Excerpt from Saint Louis, King of France, 1215-1270 It was the 25th of April - probably in 1215, but the exact year is uncertain - the festival of St. Mark in the joyous Easter season. The French peasantry had donned their holiday attire, for there was surcease of tillage in the land on that day, and sports and revelry in prospect for the afternoon. But in the early morning hours the bells boomed solemnly from village steeple and castle keep, summoning the faithful to join in the processions, with black-draped crosses in front, which wound slowly through the several parishes, while the chant of the Greater Litanies filled the air with bewailings and petitions for graces and temporal prosperity, but more especially for a mitigation of the misery of Christians in the Holy Land. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The story is based on a fictional disaster that occurred in Peru on July 20, 1714. A rope bridge woven by the Incas on the road between Lima and Cuzco collapsed when five people were crossing it. They all fell into the river from a great height and were killed. Brother Juniper, a Franciscan friar who was about to cross the bridge himself, witnessed the tragedy. Being deeply pious, he saw in what happened a possible divine providence. Did the dead deserve to have their lives cut short in such a terrible way? The monk tries to learn as much as he can about the five victims, finding and questioning people who knew them. As a result of years of investigation, he compiles a voluminous book with all the evidence he has gathered that the beginning and end of human life are part of God's plan... The Bridge of San Luis Rey won the 1928 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, and remains widely acclaimed as Wilder's most famous work. In 1998, the book was rated number 37 by the editorial board of the American Modern Library on the list of the 100 best 20th-century novels. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.

In 1213, Pope Innocent III issued his letter Vineam Domini, thundering against the enemies of Christendom—the "beasts of many kinds that are attempting to destroy the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth"—and announcing a General Council of the Latin Church as redress. The Fourth Lateran Council, which convened in 1215, was unprecedented in its scope and impact, and it called for the Fifth Crusade as what its participants hoped would be the final defense of Christendom. For the first time, a collection of extensively annotated and translated documents illustrates the transformation of the crusade movement. Crusade and Christendom explores the way in which the crusade was used to define and extend the intellectual, religious, and political boundaries of Latin Christendom. It also illustrates how the very concept of the crusade was shaped by the urge to define and reform communities of practice and belief within Latin Christendom and by Latin Christendom's relationship with other communities, including dissenting political powers and heretical groups, the Moors in Spain, the Mongols, and eastern Christians. The relationship of the crusade to reform and missionary movements is also explored, as is its impact on individual lives and devotion. The selection of documents and bibliography incorporates and brings to life recent developments in crusade scholarship concerning military logistics and travel in the medieval period, popular and elite participation, the role of women, liturgy and preaching, and the impact of the crusade on western society and its relationship with other cultures and religions. Intended for the undergraduate yet also invaluable for teachers and scholars, this book illustrates how the crusades became crucial for defining and promoting the very concept and boundaries of Latin Christendom. It provides translations of and commentaries on key original sources and up-to-date bibliographic materials.

Cover page -- Halftitle page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- CONTENTS -- ILLUSTRATIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- Maps -- Tables -- Plates -- INTRODUCTION -- chapter one THE SHAPING OF A PRINCE -- chapter two FATHER AND SON -- chapter three THE INVITATION -- chapter four KING OF ENGLAND? -- chapter five THE TIDE TURNS -- chapter six FIGHTING BACK -- chapter seven THE END OF THE ADVENTURE -- chapter eight AFTERMATH -- chapter nine KING OF FRANCE -- chapter ten LEGACY -- CHRONOLOGY -- A NOTE ON SOURCES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Originally published in 1878, this compilation of text and more than 400 illustrations assembled by the 19th-century bibliophile, librarian and amateur historian Paul Lacroix unfolds a living image of the past to let the reader glimpse the celebrated and the unknown - foot soldiers, explorers, crusaders, noble ladies and impenitent sinners - who peopled an era when the military placed itself at the service of the Church in its task of creating a new society and new institutions. Paul Lacroix was curator of the Imperial Library of the Paris Arsenal. Born in 1806, he was well known during his lifetime as the author of many popular historical works.