ABSTRACT
It is a common cliché to imagine academia as an ivory tower, segregated from the rest of society, preoccupied with its own distinct concerns. Yet, academics and non-academics alike are equally fascinated with the crusades in the early twenty-first century. Most obviously, the crusades remain present in national and global politics. On the one hand, white supremacists in the U.S.A. and Europe identify with crusaders. Protesters in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, carried Deus Vult crosses. 1 Roughly a year later, German activists at an AfD demonstration in Rostock waved a Templar flag. 2 On the other hand, Islamist groups such as IS and al-Qaeda also use the idea of ongoing Western crusading to motivate their followers. 3 Additionally, the crusades remain widespread in general pop culture. The video game Crusaders of Light launched in spring 2018, joining popular favourites such as Assassin’s Creed, Crusader Kings and Stronghold: Crusader. In December 2017, the TV series Knightfall premiered on the History Channel; it was renewed in August 2018. 4 Memes using the crusades continue to proliferate and be highly popular; for example, two Reddit forums, r/CrusadeMemes and r/DankCrusadeMemes, have over 17,000 and 14,000 subscribers, respectively. 5 Teachers and scholars, too, are focused on the crusades, reflecting the ubiquity of the crusades in political discourse and pop culture. School teachers, journalists and academics have come together in various combinations to discuss the study, teaching and modern invocation of the crusades. 6 Of course, countless scholarly publications on the medieval crusades also continue to stream forth.
