ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on a growing body of research and publications, as well as a wide and rich vein of previously untapped sources, to show how and why the crusades have become part of Britain's collective history and cultural memory bank. It provides further insight into the ways in which this memory has been informed, shaped, recorded, and received over the centuries, in a wide variety of media. Whilst illustrative examples have been cited from other centuries and countries, its focus has been nineteenth century Britain, when nostalgia for an age of chivalry and romantic medievalism combined with a growing interest in and engagement with the countries in which the crusades to the East had been fought. The included detailed articles, essays, and reviews about the crusades targeted at different audiences and opinion groups, many of which expected the reader to have some previous knowledge of the subject.
