22nd July 2025
Paperback
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Description
A vivid new history of the criminal underworld in the medieval Holy Land
The religious wars of the crusades are renowned for their military engagements. But the period was witness to brutality beyond the battlefield. More so than any other medieval war zone, the Holy Land was rife with unprecedented levels of criminality and violence.
In the first history of its kind, Steve Tibble explores the criminal underbelly of the crusades. From gangsters and bandits to muggers and pirates, Tibble presents extraordinary evidence of an illicit underworld. He shows how the real problem in the region stemmed not from religion but from young men. Dislocated, disinhibited, and present in disturbingly large numbers, they were the propellant that stoked two centuries of unceasing warfare and shocking levels of criminality.
Crusader Criminals charts the downward spiral of desensitisation that grew out of the horrors of incessant warfare—and in doing so uncovers some of the most surprising stories of the time.
Critic Reviews
“[Tibble’s] main argument is striking and original.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times
“This is the first [book] to explore the Crusades’ criminal underbelly. . . . A lively new twist.”—Jack Watkins, Country Life
“Tibble’s meticulous narrative details a cast of bootleggers and kidnappers, gamblers and muggers.”—Michael Prodger, New Statesman
“Steve does a great job of making scholarship readable. It is difficult to write about the crusades without fully glorifying or fully villainising people . . . but he has a balanced way of looking at complex structures and individuals’ reasons for the crusades.”—The Medievals podcast
Included in The Medievals podcast “Best Books of 2024”
“In a bravura account of the diffuse criminal mayhem surrounding the crusades, Steve Tibble’s widely researched, lively, detailed and accessible new study adds a fresh sociological dimension to insights on the chronic civilian disruption produced by the wars of the cross.”—Christopher Tyerman, author of God’s War
“This is a fascinating survey of knights failing—often spectacularly—to live up their crusading ideals in the Holy Land (and beyond), and instead resorting to illicit behaviour. . . . Tibble, with his deep knowledge of the primary sources, covers these areas both authoritatively and accessibly, adopting an engaging style that holds the reader’s attention throughout this wholly absorbing book, which will both shock and entertain in equal turn.”—Sean McGlynn, author of By Sword and Fire
“A dark and gripping story of how many of the men signed with the cross as crusaders in the Middle Ages were at once holy warriors and hardened criminals. Tibble’s history is a Hogarthian cavalcade of the murderers, thieves, pirates, rogues, and highwaymen who fought for Christ in the medieval Middle East. Entertaining and enlightening about a dangerous past with unexpected lessons for the present.”—Mark Gregory Pegg, author of Beatrice’s Last Smile
About the Author
Steve Tibble is honorary research associate at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of Monarchy and Lordships in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, The Crusader Armies, The Crusader Strategy, and Templars: The Knights Who Made Britain.
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22nd July 2025
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