Armies of the Crusaders, 1096–1291

Gabriele Esposito provides a detailed coverage of the elite Military Orders, whose members combined the fervor of a religious brotherhood with elite military professionalism.The Crusades were among the most astonishing historical events that took place during the Middle Ages. After centuries of relative isolation following the fall of the Roman Empire, Western Europe looked again towards the Middle East in search of lands to conquer. Incited by the Church to believe that the Holy Land must be ‘l