ABSTRACT
For the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the crucial and formative period of the crusades and the military–religious orders, almost all relevant sources are known, even though not all of them are properly edited and interpreted. If someone were to discover and present a source that is entirely new, that would almost cause a sensation. On the other hand, given the vast literature about the crusades and the military–religious orders – and many of the participants in this conference are continuously adding to these publications – it is not easy to find new questions or interpretations from the twelfth- and thirteenth-century sources. No honest scholar can therefore claim to be able to present entirely new ideas about the military-religious orders between 1100 and 1300. And yet, even for this well-studied period, there are important problems that may deserve further research.
