Turning Judas into a Crusader: Local Reform and Crusade Propaganda in Thirteenth-Century Cambrai

Abstract

Crusade preaching in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries has often been studied as a centralised programme devised and deployed by the papacy for reform purposes. This article examines the career of John of Cantimpré, a relatively low-profile priest operating at the local level, who none the less was deeply engaged in crusade campaigns as integral to the moral reform of European society. This study first analyses an unusually sophisticated ritual performance in which a usurer was transformed into a crusader as part of a preaching event orchestrated by John of Cantimpré on the eve of the Fourth Crusade, and then investigates the representation of him as a methodical preacher who associated local concerns, such as usury and predatory lordship, with the crusading enterprise.