Crusade and Reform in Latin Christendom: The Paris Masters against Heresy and Corruption, c.1179-c.1254.

Convinced that crusade expeditions were failing 'because of our sins', Paris-trained reformers targeted 'corrupt' clergy and 'loose women' (meretrices) in campaigns against prostitution, clerical marriage and concubinage, and lay fornication.Moral theologians tied new forms of participation in crusading to existing and novel forms of lay devotion and promoted crusaders as a new form of ideal penitent to emulate.Rather than cynically employing indulgences to convert devotion into cash for the crusade, many reformers insisted on allowing anyone who wished to 'take the cross', and that the effectiveness of any indulgence granted rested on the contrition and true confession of the recipient.However, reformers became involved in collecting crusade taxes and donations, which potentially damaged their reputations.Reformers also urged secular and religious rulers to clamp down on excessive interest-taking by moneylenders and that any funds derived from this were tainted and must be restored to