Talk:Crusade

Etymology
More likely from Old French (if attestable) as the crux- (Latin) wouldn't turn to crois- then back to crus- again. Mglovesfun (talk) 23:10, 27 January 2010 (UTC)


 * OED: it was introduced in the 1570s as croisade, directly from French. Then in the late 17th to early 18th century, it got blended with the Spanish cruzada which gave rise to the hybrid spelling in use today. --Dbachmann 10:54, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Proper noun
It isn't clear that this is a proper noun, even in the strictly historical sense. It is a term for "a campaign against the infidels". There have been any number of such campaigns, and there is no reason to assume this is a proper noun just because these campaigns are contained within a certain historical period. It is also at best capitalized irregularly. It isn't a good guide to simply claim something as a proper noun just because it has been capitalized by some authors, see e.g. this or this. The term jihad is also sometimes capitalized and sometimes not. Does this make it a proper noun? No, it just makes it a technical term within some special field. --Dbachmann 10:54, 13 May 2011 (UTC)