Thank God for the Crusades! (Dr. Thomas Madden) | Ep. 568

Pints With Aquinas

Matt Fradd

Education, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 129 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Thomas Madden, Professor of Medieval History and Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University, sits down to set the record straight on the Crusades. Demystifying one of history's most misunderstood chapters. Dr. Madden draws on 30 years of scholarship and archival work to trace the full arc of the Crusades from their origins in centuries of Muslim expansion to the catastrophic Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople. Whether you think the Crusades were an act of aggression, piety, or geopolitical chaos, this conversation will challenge what you thought you knew. Ep. 568 Dr. Thomas Madden's book "The Concise History of the Crusades" is available here: https://a.co/d/0jjYdCFm - - - Today's Sponsors: St. Paul Center - Join the Bible Study movement alongside a global community. Sign up today at https://stpaulcenter.com/pints PreBorn - Make a difference for generations to come. Donate securely online at https://preborn.com/PINTS or dial #250 keyword 'BABY' Good Ranchers - Subscribe and get $100 off over your first three orders when you use code PINTS at https://GoodRanchers.com Charity Mobile - Visit https://charitymobile.com/MATTFRADD to get started. Shopify - Sign up for your $1-per-month trial and start selling today at https://Shopify.com/pints - - - Become a Daily Wire Member and watch all of our content ad-free: ⁠⁠https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe⁠⁠ 🍿 The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin is now streaming exclusively on DailyWire+ https://dwplus.watch/ThePendragon - - - 📕 Get my newest book, Jesus Our Refuge, here: https://a.co/d/bDU0xLb 🍺 Want to Support Pints With Aquinas? 🍺 Get episodes a week early and join exclusive live streams with me! Become an annual supporter at 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mattfradd.locals.com/support⁠⁠⁠⁠ - - - 💻 Follow Me on Social Media: 📌 Facebook: https://facebook.com/mattfradd 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/mattfradd 𝕏 Twitter/X: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Pints_W_Aquinas⁠⁠⁠ 🎵 TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠https://tiktok.com/@pintswithaquinas⁠⁠⁠ 📚 PWA Merch – ⁠⁠⁠https://dwplus.shop/MattFraddMerch⁠⁠ 👕 Grab your favorite PWA gear here: https://shop.pintswithaquinas.com - - - Privacy Policy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.dailywire.com/privacy⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think if there had never been a crusade, all of Western Europe would have been conquered by Islamic powers.
0:05.0	It was clearly the work of God. The first crusade was constantly teetering on the edge of utter disaster,
0:11.0	and yet it was miraculously successful.
0:14.0	What about the Christian priests and monks and nuns and what was their general attitude towards these crusaders?
0:19.0	There was no one who disagreed that this was a righteous thing to do.
0:23.7	Every crusade or every major crusade that was launched or enacted was a response to a threat.
0:29.9	Right. If a knight wanted more money or land, he could just attack his neighbor.
0:33.8	Why march thousands of miles deep into enemy territory into a world that you don't
0:39.3	understand or know to do that?
0:41.3	Who were the Knights Templar?
0:42.3	They wanted to devote their lives to protecting pilgrims. There were no nation states.
0:48.3	They didn't have nationalism back then, but it was the same feeling that you are part of something bigger than yourself, and it's being attacked.
0:56.4	Dr. Thomas Madden, thank you very much for coming on the show. Yeah, it's my pleasure.
1:08.4	For those at home, you are a medieval historian. That's right.
1:12.4	Professor of medieval history, also the director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance
1:16.6	Studies at St. Louis University. How long have you taught? For about 30 years. Yeah. A little over 30,
1:27.1	years.
1:28.2	I've taught undergraduates, but also most of my career has actually been teaching doctoral students.
1:34.2	So there's all kinds of medieval professors around who were my students.
1:40.5	But now, but I much prefer, and it's more fun to actually, to teach the undergraduates to actually talk about the actual history.
1:48.8	The problem with graduate students is they know everything already.
1:52.0	You're teaching them how to be an historian.
	...

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