John France

John France is Professor Emeritus from Swansea University in Wales and is a renowned specialist on the Medieval Period. He has published numerous articles, and is the author of The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, and Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade. Additionally, he has edited several important books including Medieval Warfare, Warfare in the Dark Ages, and War and Peace in Ancient and Medieval History. As a result of his research covering this period, he has compiled an electronic database of lives of saints prior to the year 1000. He is also an editor of the Journal of Medieval History. Dr. France was a featured scholar on the History Channel’s impressive two-part documentary, The Crusades: Crescent & the Cross.

Tours Led by John France

• The Remote Caucasus: Tour Georgia and Armenia
  Dates TBA | John France Tour Georgia and Armenia: These two countries, tucked east of Turkey and south of Russia, have much to offer the intrepid traveler. Although way off the tourist trail, six fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Sites are found here. Walk through intriguing stone circles from the Iron Age, splendid churches built more than 1,000 years ago, and gaze in awe as we traverse the magnificent mountain scenery.
• Cyprus, Rhodes & Malta Tour
  Spring 2024 | John France Follow the Path of the Crusader Knights across three Mediterranean islands: Cyprus, Rhodes, and Malta. Led by a renowned medieval specialist, begin in Cyprus where the Crusaders fled after the fall of Jerusalem. Continue to Rhodes where the knights created a stronghold against the Ottomans, and then to Malta, where they remained until the island fell to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798.
• Tour the Baltics In the Path of the Northern Crusades
  June 2023 | John France Delightful medieval towns, fairy-tale castles, verdant forests, and wild coastlines with shifting sand dunes await while traveling through these three fascinating countries on the shores of the Baltic Sea. And during the trip, learn about and witness the interesting local traditions, and taste luscious cuisines inspired by the multitude of civilizations that have streamed across these lands.