Talk:List of Crusades

Lead

The definition of crusades in the lead is deeply problematic. A century old definition from the Catholic Encyclopedia, alongside using the the Wisconsin series and Runciman do not reflect a meaningful definition used by modern academic crusade historians. The OED begins with 1.a.1577–Historical. A military expedition undertaken by the Christians of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. Its second definition is 1.b.1603–transferred. Any war instigated and blessed by the Church for alleged religious ends, a ‘holy war’; applied esp. to expeditions undertaken under papal sanction against infidels or heretics. The second definition is the one more commonly used by historians, although there is some blurring round the edges that enables the inclusion of the Popular Crusades. Norfolkbigfish (talk) 17:51, 22 September 2023 (UTC)

Crusades defines this better: According to modern historiography the term "crusade" (/kruːˈseɪd/ kroo-SAYD) first referred to military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to the Holy Land. The conflicts to which the term is applied has been extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported and sometimes directed by the Roman Catholic Church against pagans, heretics or for alleged religious ends. These differed from other Christian religious wars in that they were considered a penitential exercise, and so earned participants forgiveness for all confessed sins. What constituted a "crusade" has been understood in diverse ways, particularly regarding the early Crusades, and the definition remains a matter of debate among contemporary historians. The meaning of a "crusade" is generally viewed in one of four ways. Traditionalists view Crusades as only those to the Holy Land from 1095 to 1291. Pluralists view Crusades as military expeditions that enjoyed papal endorsement, including those to the Holy Land before and after 1291, to Northern Europe and Iberia, and against Christians. Popularists focus on the popular groundswells of religious fervour. Generalists focus on the basic phenomenon of Latin holy wars. Most modern Crusades historians consider a combination of pluralism and popularism. Norfolkbigfish (talk) 17:58, 22 September 2023 (UTC)

Norfolkfish---Long time, no hear. Hope you are well. I agree the quote needs to go. It seemed like a good idea three years ago. Today, not so much. But, I think the proposed replacement is too long. And you know I don't buy the whole dichotomy there. But let's work something up. Dr. Grampinator (talk) 18:35, 22 September 2023 (UTC)

Hiya @Dr. Grampinator, all good here, I hope you are well. Agree on the dichotomy, Constable was only really indulging in debate. :-) Norfolkbigfish (talk) 19:15, 24 September 2023 (UTC)

Philip III of Burgundy (Philip the Good) and his plan.

Could Philip III's planned crusade (which he announced at the Feast of the Pheasant) be added to the "Planned Crusades" section? I feel like it counts. Baguetteboing (talk) 20:45, 23 August 2024 (UTC)

King Sebastian and Alcazar

Reverted two IP edits. Yes the sourcing is terrible, but there are sources available that classify the campaign as a Crusade e.g. Tyerman, Age of Crusades. Someone probably needs to work through this article and source it a bit better. Norfolkbigfish (talk) 17:51, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

John III Doukas Vatatzes

@Dr. Grampinator: apparently there was a crusade planned against involving the Mongols? Braganza (talk) 18:14, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

Design

@Dr. Grampinator: the article should be restructured in my opinion, maybe tables would be better? Also there should be a clear distinction between Crusades against Christians/Political Crusades/Italian Crusades Braganza (talk) 20:00, 17 January 2025 (UTC)

I don't understand how you would restructure it. These are standard distinctions, with a couple of exceptions. Popular Crusades, Crusade against Christians, Northern Crusades, Political Crusades, Italian Crusades and the Reconquista are all distinct crusade types that are recognized in many references. Planned Crusades is a category that only appears in a Riley-Smith tome. Crusades against Byzantium could be merged with Crusades to the Holy Land, but then that title would be incorrect.

A chronological list is provided as Section 12. That could be a table., but I'm not sure why.

This article has been around for about 5 years and no one had a problem with the structure. Dr. Grampinator (talk) 22:51, 17 January 2025 (UTC)

@Dr. Grampinator: i mean political crusades are mainly against Christians, the article Crusades against Christians also lists political crusades. Same applies to the "Italian Crusades" section.

The general article design is i'd say usual like:

the citing of the sources within the article (no need for this, maybe you can put this into the "Source material" section, i would recommend you to check out template:Sfn and template:cite book, it might be much effort at first but it will make it easier later on) or "Political Crusade against Roger II of Sicily. The Political Crusade against Roger II of Sicily (1127–1135). [...]", could easily fit into a table like:

Crusade	Time	[Description or so]
Political Crusade against Roger II of Sicily	1127–1135	It began in 1127 when Honorius II, suspicious of the growth of Norman power in southern Italy, and at Capua in December, the pope preached a crusade against Roger II of Sicily. Upon the death of Honorius in 1130, Anacletus II and Innocent II were both claimants to the papal throne. Roger supported the antipope Anacletus. In 1135, Innocent II offered Crusader indulgences to those who fought his enemies. There is no evidence that any military action was taken, but the action is viewed as a harbinger for the political crusades of the 13th century.

you are by far the main editor (i respect your dedication, you did impressive work) but it is also means there wasn't much "traffic" here in the 5 years so i don't think many editors came here to have an impact on the style. ;) Braganza (talk) 23:49, 17 January 2025 (UTC)

Crusades against Christians differ from Political Crusades in that the former are conducted against heretical Christians and the later against individuals and their followers for political reasons. Italian Crusades are split out general. I don't make these things up. I'm following the lead of Crusade historians. There may be some overlap.

I thought the citations would be useful to the reader. Listing them (375 of them) as Sources without crossreference to the individual Crusade would surely be cumbersome.

Many of the regular contributors to Crusades articles have made comments, so I disagree with the statement that no one has looked at it.

Are you proposing that the current structure be abandoned and replaced with a chronological table? We already have a chronological list.

This seems to me to be a lot of work to provide less information than is currently provided. Dr. Grampinator (talk) 19:12, 18 January 2025 (UTC)

@Dr. Grampinator: [i am numbering them to make it easier what is what]

1. the distinction/overlap should be made clear in the article

2. If these are primary sources or main literature i guess it can be included but like i said check out template:Sfn and template:cite book, it would make maneuvering among the sources far easier (Peter Lock is cited 65 times so it definitely pay out)

3. I am proposing it because this design here is like i said very unusual. Check out WP:FL if you don't believe me. "Many of the regular contributors to Crusades articles have made comments, so I disagree with the statement that no one has looked at it." there are three people who made comments, i am one of them

4. why should it provide less information? it is literally the same text you wrote just put in to columns. The only difference is that the title isn't listed twice. Braganza (talk) 07:40, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

1. Agree. I didn't realize that Crusades against Christians covered multiple topics.
2. Agree. Sfn should be used.
3. I don't think the structure is unusual at all. And, Norfolkbigfish and Srnec are among the few that are actively writing Crusades articles. The article is also part of the Crusades task force.
4. I suppose, but IMHO, it's a lot of work for little payoff.

Dr. Grampinator (talk) 18:50, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

i mean we don't have to do everything at once Braganza (talk) 19:33, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

so i started with Planned crusades i hope this helps as an example. Since you know Wisconsin Collaborative History of the Crusades maybe you can build up Template:Harvc for it as there are multiple authors in the series Braganza (talk) 20:11, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

@Dr. Grampinator should we move Roger II & Frederico I to the Italian section? Braganza (talk) 21:35, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

Hiya both, I turned up because of the ping above so I'll comment, hopefully helpfully. It is a start class article so there is room for improvement, but that is not the reason for lack of traffic, it is just a backwater where there isn't much interest so I wouldn't want to impinge on what interest there is from Dr. Grampinator. It would look better in tables, with sfn references and most importantly the addition of a Bibliography. I wouldn't get too hung up on definitions of a crusade, academics in the area have largely given up on that on the basis you put two of them in a room and you get three opinions. As Dr G knows, I hate his choice of sources but that is horses for courses. Norfolkbigfish (talk) 08:54, 20 January 2025 (UTC)

Northern crusades

Why is the first swedish crusade to Finland regarded as fictional? There are historical records of swedes settling to the coastal areas of western Finland in the middle of the 12th century. 2001:999:404:AF73:2415:3308:C73E:23D4 (talk) 05:06, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Crusade of Varna

Mircea the Elder, lord of Wallachia appears as a leader of the crusade of Varna (1443-1444). But Mircea had died in 1418. Where does this information come from? Is it possible that it's rather his son, Vlad II Dracul? Stratocaster47 (talk) 06:21, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

Other crusades

@Dr. Grampinator: could you look for the Smyrniote crusades Bona crusade Braganza (talk) 13:06, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

The Italian Wars are to be checked too i think. Braganza (talk) 18:30, 31 March 2026 (UTC)