Susan BALDERSTONE

“In the Syrian Taste”: Crusader churches in the Latin East as architectural expressions of orthodoxy

“Ao sabor sírio”: as igrejas dos cruzados no Oriente latino como expressões da arquitetura ortodoxa

Published in The Middle Ages and the Crusades

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This paper explores how the architectural expression of orthodoxy in the Eastern churches was transferred to Europe before the Crusades and then reinforced through the Crusaders’ adoption of the triple-apsed east end “in the Syrian Taste”2 in the Holy Land. Previously, I have shown how it can be deduced from the archaeological remains of churches from the 4th-6th C that early church architecture was influenced by the theological ideas of the period3. It is proposed that the Eastern orthodox approach to church architecture as adopted by the Crusaders paralleled the evolution of medieval theology in Europe and can be seen as its legitimate expression.