Darius von Guttner Sporzynski

“In theory, there were no legal limits to the monarch’s power over his realm. In practice, however, the king was bound by the laws and customs of the land, and exercising his authority depended on the agreement of France’s elite: the nobility and the clergy.”

“Through Mirabeau, the National Assembly stated plainly that their right to deliberate unhindered was based on the will of the nation and not hereditary or divine right.”

“In the context of north central Europe, there was no ground-breaking distinction between holy wars and crusades before the 1220s.”

“Polish participation in holy wars and crusades was motivated by the rationale provided by the Piast dynasty which justified it in terms of their dynastic interest. Piast involvement in the crusading movement cannot be explained by the call to crusade made by Pope Urban II in 1095 but rather as an evolutionary fragment of the development of the institution of crusade.”

“The Piast realm serves as an example of how the character of the crusade changed in response to shifting military, social, economic, and political circumstances. The taking of the cross by the Piasts and their knighthood was a way of responding equally to both domestic and European strategic developments.”

“Christian holy war was a dynamic concept which was adjusted for use in different conditions.”

“Within a decade of the First Crusade, the anonymous author of the Gesta justified the holy war against the Pomeranians.”

“The evolution of Polish involvement in crusading was in step with the process of state formation in Poland and the individual fortunes of the Piasts dynasts pre- and post-civil war of 1142–46, and closely followed the progress of Poland’s incorporation into Latin Christendom.”