Laywomen and the Crusade in England, 1150-1300 by Gordon M. Reynolds surveys the myriad ways laywomen in England experienced holy war. While casting his net widely in terms of activity, Reynolds deliberately narrows the geographical and chronological parameters of his study, focusing on England in the later phases of the crusade when the country's involvement peaked. His primary goal is to challenge past historiography centered on medieval literary tropes depicting women as opposed to crusading, fearing for the lives of potential crusaders and concerned about their own wellbeing in the absence of family. Such women are often presented as attempting to dissuade the men in their lives from undertaking what they perceived to be a dangerous journey. These appearances of women in crusade narratives, albeit isolated, have contributed to an overall perception of women as harboring a negative view of crusading and the crusades generally during the Middle Ages. The logical conclusion that follows is that women, unlike their male counterparts, were resistant to the appeal of holy war, hence participating minimally in the wider movement that swept across medieval Europe from the eleventh century on.
In providing an alternative narrative of women's experience of holy war, Reynolds contributes to the recent wave of scholarship that has broadened the purview of crusade studies. No longer focused solely on armed expeditions, military actors, and the main theaters of conflict, such studies have proven more inclusive and accurate, capturing the extent to which notions of holy war permeated medieval society. By framing the crusades as a social movement, Reynolds allows for a much-needed consideration of its implications beyond military activity and sheds light on the contributions of a wider range of participants. In the particular case highlighted here, those participants were laywomen. Although they remain relatively absent from general histories of the crusades and holy war, as Reynolds demonstrates here, their actions were essential for the success of individual crusaders and their support key to sustaining the movement over time. Equally important is his discussion of the extent to which crusade culture influenced and informed the actions of individuals across the socio-economic spectrum of medieval society, including women.
The Introduction includes a discussion of how Reynolds defines the terms “crusade" and "holy war," prerequisite for any discussion of this historiographically contentious topic. His geographical focus aligns most closely with that described as "Traditionalist," concerned primarily with holy war targeting Jerusalem and its environs. As previously stated, his chronological parameters align with the period of the most intense English involvement in such endeavors, spanning from the mid-twelfth to the end of the thirteenth century. Limiting the focus of the study to England during the later period facilitates a deeper dive into the documents. This period is also notable for a general increase in documentary production, providing a richer corpus of charters and other types of written evidence than previous periods. Although his focus is on laywomen generally, he acknowledges the prominence of elite women in his discussion, which is understandable given the fact that they were not only more likely to possess the means necessary to support individual crusaders and contribute to crusading culture, but are more prominent in the sources. The sources themselves, as well as his methodology, are also discussed in the Introduction. Reynolds acknowledges their limitations given his intended focus as well as the challenges they pose. He casts an admirably wide net, finding indications of women's involvement in unlikely sources or teasing out possible connection from documents that imply, but don't necessarily implicate, women. His investigation includes artistic depictions, papal decrees, cartularies, narrative accounts, chancery records, court rolls, artefacts and architecture, including burials. In spite of the range of the evidence employed, many of his sources remain frustratingly opaque. As a result, he is cautious, and rightfully so, in positing conclusions, and clearly identifies ideas consigned to remain speculative given the absence of information or elaboration. As he notes, there are frustratingly few instances of women appearing in the narrative accounts, by far the most detailed sources, as vocal supporters of the crusades, exhorting men to undertake the journey (Adela of Blois excepted). As an alternative, Reynolds effectively mines the extant sources for "hints" and "indications" of support (84-5), employing what he refers to as "informed speculation" (121). Perhaps most effective in terms of shedding light on the activities of such elusive figures is his determination to challenge the tendency among modern historians to assess "influence" or "indirect action" as somehow less impactful, particularly when the agent was female. As Reynolds rightfully argues, such an approach is more reflective of modern views of agency than medieval and underscore the need to assess how these women's contributions were viewed by their contemporaries in order to accurately assess their impact. (12).
In Part I, Reynolds further develops the idea of a "crusade culture" that permeated society, arguing for an "immersive world" of holy war. He challenges the tendency to privilege military exploits and view actions associated with crusading as compartmentalized, representing a distinct period within the life cycle of an individual bookended by departure and return (or death). On the contrary, he demonstrates the extent to which the notion of crusading, centered around the conquest and control of the holy land, pervaded society, as embodied in the artistic and architectural landscape which reinforced constant association with crusading ideals. He then turns to the evolution of the movement over time, focusing on deliberate attempts by the papacy to widen the scope of participation beyond the small percentage of potential individual military actors. Papal policy regarding holy war increasingly shifted its focus to other demographics in medieval society, finding ways to secure funding for expeditions to the holy land and sustain the Latin Christians present in the region after the First Crusade. Ideas projected from the papacy and the pulpit were intended to expand the scope of the crusading movement and to appeal to wider audience, including women. Through a meticulous investigation of papal pronouncements, sermons and related writings, Reynolds traces the shift in the ecclesiastical stance of the church over the course of thirteenth century, demonstrating the frequency with which direct appeals to women appear and reflecting a more favorable representations of women's involvement in crusading generally.
Given the nature of the sources that comprised much of the focus of Part I, the women themselves are absent from the narrative for considerable stretches of time. The actual impact of papal pronouncements on women and their response can only be inferred. Although clearly intended targets of such policies, the extent to which women responded to such efforts remains consigned to speculation. As he shifts his focus from propaganda to support, Reynolds is able to provide more examples of women's direct involvement in the crusades and support for crusade culture. While the charters that comprise the focus of much of this discussion directly implicate women, they are not without challenges. Because they provide only a snapshot of a moment in time, such documents seldom included the discussions that would have preceded an individual's decision to take up the cross or even mention of the individuals who may have been involved in the decision-making process. Women appear briefly in clauses embedded in the detailed, complex transactions that documented preparations in advance of a crusader's departure. Ascertaining the exact nature of their role in this respect remains impossible. However, Reynolds argues that his read of the evidence represents a departure from traditional historical depictions of women who "remained behind" in western Europe as resentful, forced to deal with the fiscal implications of the absence of male family members. His alternative read of the sources instead depicts the women who appear in the charters as willing sponsors of these expeditions and voices of encouragement for the men who did participate.
In the final section of the book, Reynolds turn to the notion of "memory," mining an impressive range of charters across time and space in order to identify instances of women's involvement as well as their endorsement of crusades more generally. To that end, he complements recent works that emphasize the family dimension of crusading and connections across generations. Although not active participants in armed expeditions, women played a vital role in commemorating and celebrating those who did. He effectively argues for the wide appeal of holy war in medieval Europe, which was by no means confined to the small percentage of individuals who travelled to the Holy Land. As Reynolds makes clear in this section, women were aware of the extent to which participation in the crusades could translate into social and religious capital. In commemorating the family members who did actively participate, women could draw attention to their association with the movement, often as patrons or sponsors. Recent works have demonstrated various ways women's lives were impacted by absent husbands. Reynolds contributes to that discussion, providing additional examples from the English evidence. Women who remained behind faced extended periods of uncertainty regarding the fate of absent family members. Although forced to draw inferences from the silence of the sources, Reynolds discusses the emotional toll that such absences would have taken, providing yet another opportunity to redefine how we understand participation in holy war.
The appendices included provide a very useful database of sources that can be mined for future studies. As Reynolds acknowledges, due to its regional focus, his work is not intended to be definitive, but to open areas for further investigations. As his focus in this study was primarily limited to printed sources, adding archival evidence to the mix would add an additional dimension to future studies.
While the argument that women acted in support of crusaders and crusading is by no means groundbreaking, given recent studies with similar aims, challenging the medieval perception of those actions and the extent to which they were valued by society is where Reynolds makes a unique intervention into the scholarship. By reconfiguring what it meant to be on the "periphery" of the crusades, Reynolds makes a strong case for the existence of a culture of holy war that permeated medieval society. He effectively de-centers the crusades, both geographically and methodologically, demonstrating the extent to which support from the "home front" was integral to the success of the endeavor and how the momentum for holy war was sustained across centuries. As this study makes clear, crusading culture pervaded daily life in the Middle Ages, from alms boxes to artistic renderings. References to the crusades were not restricted to an elite audience of armed combatants, but were indelibly woven into the fabric of medieval society. As Reynolds so aptly demonstrates, individual crusaders did not act in isolation but should be viewed as protagonists of a wider story, surrounded by a cast of characters, particularly women, whose efforts were equally necessary for the success of any crusade performance.