September 12, 2003
Crusades Anyone?
I'm in a small reading group and we've decided to read books about things that we aren't familiar with. We decided to start with early works. So, to get us ready, we first read Lewis' Experiment in Criticism. Then, we realized that we were lacking in the older classics. So, we read Beowulf and Oedipus Rex. We then went back to a literary criticism book called The Art of Thinking by Ernest Dimnet- that was quite thought provoking. I'm still not sure that I understood it all. Now we are on to a little bit "lighter" reading. We have started a book called The Joinville Cronicles. It is an eye-witness account of the 4th Crusade. I don't really know much about any of the crusades- I don't know why, but they weren't really included in any of my history classes in high school or college. My teacher's told me that there were crusades and all about King Richard and King John and the connection with the Magna Carta- but I never really learned anything specific about the crusades in and of themselves. Maybe it is because they are so catholic oriented. Do Catholics know a lot about the crusades? Was my education just lacking at this point- or is this across the board? Anyway- The Joinville Cronicles book is really good. We got our books at Barnesandnoble.com. I'm only about 1/2 way through the first part- but it is really interesting and easy to read so far.
Posted by Lisa Huntington at September 12, 2003 11:01 PM | TrackBackI was taught a little about the Crusades in elementary, junior high, high school, and college in my history classes. I doubt that much of what I was taught is in the textbooks anymore.
Posted by: SonofThunder at September 15, 2003 09:31 AMI was taught pretty extensively about the Crusades in high school. I don't think it's primarily a Catholic education thing. I was at a Christian school though. I also remember spending a good amount of time on it in college history classes. But that doesn't necessarily mean I could tell anyone much about it now :)
Posted by: hollie at September 15, 2003 12:22 PMI was supposed to read that book in high school. I faked the paper instead.
Posted by: Micah at September 15, 2003 04:23 PMSounds interesting, I wish I had the time.
Posted by: svenska at September 16, 2003 11:06 AM