Welcome to the Crusade Studies Forum
Conference Registration is now open!
The Crusade Studies Forum at Saint Louis University proudly marks its twentieth anniversary with the sixth Symposium on Crusade Studies, to be held April 10–11, 2026. We welcome proposals for papers, sessions, and roundtable discussions that explore any dimension of the medieval crusading movement.
For more information and to submit a proposal follow the link below.
The Crusade Studies Forum is pleased to welcome Nicholas Paul and Jonathan Phillips as the plenary speakers for this year’s symposium. A professor of history at Fordham University, Dr. Nicholas Paul is a leading scholar of political culture in the Middle Ages, with particular expertise in the lay aristocracy and the intersection of aristocratic identity and crusading ideology.
His academic journey reflects the international scope of medieval studies: he completed his doctorate under the renowned crusade historian Jonathan Riley-Smith and began his teaching career at Saint Louis University. His first monograph, To Follow in Their Footsteps: The Crusades and Family Memory in the High Middle Ages, co-recipient of the John Nicholas Brown Prize from the Medieval Academy of America, continues to be a foundational text in graduate education at SLU and beyond.
Jonathan Phillips, Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London, is among the leading historians of the Crusades working today. As President of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, he has shaped the field through both scholarship and service. His most recent book, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin (2019), reflects his broader interest in the memory and legacy of the Crusades in both Western and Islamic worlds.
Phillips’s long-standing relationship with Saint Louis University, including his plenary address at the Fourth Symposium on Crusade Studies in 2018, continues to have a meaningful impact on graduate education. His scholarship and professional engagement remain integral to the intellectual life of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and its ongoing commitment to excellence in Crusade Studies.
The titles of the plenary addresses will be announced soon.
The Crusades Studies Forum at Saint Louis University is an international venue for the presentation of current research, the discussion of recent scholarship, and the exploration of new directions in topics relating to the Crusades. Participants include those local to the Saint Louis region as well as distinguished scholars from across the globe. All are welcome to attend and participate in the forum.
See below for details on our upcoming events, and stop by our Resources page for links to online resources for the study of the crusades and the Latin East. To stay connected and receive digital links to our meetings, send us your contact information via our contact form.
Please feel free to email us with any questions : [email protected]
