Introduction

Abstract

The introduction sets out the theoretical basis of the volume with a brief overview of the history of diachronic semantics and the uses of its methods by historians, particularly by crusade historians. The volume thus intends to propose a new view of the old debate on the origins and meanings of the word ‘crusade’ through a double approach. Diachronic studies focused on a single language are paralleled with specific articles focusing on a single context to propose a broad comparative understanding of the successive risemantisations of the word.