TY - JOUR
T1 - The Ecology of Crusading
T2 - Investigating the environmental impact of holy war and colonisation at the frontiers of medieval Europe
AU - Pluskowski, Aleksander
AU - Boas, Adrian J.
AU - Gerrard, Christopher
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - THE CRUSADES IN the Near East, eastern Baltic and Iberian Peninsula (in the context of the Reconquest/reconquista) were accompanied by processes of colonisation, characterising the expansion of medieval Europe and resulting in the creation of frontier societies at the fringes of Christendom. Colonisation was closely associated with - indeed, depended on - the exploitation of local environments, but this dimension is largely missing from studies of the crusading frontiers. This paper, the product of a European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop on 'The Ecology of Crusading' in 2009, surveys the potential for investigating the environmental impact of the crusading movement in all three frontier regions. It considers a diverse range of archaeological, palaeoenvironmental and written sources, with the aim of situating the societies created by the Crusades within the context of medieval colonisation and human ecological niche construction. It demonstrates that an abundant range of data exists for developing this largely neglected and disparately studied aspect of medieval frontier societies into a significant research programme.
AB - THE CRUSADES IN the Near East, eastern Baltic and Iberian Peninsula (in the context of the Reconquest/reconquista) were accompanied by processes of colonisation, characterising the expansion of medieval Europe and resulting in the creation of frontier societies at the fringes of Christendom. Colonisation was closely associated with - indeed, depended on - the exploitation of local environments, but this dimension is largely missing from studies of the crusading frontiers. This paper, the product of a European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop on 'The Ecology of Crusading' in 2009, surveys the potential for investigating the environmental impact of the crusading movement in all three frontier regions. It considers a diverse range of archaeological, palaeoenvironmental and written sources, with the aim of situating the societies created by the Crusades within the context of medieval colonisation and human ecological niche construction. It demonstrates that an abundant range of data exists for developing this largely neglected and disparately studied aspect of medieval frontier societies into a significant research programme.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=83455168991&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1179/174581711X13103897378564
DO - 10.1179/174581711X13103897378564
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:83455168991
SN - 0076-6097
VL - 55
SP - 192
EP - 225
JO - Medieval Archaeology
JF - Medieval Archaeology
IS - 1
ER -