WARRIORS OF GOD: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade. By James Reston Jr. Doubleday, $27.50. CONSIDERING its origin, perhaps the word "crusade" should be pejorative. Honor and ...

Of all the great figures in the Middle Ages whose influence still resonates today, none has been so little written about as Yusuf Ibn Ayyub (meaning “son of Ayyub”). The world would come to know him ...

(RNS) — An 800-year-old puzzle about a set of 13th-century floor tiles has added to historians’ thinking about the relationship of Europeans and Arabs at the time of the Crusades. Amanda Luyster, ...

The Muslim Near East and the First Crusade -- Nur al-Din and the City of Damascus -- Nur al-Din and the rise of the Jihad -- Shirkuh, Saladin and the conquest of Egypt -- Saladin's succession in Egypt ...

This documentary explores the real history behind Saladin and Baldwin IV, the Leper King, beyond what was shown in Kingdom of Heaven. We follow their rivalry through key battles like Montgisard and ...

With 'Kingdom of Heaven' about to open, we offer a crash course on an extraordinary chapter of medieval history , The Crusades are the stuff of fairy tales. For God and king, armored knights wearing ...

The rhetoric of Osama bin Laden and other Islamic radicals, the current strife in the Middle East and a recent big-budget movie (Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven) have all helped bring about a renewed ...