Some interested young Catholic men have ask for suggestions about good books on the Crusades and/or knights.


This seemed the place to come for suggestions - any would be much appreciated!

God bless you all. 

There's insightful information about both subjects in Fr. Antony Guggenberger's A General History of the Christian Era: Vol. I The Papacy and The Empire, though as the title suggests, it is not a focused on either knights or the Crusades. In fact, it is a Catholic history textbook from 1900 written for high school students and adults. This review of it may be of use to you:

Book Review of A General History of the Christian Era: Vol. I The Papacy and The Empire by Fr. Antony Guggenberger, S.J.

It can be found on archive.org. But if you want a physical copy, you can buy it from a publisher who had it reprinted on lulu.com.

None of the men on here had any books of the knight/Crusades theme that inspired them - urged them to chivalry and doing great things for God?

(Thank you, St. Louis IX!  Will check that out.) 

You're welcome Merry!

I also recommend the Song of Roland, the great chivalric epic of the Middle Ages. It celebrates the virtues of knighthood and was probably written during the Crusades, though it is set around the time of Charlemagne. That book has also been reviewed on the website I linked. There's also this video on YT about it, which I found helpful:

Some interested young Catholic men have ask for suggestions about good books on the Crusades and/or knights.


This seemed the place to come for suggestions - any would be much appreciated!

God bless you all. 

I am biased, but my series of articles on the Crusades has been well received. Still two more to be published but check out jeb smith on historymedieval.com. 

Thank you all for these responses.  I gathered them in one email and sent it to the young man who made the inquiry.

May God bless your charity.