Events - Orbis2fest, Yale University - 2002

File — Box: 1

Staff Only

Scope and Contents note

The total Jonathan Riley-Smith Crusades collection consists of close to 1,000 books and other publications, some 5,810 slides, 200 photographic prints, thousands of digital images, 9 microfilms, 7 audio cassette recordings, and about one linear foot of personal papers. The books have been separated and can be found by searching Kresge Library's catalog.

The Professional and Personal Files contain Jonathan Riley-Smith's personal papers, documenting selected aspects of his career. Some conference presentations, article and book drafts are included and additional ones can be found in the digital media. Copies of manuscripts and books are found in photocopies, microfilm, and digital formats.

Particularly noteworthy are 960 photographic slides that were taken by Riley-Smith himself during his travels through the Mediterranean world, ranging from 1962 to 2008. They document religious and historical sites but also illustrate Riley-Smith’s urban exploration of lesser known places and the lives of ordinary people. The collection is particularly strong for the study of crusade orders, trade, and commerce in the Middle East, especially through medieval architecture and art. Archaeological sites are also documented. Countries covered include Turkey, Israel/Palestine, Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon.

Dates

1955 - 2016

Access and Use note

The Jonathan Riley-Smith Crusades collection is open for research.

Copyright

Copyright of Jonathan Riley-Smith's personal, unpublished papers held by Oakland University. The collection includes materials produced by outside parties for which copyrights have not been transferred to Oakland University.

Biographical note

Jonathan Riley-Smith (1938-2016) was the foremost scholar of the Crusades. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College Cambridge. He received a BA (1960), MA (1964), PhD (1964) and LittD (2001) from Cambridge. His first lecturing post was at the University of St Andrews (1964-72). He was then director of studies in history at Queens’ College, Cambridge (1972-78), professor of history at Royal Holloway, University of London (1978-94) before returning to Cambridge as the Dixie professor of ecclesiastical history, at Emmanuel College (1994-2005).

His research focused especially on the definition of the crusade, the crusaders’ motives, and the establishment and rule of Europeans in the Holy Land. He was an authority on the history of the Military Orders, especially the Knights of Saint John. He published many books, both academic monographs and works of general interest. His 1977 book, 'What were the Crusades?' has proved very influential and has been through four editions. He was also the editor of The Atlas of the Crusades (1991) and The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (1995). He was a co-founder (1980), and later president (1987-1995), of the Society for the History of the Crusades and the Latin East and supervised over 30 doctoral students. He was married to Louise Field and had three children.

Extent

From the Collection: 8 Linear Feet (estimated extent, based on number of shippping boxes upon arrival = 45 lin. ft (including books). 8 lin. ft for manuscript portion.)