Comic artist here. My understanding of the Templars is that they acted as an ostensibly independent organization separate from the private military forces of manor lords and other nobles.
When a pope called for a crusade, many took up arms to go and participate — but I’m confused as to how Christian forces were organized.
Did forces “link up” or was the overall force of crusaders composed of units from different origins loosely working in tandem? What was the power structure? How were specific operations like assaults or defenses coordinated?
Forgive my ignorance — I’ve spent most of my time studying visual elements like armor and environments but have grown increasingly interested in the actual dynamics of the crusades.
To summarize and condense into a few key questions:
What, if so, separated non-Templar crusaders from the Templars and how did their deployment thus differ?
How, if at all, was the overall Christian war effort organized by top level powers like the papacies and monarchies and how did these two powers relate to another?
Did all Christian forces, irrespective of being Templar/Non-Templar, don the same red-cross surcoat?
I understand this is possibly asking a lot and that each of the four big crusades may have their own answers, but just any insight to make it a little B more granular for me would be wonderfully appreciated by someone who really would like to learn more about this period.
Thank you!
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
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