The fall of the crusader-controlled city of Acre to the Muslims in 1291 inspired many schemes for crusades to recover Jerusalem and its environs. One of these proposals is How to Defeat the Saracens, written around 1317 by William of Adam, a Dominican who traveled extensively in the eastern Mediterranean, Persia, and parts of India. The treatise, poorly known even among specialists, presents a five-pronged plan for retaking the Holy Land. In particular, it focuses on cutting off economic and military support for Egypt. William’s personal experience in the lands he describes comes through, for example, when he recollects his encounters in Persia with a captive Greek woman whose child he baptized, and in India with a lapsed Christian who said that God had abandoned him. In this volume Giles Constable provides a critical edition of the Latin text and a facing English translation. Extensive notes, produced in collaboration with other experts, guide the reader through the political, geographical, economic, military, and historical context of this fascinating work.

Giles Constable presents the first critical edition of the letters of Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny from 1122 to 1156, to appear since the first printed edition was published in 1522. The text, based upon a comparison of all known manuscripts, is printed in Volume I and is an important source for the history of the first half of the twelfth century. An introduction, appendices, and notes which touch broadly upon the ecclesiastical, intellectual, and political history of the period are provided in Volume II.