In Laudem Hierosolymitani

Book excerpt: In the thirty-five years since B.Z. Kedar published the first of his many studies on the crusades, he has become a leading historian of this field, and of medieval and Middle Eastern history more broadly. His work has been groundbreaking, uncovering new evidence and developing new research tools and methods of analysis with which to study the life of Latins and non-Latins in both the medieval West and the Frankish East. From the Israeli perspective, Kedar's work forms a important part of the historical and cultural heritage of the country. This volume presents 31 essays written by eminent medievalists in his honour. They reflect his methods and diversity of interest. The collection, outstanding in both quality and range of topics, covers the Latin East and relations between West and East in the time of the crusades. The individual essays deal with the history, archaeology and art of the Holy Land, the crusades and the military orders, Islam, historiography, Mediterranean commerce, medieval ideas and literature, and the Jews Given Benjamin Kedar's close involvement with the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East and his years as its President, and his work to establish the journal Crusades, it is fitting that this volume should appear as the first in a series of Subsidia to the journal. For information about the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, see the society's website: www.sscle.org.