C. Matthew Phillips
2.3K posts

C. Matthew Phillips
@devotiocruci
Medieval Historian
Lincoln, Nebraska انضم Aralık 2022
201 يتبع245 المتابعون
تغريدة مثبتة

@DrRitaDed I just wouldn’t feel right wishing you an *unhappy* Easter… 😉
Blessings on your day whatever you call it!
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@MatthewSlaboch I listen to Bach or Mozart sometimes Wagner
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@ProfLRoach I’m saving my Jesus appears to Mary Magdalena medieval art. Maybe this week
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From the Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald
C. Matthew Phillips@devotiocruci
Christus surrexit vere
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‘Christ plunged pressingly and profoundly into every human misery, and the subtle eye of the devil did not detect this great mystery of loving kindness’ Bernard of Clairvaux
C. Matthew Phillips@devotiocruci
Alton Triptych in Victoria and Albert Museum
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@MemoryMedieval Almost no 'lesser nobles signed up hoping for a bit of land'. It was much easier to get land in Europe.
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I'm going to explain why this is almost entirely wrong.
(Almost because there may have been one exception..)
The first crusade was an outrageous, unprescedented expedition. The Pope sold it to them (in part) as an armed pilgrimage. They were expected and expecting to return captured lands to Alexios and for him to govern when their pilgrimage was over (and they returned), assuming success.
These were large, general assumptions.
On top of which, if you read their charters before they departed, many thought they were likely to die en route.
In fact, many did.
After the first crusade, the Crusader States were desperately short on manpower.
To give you a rough idea of the (dwindling) crusader manpower:
Siege of Nicaea (1097): 35,000
Battle of Ascalon (1099): 10,200
Battle of Ramla (1101): 1,160
The point here is to say, if a European noble was motivated and ambitious, and had no prospects in Europe, the window was already open.
He didn't need to crusade.
Case in point: Guy of Lusignan. He was exiled from the Angevin Empire, made his way to the Holy Land, and became King of Jerusalem.
Or Conrad of Montferrat, who also didn't really crusade but almost became King of Jerusalem. (I'm taking a bit of liberty on Conrad but I think its fair)
The point here is that if you look at the expectations, what the Pope said, what the crusaders themselves said, how they behaved, and what their options were for acquiring land (should they be motivated)... there's just not any evidence that crusaders would have, or did, treat crusades as a land grab.
Except on Reddit...

James Harver@HarJa626
@MemoryMedieval I'm sure a lot of lesser nobles signed up hoping for a bit of land they'd never get a chance at back in Europe. Even if it meant being in the Holy Land waiting for retaliation.
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@medievaldaniel Do you get sense of their titles? Positions in society?
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@MemoryMedieval An overview #ref-31" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">grokipedia.com/page/Peace_and…
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@MemoryMedieval The Peace of God movement played a significant role in the development of chivalric ideas
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On the flip side, pagans can't help but to be cringe about chivalry as well.
Chivalry was not some pagan-only phenomenon. "Had nothing to do with jewish Christianity" or "last expressions of authentic hyperborean".
No.
Chivalry was the synthesis of (pre-Christian/pagan) Germanic warrior culture and Christianity. Both. You need both.
There's a really obvious sniff test to the "akshually its just hyperborea" argument.. where are the chivalrous pagans?
Easy answer: There were none.
Of course you had various pagan warrior ethics or virtues outside of (or before) Christianity but those didn't have anything to do with the knights of Christendom or chivalry and pretending as if it did is the highest tier of cringe.
Another easy way to see this is just one of Reddit's most fantastical larps is to see what the knights, across locations and centuries thought of themselves.
ALL of them, that I am aware of, thought of themselves as Christians.
In fact, it's probably safe to say that all of them would have ran you through, on the spot, for even suggesting that they were some sort of "akshual pagan hyperborean just pretending to be jewish" or whatever.
Chivalry was exclusive to Christian warriors (see Geoffroi de Charny). It was not secret paganism.
I don't have an issue with pagans but I do have an issue with people being fake and cringe.

Harold Soul ✳️@heraldsolar
@JL191789 Chivalry was not biblical. It’s not a result of Christianity. It was one of the last expressions of authentic Hyperborean spirituality. Its knights, orders & poetic power sprung from our blood, not from alien commands A remnant of the Aryan Tradition appearing under alien garb
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Processional Cross in Regensburg Cathedral Collection
C. Matthew Phillips@devotiocruci
@NYCMayor Good Friday wasn't peaceful for Jesus
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