Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The founder saints and the crusades
- 2 Pope Gregory IX and the early friars
- 3 Papal crusade propaganda and the friars
- 4 The organization of the preaching of the cross in the provinces of the mendicant orders
- 5 Friars, crusade sermons, and preaching aids
- 6 The friars and the financing of the crusades
- 7 The friars and the redemption of crusade vows
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The crusade against the Drenther and the Establishment of the Dominican Inquisition in Germany
- Appendix 2 A list of thirteenth century sermons and exempla for the recruitment of crusaders
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought
7 - The friars and the redemption of crusade vows
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The founder saints and the crusades
- 2 Pope Gregory IX and the early friars
- 3 Papal crusade propaganda and the friars
- 4 The organization of the preaching of the cross in the provinces of the mendicant orders
- 5 Friars, crusade sermons, and preaching aids
- 6 The friars and the financing of the crusades
- 7 The friars and the redemption of crusade vows
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The crusade against the Drenther and the Establishment of the Dominican Inquisition in Germany
- Appendix 2 A list of thirteenth century sermons and exempla for the recruitment of crusaders
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought
Summary
The crusade vow differed from most other religious vows in two principal ways. Firstly, it was accompanied by the promise of a plenary indulgence, and, secondly, its execution was not merely an individual act of devotion and penitence, but it was also part of a collective effort in the context of the negotium crucis. By taking the vow, the crucesignatus made a promise not only to God, but also to his fellow Christians. The redemption of a crusade vow was technically a form of vow commutation substituting an adequate penitential exercise in lieu of crusading, in this case the payment of a certain amount of money in aid of the crusade. This was primarily intended for those who sincerely wished to go on crusade but were physically incapable of doing so because of illness, old age, poverty, or other serious impediment. Since, by virtue of his vow, the crusader had taken on an obligation of service to the whole of Christian society, the only way to commute his vow was to support the business of the cross in some other way, either by joining a different crusade or by making a financial payment for the benefit of the crusade. The commutation to other forms of purely individual penance was not possible. This particular situation was dealt with by reserving the powers to redeem (or commute) a crusade vow, unlike that of other vows, to the pope and his appointed agents alone. The ‘natural’ rate for the redemption of a crusade vow was the donation of enough money to finance a substitute crusader of equal status.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Preaching the CrusadesMendicant Friars and the Cross in the Thirteenth Century, pp. 135 - 160Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994