JANUARY 2014
CONTENTS
Features
Turn to p38 to find out why there was more to Hugh Trevor-Roper than Hitler’s diaries
22 1914: Why war caught Britain cold Mark Bostridge explains how Britain was so distracted by domestic issues that the outbreak of war was a terrible surprise
28 “The war finished Britain off in many respects” Jeremy Paxman talks about his new TV series exploring the experiences of Britons in the First World War
32 Has history been too hard on Charles I? Tim Harris looks at the king’s reign and asks to what extent Charles’s downfall and the Civil War were his own fault
38 Beyond the Hitler diaries Sir John Elliott describes controversial historian Hugh Trevor-Roper whose reputation rose and fell over Hitler
41 Ten photographs that made history Leading historians select the most important photographs of all time
50 Crusading for God and Gold A combination of religious zeal and thirst for pro t drove the crusaders to the Holy Land, says Jonathan Phillips
54 Nelson Mandela, 1918 2013 Historians o er their verdicts on the life and legacy of South Africa’s iconic anti-apartheid campaigner
Every month
7 HISTORY NOW 7 The latest history news
10 Backgrounder: new nuclear 12 Lessons from history 13 Past notes
14 ANNIVERSARIES 18 LETTERS 21 MICHAEL WOOD’S VIEW 61 BOOKS Experts review new releases, plus
Linda Colley discusses her latest book
75 TV & RADIO 7 5 The pick of January’s programmes
77 Preview of the BBC’s First World War centenary coverage 78 History on lm: medical trials
80 OUT & ABOUT 80 History explorer: Miles Russell looks at the Roman high life 85 Ten things to do in January 86 Ye olde travel guide: Turin, 1887
91 MISCELLANY 91 Q&A and quiz
98 MY HISTORY HERO Princess Michael of Kent on YolandeofAragon
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Medieval crusaders
The looting of Jerusalem after its capture by Christians in 1099 during the First Crusade, shown in an illuminated manuscript from the 15th century
Crusading for God and Gold T
he Canons of the Council of Clermont, the official record of Pope Urban II’s pronouncement of the First Crusade, in November 1095, stated: “Whoever for devotion alone, not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the church of God can substitute this journey for all penance.” Compare this with the confident eyewitness assertions of Caffaro of Genoa as he described the division of spoils after the crusader capture of Caesarea in 1101:
The crusades were driven by religious zeal. But, as the writings of a crusader from the merchant city of Genoa reveal, pro t was also a powerful motive. Jonathan Phillips tells his story
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“They first set aside one-fifteenth of the booty in the camp for the galley crews. The remainder they divided among 8,000 men, and gave to each as his share 48 solidi in the coin of Poitou, and two pounds of peppercorns, except for the rewards due to the consuls, the sea-captains, and men of quality, which were substantial. They started their journey back to Genoa on the Eve of St James the Apostle [24 July]; and they arrived back in the month of October 1101 in triumph and covered in glory.”
Here, it seems, substantial profit, fame and participation in the holy war were not at odds. The substantial volume of evidence produced by clerical writers has, rightly, led historians to place religious motivation at the top of the range of factors that drove people to set out to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims in the late 1090s. Other reasons undoubtedly also played a part in drawing people to the cross, namely, the desire for fame; the possibility of financial advantage – although crusading was an astoundingly expensive business; the acquisition of land (most crusaders returned home, however); and patronage.
That said, one important group of early crusaders has tended to receive a very bad press: the reputation of the Italian crusaders is usually one of money-grabbing merchants. Eugene Byrne, an eminent historian of Genoa writing in the 1920s, stated: “It would almost seem to them… [that] the crusade was a matter of indifference except as it affected their material prosperity.”
The Venetians’ prominent part in the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade (1204), coupled with the Italians’ persistent disdain for embargoes on trading in materials of war with Muslims during (especially) the 13th century, produced the simplistic stereotype represented by Byrne above.
The writings of Caffaro of Genoa, however, offer us a chance to reassess this for the early decades of the 12th century, not least because he was an eyewitness and a layman. Unlike
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54 Was Nelson Mandela the greatest leader of the 20th century?
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28 “The First World War is at the point now where it has gone from family memory into history”
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