Description: This collection of studies by James M. Powell focuses on two related centers of attention. The first is the crusade campaigns undertaken by western Europeans in the eastern Mediterranean during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the reasons for them, and the manner in which they were organized and promoted. The second is the society, economy and Muslim population of the Kingdom of Sicily under Frederick II, himself a crusader.
Review Quotes: 'Researchers working in the fields covered by this collection will be ignoring Powell's work at their own risk. This collection will help to ensure that they do not.' The Catholic Historical Review 'The virtues of this collection are many, not least the author's admirable knowledge of the printed sources for southern Italy in the early thirteenth century.' English Historical Review