recommended without substantial caveats and corrections. Schrader is not a crusades historian by profession; she earned her PhD in history at the University of Hamburg, where her research primarily focused on the life and career of Gen. Felix Olbricht (a participant within the July 20 th 1944 plot against Adolf Hitler). She has since written extensively about the crusades (among other historical topics) in the context of historical fiction, and this marks her first foray into writing a non-fiction book on either the Crusaders or the Crusader States. Her experience in writing historical fiction is evident in her prose, which is concise, elegant, and generally straightforwardall virtues when writing for a popular audience, although this can come at the cost of specificity and nuance. In terms of internal structure, the book is divided into ten chapters, not including the introduction, a small concluding chapter, end notes, and a bibliography of recommended readings; these are supported by some (truly excellent) maps, examples of period art, dynastic family trees, and artistic reconstructions of archeological findings, all of which contribute to the attractiveness of the work and provide useful assistance to an amateur or undergraduate reader.
De Rei Militari, 2020
In this excellent monograph, Peter Purton endeavors to shed new light on the important role of mi... more In this excellent monograph, Peter Purton endeavors to shed new light on the important role of military engineers in medieval warfare. Rather than focus on the fairly well-known technical accomplishments of medieval architects and engineers, this study is devoted primarily to uncovering the elusive individuals who designed and produced these formidable devices, the means they used to create them, as well as the avenues by which professional knowledge was transmitted and developed by successive generations of engineers. Purton ambitiously seeks to cover technological and intellectual developments in Europe from the 5th century Roman empire up through the beginning of the 16th century, with some coverage (where relevant) of similar events in the Islamic world. Given that most medieval architects and engineers remain anonymous (given the scant explicit mention of them in most of the primary sources), this is an ambitious task, but Purton does a remarkable job of scouring chronicles, military manuals, pipe rolls, and other primary sources to try and draw as full a sketch as possible of medieval military engineers and their craft.
"Political Betrayal in the Peloponnesian War - Success by Treachery," in Ancient History #44, June 2023, ed. by Owain Williams
Ancient History, 2023
Entries in Religion and World Civilizations: How Faith Shaped Societies from Antiquity to the Present, ed. Andrew Holt. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023.
Religion and World Civilizations: How Faith Shaped Societies from Antiquity to the Present, ed. Andrew Holt. , 2023
“Crusader States – Missionary Efforts”; “Medieval Europe (1000-1450) - Christianity and the Found... more “Crusader States – Missionary Efforts”; “Medieval Europe (1000-1450) - Christianity and the Founding of Medieval Universities”; "Witch Hunts”; and “Enlightenment Critique of Religion”; “Platonic Influences on Christianity”; “Christian Missionary Efforts in China”; “Founding and Influence of Cluny Monastery”; “Founding of Pennsylvania”; “Creation of the Underground Catholic Church in China”; “Francis Xavier’s Mission to Japan (1549)”; “Tokugawa Shogunate’s Anti-Christian Policies”; and “Impact of the New Laws of 1542”.
"Orosius’ Historiae and Late Antique Christian Identity in the Roman Empire" in Ancient History Magazine, #41, October 2022, ed. by Owain Williams.
Ancient History, 2022
“Military Strategy in the Historia Ierosolimitana: William of Tyre’s Art of War,” in Medieval Warfare Magazine, IX-6, March 2022, ed. by Peter Konieczny.
Medieval Warfare Magazine, 2022
Dual Credit course syllabus for the second half of the standard US History survey course.