English Society and the Crusade 1216-1307 (review)

160 Reviews masses'), and generalizes on class conflict (as on p. 304: 'Confrontation between classes, which was a basic feature of life in the countryside, soon [date unspecified] reappeared in the towns.'). The ultimate in bathos is a comment on p. 359: 'Like gastronomy, the triumph of underwear was linked to theriseof the bourgeoisie'. There are no footnotes to help one pursue such a claim. To be fair, such lines do not illustrate what Le Goff does best, the interpenetration of material and imaginative culture in the Middle Ages. In the retrospective introduction to The Medieval Imagination (p. 13) Le Goff detaches himself from a 'reductionist' Marxist theory of base and superstructure, and says that in Medieval Civilization he described the medieval world view in terms of 'interlocking but causdly distinct spatiotemporal structures'. Whether Le Goff actudly avoided a reductionist tinge in 1964 is another matter. Since then he has become more concerned with imaginative than economic redities (a personal evolution not unlike that of Duby). Nonetheless, the book still stands as a stimulating introduction to anyone vaguely interested in how people both lived and thought in the Middle Ages, even if some assertions provoke thought rather than agreement. Julia Barrow's translation generally reads well, although the rhetorical flavour of Le Goff's language is never totally natural in an English medium. Handsomely illustrated and with many useful maps (as well as an updated bibliography), Medieval Civilization is still as readable and as provocative as when itfirstappeared. Constant M e w s Department of History Monash University Lloyd, S., English Society and the Crusade 1216-1307, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1988; pp. xiv, 329; R.R.P. $105.00. The subject of this monograph is that of a dissertation submitted by Lloyd for a D.Phil, at Oxford in 1983. The very large number of notes, and their frequent citation of variant versions of the same text, bespeak the thoroughness of a firstclass dissertation. One of the major appeals of the work is caused by the relative lack of prior scholarly interest regarding England and the Crusades of the thirteenth century. The main focus is on the response to the crusading appeds made by the Papacy during the years 1216-1307. The impact of the Crusades on English society is measured and explored in considerable detdl. The choice of these dates is explained by the fact that they cover the period from the Third Crusade beyond the last great English effort of 1270-1272. The period is rich in primary sources: royal and ecclesiastical records, and a considerable number of private letters, chronicles and other contemporary documents. The author often indicates areas in which further research is needed. Some of his findings may surprise; for example, the fact that papal appeals to England differed greatiy from Reviews 161 those sent to neighbouring kingdoms. The English, it would seem, could be enticed to participate in crusades to the Holy Land only, not agdnst the Albigensians or the rebellious German kings. Any student of crusading history will appreciate not only the completeness of the footnotes but dso the six exemplary appendices, each accompanied by its own references to all relevant primary sources: 1) Calendar of Letters to English correspondents from the Latin East and its Allies, 1216-1307; 2) Embassies sent to Henry III and Edward I from the Latin East and its dlies 1216-1307; 3.1) Letters sent directiy to English correspondents by Crusaders on campdgn; 3.2) Letters sent from or forwarded by the Papacy; 3.3) Letters from other western correspondents; 3.4) Letters from diplomatic representatives and intelligence gatherers; 4) The English crusading force of 1270-1272; 5) Notification of agreement between John de Neville and Philip Basset; 6) Some dynastic connections (simplified) of Henry III, Edward I, and the rulers of the Latin East. The extensive bibliography includes twenty-two primary source manuscripts, references to several hundred printed editions of primary sources, and a long list of secondary material, complemented by a list of unpublished dissertations consdted. Considering the excellent qualitites of this work, its lucid and elegant writing style, its exhaustive notes, its careful and objective judgement, one hesitates to mention any possible shortcomings. However...