This is perhaps rather late in this discussion, but I have been
fascinated for some time by a reference in M.T. Clanchy's England
and its Rulers 1066-1272, p. 203, where he is describing the
Plantagenet forces combatting those of Louis of France, who had
'invaded' England claiming the throne:
"The royalist forces wore the white cross of crusaders, they were
absolved of their sins before going into battle, and recruits were
described as converts. The precedent for launching a crusade
against fellow Christians had been established ... by Innocent III when
he authorized the Albigensian Crusade ... That was a frightening
precedent, as a crusade meant that the enemy were considered
infidels and were therefore given no quarter. Henry III's troops were
to show that this is what they too meant by a crusade when they
sacked Lincoln and committed other atrocities in 1217."
Clanchy does not footnote this reference, and I have always been
curious as to how it reflects normal or common practice. Does
anyone know? It would also appear that Louis IX imposed the taking
of the cross on recalcitrant nobles as rather more of a political than a
religious "penance". Again, does anyone know if this was common
practice?
Jim Bugslag
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