"The Jerusalem Cross, a symbol representing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the spread of Christianity from the Holy Land (Palestine), along with the phrase "Deus Vult" (" God wills it" in Latin) and other Crusader iconography, has proliferated across the internet, especially within far-right manosphere circles where Christian nationalism and white supremacy fuse with red-pill and men's rights content. United States Secretary of War (formerly " Defense") Pete Hegseth - who wrote a book titled American Crusade in 2020 and is known for - has a massive tattoo of the cross emblazoned across his chest, one of several linking him to white supremacist ideology."
"Accounts like @ ModernCrusaders on X have made "Crusadercore" their own brand, even commodifying the Crusader craze through merchandise, disseminating patently AI-generated imagery of romanticized knights in shining armor, and celebrating the November 27 anniversary of Pope Urban II declaring the First Crusade in 1095, which precipitated around two centuries of the papacy-sanctioned war to seize control of the Holy Land from Muslim rulers."
"It's especially popular among, though not limited to, young, White Catholic men who see the Crusades as the ultimate masculine performance."
Crusader iconography, including the Jerusalem Cross and the phrase "Deus Vult," has proliferated online within far-right manosphere circles. The imagery fuses Christian nationalism and white supremacy with red-pill and men's-rights content and is especially popular among young White Catholic men who view the Crusades as masculine performance. Public figures and accounts have amplified the trend through tattoos, branded "Crusadercore" merchandise, and AI-generated romanticized knight imagery. The online circulation of such symbols accompanies explicit calls to violence and references to historical crusades that sanitize papacy-sanctioned wars against Muslim rulers. The visual lexicon repackages historical violence with religious authority to legitimize modern bigotry.
Read at Hyperallergic
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