Part 01- The First Crusade
Mr. Michael Davies begins his discussion of the Crusades with an in-depth treatment of the causes of the First Crusade, the different and often conflicting groups who took part in it, and the surprising, providential victory that was won under very difficult circumstances.
Part 02 -The Second Through Eighth Crusades
There were eight "official" Crusades in the Middle Ages. Mr. Michael Davies goes into detail on the remaining seven: the inconclusive second; hopeful but ultimately problematic third; disastrous fourth, which involved the excommunication of the crusading army and sack of Constantinople; and the basically unsuccessful fifth through eighth enterprises. One figure who stands out in the later Crusades is, of course, St. Louis IX of France.
Part 03 - The Military Orders
One of the most extraordinary developments of the Crusading Movement, described here by Mr. Michael Davies, was the creation of the Crusading Orders: the Knights of the Temple and of the Hospital, the Teutonic Knights, and the many similar organizations coming out of Spain. The reasons for their formation, their joint spiritual, charitable, and military character, and their achievements and problems are treated.
Part 04- The Catharist Crusade
Pope Innocent III was convinced that Crusades had to be called against other enemies of the Faith than the Moslems. The most dangerous enemies of Catholicism in the early 1200's were the Catharists, a Manichean Gnostic sect powerful in southern France and in Italy. These heretics enjoyed political support from the Counts of Toulouse and other noblemen (and noblewomen). Mr. Michael Davies shows that the Crusade against the Catharists in the 1200's ultimately involved much of the flower of French soldiery, including the King of France himself. Political as well as religious motivation was also, unfortunately, involved in the justifiable suppression of the Catharists.
Part 05- The Siege of Malta
The Knights of the Hospital ultimately were forced by the Ottoman Turkish advance to move to Malta. It is from this move that their present name, the Knights of Malta, arises. The Knights, in one of the most glorious pages of their history, fought off a horrific Ottoman siege in the 1500's. Mr. Michael Davies, who personally came to know Malta while being stationed there as a soldier in the British Army, describes the siege with great clarity and enthusiasm.
These talks are taken from: Crusading, the Crusader & the Christian Order - 2002 VonHildebrand Institute