Submission Date
7-21-2022
Document Type
Paper
Department
Modern Languages (French)
Faculty Mentor
Céline Brossillon
Project Description
In the medieval era of religious and political tumult that culminated with the Crusades, (mostly) Roman Catholic Western European citizens from all walks of life committed themselves to conquer Jerusalem and wrest control of historically Christian lands from the Muslim polities that claimed the region. The historical Kingdom of France was a major contributor to the Crusades, and as such, the feudal realms established in the Levant in the wake of the First Crusade were dominated by former French crusaders and citizenry. The geographic boundaries and demography of these Crusader States are reminiscent of French hegemony in the Middle East after the First World War. Thus, this project assesses the similarities, differences, continuity, and change between French control of the Outremer as a result of the First Crusade, and the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon as seen through the colonial experiences of both French administrators, crusaders, and chroniclers, and those of autochthonous nations.
Recommended Citation
Adelson, Michael, "The Levant: France’s Colonial Crucible" (2022). French Summer Fellows. 4.
https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/french_sum/4
Open Access
Available to all.
Included in
Christianity Commons, European History Commons, French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Medieval History Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Political History Commons, Social History Commons
Comments
Presented during the 24th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 22, 2022 at Ursinus College.