Franks and Saracens

Dr Avner Falk (born 1943) is an internationally known Israeli clinical psychologist and independent scholar. His scholarly specialty is applied psychoanalysis, including psychohistory, psychobiography, political psychology, and psychogeography. He has published 11 books and dozens of articles. His most recent book is Agnon’s Story: A Psychoanalytic Biography of S. Y. Agnon, the winner of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature (Brill 2018).

• Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1. Us And ThemChapter 2. Romans, Germans, and BerbersChapter 3. Myths of OriginChapter 4. The Cross and the CrusadesChapter 5. The Fantasy of the Holy Roman EmpireChapter 6. A Short History of the “Saracens”Chapter 7. The First Crusade: Acting Out Rescue FantasiesChapter 8. The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem as a Psychogeographical FantasyChapter 9. The Second Crusade: Persisting Rescue FantasiesChapter 10. Templars And Hospitallers: Monastic Knights?Chapter 11. The “Saracens” Look at The “Franks”Chapter 12. The Third Crusade: A Lionheart in Search of a Holy Land?Chapter 13. The Fourth Crusade: “Latin” Christians Kill “Greek” ChristiansChapter 14. The Fifth Crusade: An Invasion of Egypt that Predictably FailsChapter 15. The Sixth Crusade: Winning Jerusalem PeacefullyChapter 16. The Seventh Crusade: The Unhappy War of “Saint Louis”Chapter 17. The Eighth Crusade: The Tragic Death of “Saint Louis”Chapter 18. The Ninth Crusade: End of a Two-Century FantasyChapter 19. Trauma in the CrusadesChapter 20. Aftermath: The End Of A Two-Century FantasyEpilogue: “The New Crusaders”BibliographyIndex

“The Crusades that occurred between 1095 and 1291 are among the most violent and ruthless events in human history. Their religious, historical, political, and economic aspects have been extensively studied. Avner Falk’s unusual book, first published in 2010, focuses on the psychodynamic aspects involved in carrying out the Crusades. It illustrates how both individual and large-group fantasies and behaviors, such as perceiving our own large group as 'good' and the Other as 'bad,' the need to establish psychological borders between 'enemy' large groups, the difficulties in collective mourning and the psychology of shared trauma, played roles in the Crusades. This new version of this important book includes an expanded, up-to-date bibliography and a new chapter on the traumatic aspects of the Crusades.”Vamık D. Volkan, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Virginia; Past President, International Society of Political Psychology, American College of Psychoanalysts and International Dialogue Initiative