The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders (Arkana S.)

Rating:
Summary: All the Orders in One Little Book
Review: A vast amount of knowledge is covered on the Christian Orders of fighting monks. Written concisely this is not a light read by any means. Some of the sentences were worded awkwardly causing me to refer to other sources, to clear up confusion.

I also found the first maps lacking. Even though the author is repeating from other sources, it is still of interest to the reader, to be able to locate the places. The later maps were better, but still missing some locations mentioned.

Rating:
Summary: Inside The Medieval Mind.
Review: Much can be said for this fine piece of historical writing. First, the book covers in detail a subject that is generally dealt with as a curiousity at best. The author does justice to the motives, organization, methods and mentality of those organizations that made up the military orders. As has been pointed out, the writing can be a bit dense, but this I attribute to a British author's assumption that his readers will be well educated in the general history of the period; so too bad us, not too bad him.
Aside from the numerous facts and anecdotes which illuminate the book, I found the work of particular interest to one who struggles to understand the medieval mind. We moderns can only scratch our collective heads when confronted with a concept like "monks of war". However, once the mind is opened to the reality of the period, and the mindset of an age of faith, much that has been lost becomes understandable again.
Thus, the greatest value of this book is that it takes the reader on a journy of discovery to a world that belonges to each of us. The Crusades, La Reconquista and numerous other episodes can now be studied in their true light.
This is a book well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: solid scholarly work by Seward
Review: Seward has written a wonderful and readable book here. It is sometimes a bit choppy going from minute to general detail, but the remains of history unfortunately make this inevitable. You can have a first hand recountin of one day and then hearsay about the next. Seward's biggest accomplishment in this book, I feel, is its inclusiveness. Most books on the Crusades cover only Palestine and the later years of the Hospitallers of St. John. This book covers all but the ALbigensian Crusade centered in Languedoc, France. He has major sections devoted to not just the Templars and Hospitallers, but also the Teutonic Order and the various orders that took part in the Reconquista in Spain. This book is a complete success in showing the many aspects nad directions of crusading and is much more balanced than most books on the Crusades, showing the positive and negative influences the Crusades and crusaders had.

Rating:
Summary: Monks of War: an honest and objective book
Review: There are different types of history book. There are those written for the casual person, and those written for people who are really into the topic. This book is NOT for people who are casually interested in knights, and the crusades, etc. I found the book to be dry, dull and boring. in my mind it is a list of names, dates, and events scrubbed clean of anything that could be "fun" to read. If you are like me, and casually interested in the crusades and the holy orders, then skip this book, it is not written for us. But if you are a person who is really into the topic, then i really think you would like this book because it is well researched, comprehensive, and really covers everything a person into the topic would want to know. So whether or not you will enjoy this book depends on how you feel about the crusades.

Rating:
Summary: Great work on the Holy Military Orders!
Review: This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Crusades, medieval military/church history, or the military orders themselves! A little dry at times, but definitely worth the read. Strongly recommend!

Rating:
Summary: Monks of War: an honest and objective book
Review: This book is well written and presents an objective view of the history of the military religious orders. Not only a work of history, it does well anthropologically in elucidating the mindset behind the military monk and the object of his work. Furthermore, it explains what many historians neglect or consider only quickly, viz. the military religious orders of Spain and their role the the Crusades. The history of the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Templar (including the circumstances surrounding their demise) are treated well.

The author pays particular attention to the sieges of Rhodes and Malta when treating of the Sovereign Military Order of St. John the Baptist (the Order of the Knights of Malta). This account is no less than phenomenal. The Knights of Malta facing insane, overwhelming, and what should be impossible odds, and overcoming them--habitually--would strain any movie-goer's ability to suspend disbelief; yet these events happened and are accurately illustrated.

If one is considering a well researched overview of the history of the major religious military orders, then I highly recommend this book, especially for the student of history. One should find it academic and enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Readabe
Review: This scholarly and well-documented from original sources book is written in impeccable English by a dignified scholar.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Overview
Review: This well written book is intended as a concise introduction to an interesting and important topic, the military orders of the Middle Ages. Seward covers the founding of the major orders, their organization, and major episodes of their history. To do real justice to this topic would be an immense task as the story covers centuries of European history. Seward elected to produce an overview giving an outline of their history and highlighting some of the more picturesque episodes. This book, consequently, sometimes has a superficial quality. I would have liked, for example, a better description of the role of the Templars in Medieval commerce and banking.
Seward shows that the military orders were born in the Crusading zeal that infected Medieval Europe and were founded initially to help and safeguard pilgrims to the Holy Land. They promptly became a unique Medieval hybrid, combining Cistercian monasticism and Chivalric knightly values. Rapidly gaining influence in the Crusader Kingdoms and considerable wealth in Europe, the military orders were significant actors in the complicated politics of the Eastern Mediterrenean. Similar orders developed on other important frontiers between Christian Europe and non-Christian polities, notably in Spain and the eastern Baltic littoral. In Spain, the military orders were the shock troops of the Reconquista. In the Baltic, the Teutonic Knights led the conquest and Christianization of Prussia and what is now a good part of the Baltic states.
Seward shows well how the military orders become an integral component of religous and political life in Europe. A consistent theme is that the growth in importance of the orders was accompanied by involvement in the complex dynastic, political, and religous struggles of Medieval Europe and the Crusader States. The decline of the military orders in the Early Modern period was a result of the increasing power of European monarchies and declining need for their essential mission, the military struggle against non-Christians. The military orders of Iberia were essentially absorbed by the Church and monarchies, the great Templar order was destroyed by the expanding power of the French monarchy, and the Hospitallers were marginalized by their expulsion from the Eastern Mediterrenean and the ultimate success of European struggle against the Ottoman empire. Some of the orders survive today as charitable institutions associated with the remains of the European nobility.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Overview
Review: This well written book is intended as a concise introduction to an interesting and important topic, the military orders of the Middle Ages. Seward covers the founding of the major orders, their organization, and major episodes of their history. To do real justice to this topic would be an immense task as the story covers centuries of European history. Seward elected to produce an overview giving an outline of their history and highlighting some of the more picturesque episodes. This book, consequently, sometimes has a superficial quality. I would have liked, for example, a better description of the role of the Templars in Medieval commerce and banking.
Seward shows that the military orders were born in the Crusading zeal that infected Medieval Europe and were founded initially to help and safeguard pilgrims to the Holy Land. They promptly became a unique Medieval hybrid, combining Cistercian monasticism and Chivalric knightly values. Rapidly gaining influence in the Crusader Kingdoms and considerable wealth in Europe, the military orders were significant actors in the complicated politics of the Eastern Mediterrenean. Similar orders developed on other important frontiers between Christian Europe and non-Christian polities, notably in Spain and the eastern Baltic littoral. In Spain, the military orders were the shock troops of the Reconquista. In the Baltic, the Teutonic Knights led the conquest and Christianization of Prussia and what is now a good part of the Baltic states.
Seward shows well how the military orders become an integral component of religous and political life in Europe. A consistent theme is that the growth in importance of the orders was accompanied by involvement in the complex dynastic, political, and religous struggles of Medieval Europe and the Crusader States. The decline of the military orders in the Early Modern period was a result of the increasing power of European monarchies and declining need for their essential mission, the military struggle against non-Christians. The military orders of Iberia were essentially absorbed by the Church and monarchies, the great Templar order was destroyed by the expanding power of the French monarchy, and the Hospitallers were marginalized by their expulsion from the Eastern Mediterrenean and the ultimate success of European struggle against the Ottoman empire. Some of the orders survive today as charitable institutions associated with the remains of the European nobility.

Rating:
Summary: The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders
Review: We Americans don't really stray far from Western Europe in our knowledge of history. But from its very beginnings, Islam presented a clear and palpable threat to the West. Spain had already succumbed, and France was threatened by the Moors. Most shocking, the Holy Land was occupied by Turks. (Think of the response if we were to occupy Mecca and Medina!)

Europe responded by the Crusades, about which we know a little, and with the military monastic orders such as the Knights Templar and Knights of St John Hospitaller, about whom we know next to nothing. These were men who lived a monastic (or at least semi-monastic) life and who acted as Christendom's shock troops in the war against the Saracen.

The Crusader kingdoms of the Middle East finally fell after 300 years of constant strife, but the idea caught on in Spain in the drive to expel the Moors and in Prussia against the surrounding Northern Slav Pagans.

Perhaps the most stirring tale Seward tells is of the strife between the Knights of St John, having been expelled by the Turks from Rhodes, recovering brilliantly in the siege of Malta in 1565. After demolishing a force of 30,000 with only 6,000 men, the Knights ever after became known as the Knights of Malta.

Other reviewers have complained that this is a difficult book. It has to be: Almost a thousand years are covered, not to mention a score of countries. Think of it as a very dense appetizer to lead you further into what is surely one of the most exciting epochs of our history.