The Defence of the Faith. Crusading on the Frontiers of Latin Christendom in the Late Middle Ages

0585155 - FLÚ 2025 RIV BE eng M - Monography Chapter
Soukup, Pavel
Legitimising the Hussite Wars. Anti-Heretical Crusading in the Fifteenth Century.
The Defence of the Faith. Crusading on the Frontiers of Latin Christendom in the Late Middle Ages. Turnhout: Brepols, 2024 - (Srodecki, P.; Kersken, N.), s. 361-375. Outremer. Studies in the Crusades and the Latin East, 15. ISBN 978-2-503-58882-7
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GX19-28415X
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : crusades * heresy * Hussitism * Holy War
OECD category: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)
https://doi.org/10.1484/M.OUTREMER-EB.5.136544 https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503588827-1

The need to legitimise the anti-Hussite crusade arose in two major areas. One was religious and moral, regarding whether it was admissible to fight physically against erring Christians: the other was diplomatic, regarding the justification of the crusade as the most appropriate option for dealing with heresy. Doubts about killing humans were relatively easy to overcome by reference to the danger posed by the Hussites to Christian society. Most justifications of the crusade were produced in response to politically motivated disinterest. The stable set of arguments included the binding condemnations of Hussitism, the necessary prophylaxis against its spread, and the urgent need to protect the Church and society from the attacks of the heretics. In political manoeuvring, the traditional, somewhat rigid crusader argumentation had a flexible application: since the war for the faith provided legitimacy, it was claimed by various political players as their own exclusive duty and vocation. This duty became overwhelming when more theatres of holy war opened, and the choice of battlefield required justification. The question regarding the admissibility of war on Christians reappeared in a new context-rather than debating the war as such, its drain on the fight against the infidels was emphasised.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0352959