Bearers of the Cross: Material Religion in the Crusading World, 1095-c.1300

In this Leadership Fellows project, Dr William Purkis will conduct the first full study of the lived, material religion of crusaders: medieval men and women who travelled thousands of miles from their homes to fight on the peripheries of Christendom against groups and individuals they believed to be infidels. Through a wide-ranging interdisciplinary analysis of the texts, art, architecture and material culture associated with crusader belief, he will reconstruct the devotional worlds that those who 'took the cross' inhabited, creating new knowledge and understanding of the ritual practices crusaders observed, the religious objects and images they treasured, and the sacred spaces they shaped and were shaped by. In so doing, he will demonstrate that the devotional ideas and priorities of crusaders were in fact shared by their co-religionists across the medieval Latin Christian world. Accordingly, his research will show that far from being an undertaking that was peripheral to the devotional concerns of most medieval Catholics, the experience and consequences of religious warfare for custody of the Holy Land and other sacralised landscapes touched the lives of Latin Christians across medieval Europe. Indeed, the successes and failures of crusading armies in the East and elsewhere were believed to be intrinsically linked with the religious conduct of Christians in the West, and Dr Purkis's project will therefore examine how those on the 'home front' were expected to participate in the crusaders' war effort through prayers, processions and other penitential activities. The implications of this spiritual mobilization of Christian societies around the crusading world for those who were deemed to be religious 'others', such as Jews, Muslims and heretics, will also be explored. The principal output of the project will be a monograph, to be published by Yale University Press.

Dr Purkis's research into the materiality of crusader belief will involve collaboration with a post-doctoral research assistant (RA) and a mutually-beneficial partnership with one of the great hidden heritage treasures of London: the Museum of the Order of St John in Clerkenwell (MOSJ). With a direct connection to a religious order founded in Jerusalem in the early twelfth century to care for sick and impoverished pilgrims, MOSJ has an important but little-known collection of crusader material culture, numbering c.1,000 items. The project team will study and raise awareness of this collection through the development of an open access database for use by scholars, MOSJ staff, volunteers and visitors, heritage professionals and a wider public. Other means of knowledge exchange will include a series of public lectures to be hosted by MOSJ, the maintenance of a project Twitter feed, and the co-organisation of a workshop on best practice in collaborations between academics and heritage professionals.

During the Fellowship Dr Purkis will have significant opportunities to develop as an international research leader. He will assemble an interdisciplinary network of scholars from around the world with shared methodological interests in the study of medieval material religion. By organising a two-day workshop and panel sessions at major international conferences and seminars, Dr Purkis will bolster his authority and recognition as a leading figure in this emerging field, and the network's activities will lead to collaborative publications and create pathways to future research partnerships. Further, through his mentoring of the RA and younger scholars associated with the network, Dr Purkis will nurture the careers of early career academics from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. Dr Purkis's experience of collaboration and knowledge exchange with MOSJ will also create a platform for him to develop as a public intellectual.

The research outcomes will benefit three key user-groups beyond the academy: (i) Museum of the Order of St John (MOSJ) staff, volunteers and visitors; (ii) a broader audience of heritage professionals; and (iii) a wider public with interests in the historical intersections between violence and belief.

The research will have a direct impact on the knowledge base and working practices of MOSJ staff and volunteers. Close and collaborative study of the medieval collections of MOSJ by the Fellow, Abigail Turner (Museum Coordinator, MOSJ), the project's RA, and a specialist fixed-term Inventory Officer will lead to new and more detailed understanding of MOSJ's medieval holdings, while the project's wider study of the crusaders' material religion will situate those holdings within a broader and more nuanced historical context. This will alter the way MOSJ presents information about the history of the Order of St John and the crusading movement to the general public, enhancing the knowledge, skills and quality of life of MOSJ staff and volunteers, bringing cultural and societal benefits to visitors, and building bridges between academic research and the public sector. The Fellowship will also raise public and scholarly awareness of MOSJ's medieval collections, which may result in an increasing number of visitors and consequent financial benefits for MOSJ; it will also enhance the profile of MOSJ's collections among other heritage professionals, which may lead to stronger relationships between MOSJ and other national and international museums.

Beyond MOSJ, the project will have an impact on the knowledge, skills and working practices of a broader group of scholars and heritage professionals and will encourage new partnerships between the academic and heritage sectors. This will be achieved through the organisation of a workshop on best practice in research collaborations, to be held at MOSJ after the Fellowship's conclusion, and the publication of reports on the workshop's discussions in an appropriate forum, such as Museum Practice magazine. In the longer term, these best practice activities may inspire new collaborations between academics and heritage professionals that might have similar cultural, societal and financial benefits for museums and their visitors as those identified above for MOSJ.

Finally, the Fellowship will benefit a wider public with interests in the historical relationship between violence and belief and an increasing familiarity with the use of material culture as a way of exploring the past. The research will enhance public knowledge and understanding of the devotional practices and priorities of those who engaged in or supported acts of religious violence in the central Middle Ages, and demonstrate that the roots of crusading enthusiasm can be found in the mainstream of medieval Catholic religious culture. The Fellowship will therefore bring cultural and societal benefits to those who are interested in the project's research themes, and will raise public and scholarly awareness of the medieval collections of a number of major international museums in the UK, France, Spain, Israel and the USA. As a result, the Fellowship may encourage an increased number of visitors to these museums; this will bring cultural and societal benefits for museum visitors and financial benefits for the museums themselves.