First Crusade

The article poses the thesis that the authors of the Gesta Francorum and the Historia de Hierosolymitano Itinere in their vision of the First Crusade’s events used a conventional, i.e., pre-existing tradition of missionary practice, and adapted it to their narrative on the foundation of the bishopric of Albara (Al-Bara). The article shows that a two-stage model of conversion to Christianity of abrenuntiatio diaboli (the renouncement of Satan) and confessio fidei (the profession of faith) was presented on the pages of the First Crusaders’ accounts, and it was manifested in a particular case of Albara in a quite unique, mostly institutional shape; i.e. the Muslim inhabitants of a city were not even given a chance to convert to Christianity; the act of confessio fidei was done through the election of a bishop; the rejection of Satan occurred through the sacralization of temples and their transformation into places of Christian worship. In this perspective it could be observed that the foundation of Albara’s bishopric was seen by the Gesta Francorum and Peter Tudebode as the confrontation of the spheres of sacrum and profanum known from missionary practice in other regions than Syria and Palestine at a similar time (e.g., in Pomerania).

Archbishop William of Tyre’s (c.  1130–c. 1186) Historia Ierosolymitana is the only extant historical narrative produced in the Latin East in the late twelfth century. Consequently, the Historia is of enormous value for its insights into the polities of the Latin East, and as an example of how the First Crusade was remembered and represented in the second half of the twelfth century. Since the nineteenth century, scholars have reflected on the apparent absence of the miraculous in William’s narrative of the First Crusade, attributing this to an unusual lack of credulity on William’s part and seeing it as evidence of a sceptical mind before its time. However, this article argues that William’s ostensibly critical approach to the miraculous is in fact indicative of two things. First, this article argues that William was carefully constructing an image of himself, through the narrator, as a reliable curator of anecdotal evidence, the consequence being that his intended audience would be more likely to believe the miraculous material he did include. Second, it is argued that this strategy was important given William’s refocusing of the miraculous on the crusader conquest of Jerusalem in July 1099, in order that he might emphasise the divine significance of the events that led to the foundation of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, the place of his birth and the central subject of his Historia.

Robert the Monk’s History of the First Crusade is an important account of the First Crusade. Although historians don’t believe that he actually went on the crusade, it is fairly certain that he was present at the Council of Clermont in November 1095.  Beyond the accepted view that he was an eyewitness to the council where Pope Urban II declared the crusade, his other information comes mainly from The Gesta Francorum. Robert the Monk’s work was popular at the time, especially due to the fact that it was the only source for the Crusades translated into the vernacular in the Middle Ages, other than William of Tyre’s work.  One of the earliest chronicles of the First Crusade, Robert the Monk’s book shaped many people’s perceptions of the Crusades in the Middle Ages.  It created a theological framework of holy war, a wave of historiography and may have been used to get men to participate in other crusades.

This paper puts forward a new interpretation of some key sources of the First Crusade. Most scholars assume that Urban II was proactively promoting an expedition to Jerusalem in his sermon at Clermont and in some of his letters. This article, however, argues that most of the letters were answers to petitioners who mentioned ‘Jerusalem’ as the main target of the expedition, which was then repeated in the resultant papal documents. Only the letter to the Flemings was probably written on Urban’s initiative and influenced the reports of some chroniclers about the call for the crusade in Clermont (Baudri de Bourgueil, Robert the Monk). Although Fulcher of Chartres did not use the letter to the Flemings for his interpretation of Urban’s sermon, he gives a quite similar interpretation of the papal crusading concept, which focused on help for the Christians in the East, rather than on the conquest of Jerusalem.

Empire of Magic offers a genesis and genealogy for medieval romance and the King Arthur legend through the history of Europe's encounters with the East in crusades, travel, missionizing, and empire formation. The book argues that romance arose in the 12th century as a cultural response to the trauma and horror of taboo acts—in particular the cannibalism committed by crusaders on the bodies of Muslim enemies in Syria during the First Crusade. From such encounters with the East sprang the fantastical episodes featuring King Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle, The History of the Kings of England, a work where history and fantasy collide and merge, each into the other, inventing crucial new examples and models for romances to come. After locating the rise of romance and Arthurian legend in the contact zones of East and West, Empire of Magic demonstrates the adaptability of romance and its key role in the genesis of an English national identity. Discussing Jews, women, ch...

This study proposes a new reading of a well-known episode in the Hebrew chronicles of the First Crusade (1096), the brutal martyrdom of the virgin bride Sarit. It argues that the story addresses the concern for maintaining the social and religious boundaries of the Jewish community in times of turmoil, and that this concern is focused on the virgin female body. Sarit’s virginal body becomes the site where internal and external struggles of the medieval Jewish community attain their resolution, both actual and metaphorical. Sarit’s virginity is viewed as an essential key for understanding the story and its social logic. Juxtaposing the description of her murder with contemporary Christian exegesis concerning the biblical figure of Jephthah’s daughter exposes conceptual proximity and a symbolic discourse of sacrifice shared by Jews and Christians. In both worlds, the virginal body is a symbolic arena which can be employed to alleviate internal social tensions and inter-religious conflict.

Examines the role of peace in the chronicle of Falco of Benevento and the history of Alexander of Telese.  Argues that Falco's text emphasizes the ecclesiastical nature of peace.  Further asserts that Alexander's history purposely demonstrated peace as a monarchical responsibility in order to attack the papacy's authority in mainland southern Italy.

Pre-print, German version to be published in: Karfunkel – Zeitschrift für erlebbare Geschichte. Combat-Sonderheft 10 (2014) (in print; communicating science to the public).

Abstract: The Crusaders, who in the 11th Century moved in the thousands from Western and Central Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean to liberate the Holy Grave from the “infidels”, found themselves confronted not only with foreign cultures and violent armed resistance, but also with an alien natural environment and climatic conditions that could prove to be sometimes just as fatal as the arrows of the enemy. At the same time the Crusades fell into a period of quite changeable climatic conditions in Europe and the Middle East, which must be included as well in the historical analysis of the military events.

Arab-Byzantine coinage typically refers to the issues between about AD 650 and 720, when familiar Byzantine designs were copied by the early Muslims before they developed their own. This paper is about a much later “Arab-Byzantine” coin that does not seem to be listed in the most commonly used references on Byzantine or Islamic coins. The coin appears to have been copied by the Muslims around 1100 to 1150, during the age of the First and Second Crusades, a period of instability in the Arab world.

This article investigates the family backgrounds of aristocratic participants in the First Crusade. Through an examination of these it explores the ways in which their decision to join the crusade was influenced by the examples of the previous generation of conquerors, the participants in the invasion of Sicily in 1061, the expedition to England in 1066 and the conflicts on the Iberian peninsula. In this way it opens a discussion about the motives and
expectation of the First Crusaders. It argues that dreams of conquest and the desire to match an older generation’s martial and political achievements may have been as important a factor in motivating crusaders as religious ideals.

The People's Crusade presents a difficult challenge for historians of the First Crusade. It is often explained away, even by some twelfth-century chroniclers, as an embarrassment, a collection of undisciplined and overzealous bands impatiently taking on the “enemies of Christ,” attacking and molesting Jewish communities in the Rhineland, before being annihilated by the Turks at Civetot before any of the other armies arrived at Constantinople. However, these early elements are best explained not as a response to Pope Urban II's call at Clermont, but as a separate effort to liberate Jerusalem begun by Peter the Hermit before Clermont. Nor were they annihilated at Civetot. The survivors merged with the armies recruited by Urban, transforming them by introducing an apocalyptic character into the armies of the West.

An attempt to figure out what really happened at Ma'arra in 1098, as far as anthropophagy is concerned, and also to suggest that crusader piety was not just about penance and pilgrimage but was also about inflicting the wrath of God on the unbeliever.

This article presents an overview of recent work by Byzantinists on the Alexiad of Anna Comnena, in particular her account of the First Crusade. It suggests that, since the Alexiad was composed at the time of the Second Crusade, it reflects the concerns of the mid-twelfth, not late eleventh century. In particular, Anna's account of the First Crusade is coloured by a concern to counter the claims of mid-twelfth-century panegyrical literature produced in praise of her nephew, Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Several points addressed in the Alexiad mirror those in orations delivered by the panegyrist Manganeius Prodromus in praise of Manuel's handling of the Second Crusade. Examples from both texts are given in translation.

This article offers a unique comparison of the descriptions of the Latin barbarians found mainly in the Greek sources for the First and Second Crusades with those of the ancient barbarians described in the works of the Byzantines’ favourite tragedian, Euripides. The Greek narratives of Anna Komnene, John Kinnamos and Niketas Choniates, to which should now be added little-known Greek verse encomia composed by so-called ‘Manganeios Prodromos’, are crucial to our understanding of the history of the crusades. Yet, until now, the fundamental reason these key texts portray the crusaders in the manner they do has not been fully exposed.

Questa nuova storia del movimento crociato intende fornire ai suoi lettori tutti gli elementi di una storia 'plurale' delle vicende che portarono all’insediamento in Medioriente tra i secoli XII-XIII di una serie di entità politiche in seguito definite sotto il termine complessivo di Outremer gravitanti intorno a Gerusalemme, la Città Santa conquistata con la forza nel 1099 al termine di una spedizione bandita da papa Urbano II e che avrebbe incontrato un successo imprevisto e imprevedibile.
Slegando la storia del movimento crociato alla classica elencazione d’impianto manualistico – priva di qualsiasi consistenza come riconosciuto dalla storiografia più aggiornata - che individua sulla base di una vecchia tradizione storiografica una serie di spedizioni come “ufficiali” mentre relega al contempo altre (pur importanti) in secondo piano, abbiamo inteso trasmettere ai lettori di questo libro una visione più ampia e complessa di una storia che interessò i più importanti personaggi dei secoli centrali dell'età medievale: Federico Barbarossa, Filippo II Augusto, Riccardo Cuor di Leone, Federico II di Svevia, Luigi IX, solo per citare i più noti (e tacendo i tanti pellegrini accorsi per la difesa del Santo Sepolcro).
Ma questa è anche la storia del mondo musulmano circostante, nonché di quella serie di popoli provenienti dalle remote steppe asiatiche (Turchi e Mongoli su tutti) il cui impatto avrebbe segnato in maniera decisiva le sorti della Terrasanta latina; ecco dunque riscostruire le vicende di Zangī, Nūr ad-Dīn, Saladino, Hülegü, Baybars, Qalawun, personaggi le cui esistenze avrebbero segnato le vicende del Medioriente nei secoli che verremo narrando nel corso del libro.

Empire of Magic offers a genesis and genealogy for medieval romance and the King Arthur legend through the history of Europe's encounters with the East in crusades, travel, missionizing, and empire formation.

The book argues that romance arose in the 12th century as a cultural response to the trauma and horror of taboo acts—in particular the cannibalism committed by crusaders on the bodies of Muslim enemies in Syria during the First Crusade. From such encounters with the East sprang the fantastical episodes featuring King Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle, The History of the Kings of England, a work where history and fantasy collide and merge, each into the other, inventing crucial new examples and models for romances to come.

After locating the rise of romance and Arthurian legend in the contact zones of East and West, Empire of Magic demonstrates the adaptability of romance and its key role in the genesis of an English national identity. Discussing Jews, women, children, and sexuality in works like the romance of Richard Lionheart, stories of the saintly Constance, Arthurian chivralic literature, the legend of Prester John, and travel narratives, the book shows how fantasy enabled audiences to work through issues of communal identity, race, color, class and alternative sexualities in socially sanctioned and safe modes of cultural discussion in which pleasure, not anxiety, was paramount.

Romance also engaged with the threat of modernity in the late medieval period, as economic, social, and technological transformations occurred and awareness grew of a vastly enlarged world beyond Europe, one encompassing India, China, and Africa. Finally, the author suggests that romance locates England and Europe within an empire of magic and knowledge that surveys the world and makes it intelligible—usable—for the future.

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WILLIAM IX THE TROUBADOUR (1071-1126) AND ISLAM

The first troubadour, whose songs are preserved, was as duke of Aquitaine the most important French prince around 1100. His military activity was, at least three times, directed against the Muslims. Her aunts and sisters were married to Iberian Christian kings, whom he defended against Almoravid invasion. In 1100-1102, he participated in Holy Land to a failed crusade. During these expeditions, he had several contacts with Arab courts, in particular with Imâd al-Dawla,  the last emir of Saragossa of Banu Hudi dynasty, expelled of his capital by Almoravids. They were together in the troupe of the king of Aragon fighting them in Cutanda battle (1120). Imâd gave to him the so-called “Vase d’Aliénor d’Aquitaine”, his grand-daughter. It was preserved in Saint-Denis abbey and is nowadays in Louvre Museum. This precious crystal and silver object is not the only gift William IX received from a Muslim prince. At least one of his poems (V, Pasero ed.) seems to contain some Arabic words. Other elements show a possible influence of Hispanic-Arabic poetry in his own work. They nourish the debate on the ‘origins’ of Courtly Love. ‘Origins’ is not probably the good word, but better ‘polygenesis’ or Michel Foucault’s ‘conditions of possibility’. Thus, the study of the relations between William IX and Islam has to be done in an interdisciplinary way, which takes account of political and social history, of art history or of literature and linguistics.

The Crusader World is a multidisciplinary survey of the current state of research in the field of crusader studies, an area of study which has become increasingly popular in recent years. In this volume Adrian Boas draws together an impressive range of academics, including work from renowned scholars as well as a number of thought-provoking pieces from emerging researchers, in order to provide broad coverage of the major aspects of the period. This authoritative work will play an important role in the future direction of crusading studies. This volume enriches present knowledge of the crusades, addressing such wide-ranging subjects as: intelligence and espionage, gender issues, religious celebrations in crusader Jerusalem, political struggles in crusader Antioch, the archaeological study of battle sites and fortifications, diseases suffered by the crusaders, crusading in northern Europe and Spain and the impact of crusader art. The relationship between crusaders and Muslims, two distinct and in many way opposing cultures, is also examined in depth, including a discussion of how the Franks perceived their enemies. Arranged into eight thematic sections, The Crusader World considers many central issues as well as a large number of less familiar topics of the crusades, crusader society, history and culture. With over 100 photographs, line drawings and maps, this impressive collection of essays is a key resource for students and scholars alike.

Scritti all’inizio del XII secolo da un normanno di provenienza meridionale, i Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum rappresentano una delle fonti principali per lo studio e la comprensione della prima crociata che si concluse con la sanguinosa conquista di Gerusalemme (1099). Con una narrazione lucida ed essenziale, l’anonimo cronista fornisce al lettore odierno una preziosa ricostruzione di uno degli eventi che avrebbe maggiormente segnato la storia europea e i suoi rapporti con le altre civiltà gravitanti nell’area mediterranea.
Il volume contiene i testo latino e la traduzione italiana largamente commentata.

Since the 11th century, there existed contacts between the territory of Ostarrichi and Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire at the Bosporus. These relations were intensified during the period of the Crusades, especially because of the participation of members of the house of Babenberg in these endeavours in the Eastern Mediterranean. Two Babenberg dukes, Henry II Jasomirgott (in 1148) and Leopold VI (in 1203), even married princesses from the imperial houses of Byzantium and became important intermediators between West and East. These events also left their marks in the Greek and Armenian historiography of the time, where we encounter the first references to “Austria”. Besides warfare and diplomacy, also elements of artistic style and stories found their way from the “Orient” to the Danube; yet, one still has to notice the persistent tradition of legends (such as the origin of the popular song “Eia poppeia” in Byzantium) even in scholarly literature. These well-known stories do not have any basis in our sources, which on the contrary allow us to draft a more realistic and at the same time not less fascinating pictures of the relations between Ostarrichi and the Bosporus.

The fourth book of the Chronica Monasterii Casinensis contains a narrative (paragraph 11) on the First Crusade. This section holds a peculiar position within the structure of the chronicle, in that it has no tie with the rest of the text (which is focused on the history of the Closter), and it is not clear who is the author of this paragraph: Hoffmann, in his introduction to the edition of the Chronica Monasterii Casinensis, on the basis of some (mainly lexical) linguistic data, maintains that this section is to be attributed to Leo Marsicanus. Hoffmann’s analysis is though short and not systematic. In this paper a more detailed analysis of some syntactic features of this section of the chronicle has been carried on. In particular, it has been analyzed the use of different kinds of complement
clauses (Accusativus cum Infinitivo, quod- and ut-clauses) in this section and in the rest of the chronicle. The analysis eventually lead to the formulation of some hypothesis on the genesis of this section of the text.

Gap-crossing tactics and the operations that engender them have remained—in function, if not form—essentially the same since the Middle Ages (with the sole exception of the modern recourse to the aerial domain) and therefore retain utility to modern warfighting. Secondly, the examples provided here also suggest weaknesses in current doctrine, especially when maneuvering under fire.

Quaderno n. 2 –– Conferenze 1996, stampato per conto del Circolo da De Bastiani ed., Vittorio Veneto, novembre 1996 –– Sommario: (1) IMPERIO Loredana, 1095-1099. La Prima Crociata pp. 2-19; (2) GUSSO Massimo, Il Calendario Romano, alle origini di quello moderno (conferenze del 9-2-1996, prima parte, e 11-10-1996, seconda parte) pp. 21-47; (3) ARNOSTI Giorgio, L’Età del Ferro nell’antico cenedese (appunti dalla fine dell’Età del Bronzo alla romanizzazione pp. 48-86; (4) PERISSINOTTO Aldo, Viaggio a Troia pp. 87-91; (5) DOMINI Roberto, La corazzata Vittorio Veneto pp. 93-111

Kıbrıs, Doğu Akdeniz'deki jeopolitik ve stratejik konumu nedeniyle ilkçağlardan beri birçok mücadeleye sahne olmuştur. Doğu Akdeniz ve Anadolu topraklarını kontrol eden güçler adanın sahip olduğu öneme binaen Kıbrıs'a sık sık saldırı düzenlemişlerdir. 1095 yılında Clermont'ta toplanan konsil sonucunda başlayan Haçlı Seferleri, Ortaçağ'ın en önemli olaylarından bir tanesidir. Yapılan seferler sadece batı tarihini değil, Doğu Akdeniz coğrafyasının tarihini de etkilemiştir. Kudüs'ün 1187 yılında Selahaddin tarafından fethedilmesinden sonra geri alınabilmesi için Kutsal Topraklara Almanya, Fransa ve İngiltere Kralları tarafından yeni bir sefer hazırlanmıştı. İngiltere Kralı Richard, seferi sırasında Kıbrıs'a asker çıkararak buranın idaresini ele geçirmiştir. Böylece kısa süre içerisinde adada Latin idaresi kurulmuştur. Kıbrıs, Latin yönetimi altında Haçlı Seferleri'nde daha aktif rol oynamaya başlamış ve Haçlılar için burası ileri karakol görevi görmüştür. Bu çalışmada Richard tarafından adanın ele geçirilmesi süreci dönemin kaynakları kullanılarak değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. 1191 yılından 1291 yılına kadar adanın önemini öne çıkaran olaylar tartışılmıştır. Ayrıca 1291 yılından sonra Doğu Akdeniz'den adaya iltica eden askerî tarikatların durumu, Templier şövalyeleri tarikatının ilgası süreci ve bunun adadaki yansımaları izah edilmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kıbrıs, Haçlı Seferleri, Kudüs, Lusignan, Doğu Akdeniz

Cyprus, because of its geopolitical and strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean, it has been scene of many struggles. Owing to the importance of the island, the powers which control the Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolian territories have frequently attacked Cyprus. The Crusades began as a result of the council that gathered in Clermont in 1095, which is one of the most important events of the Middle Ages. The expeditions, not only has affected the western history but has also affected the history of the Eastern Mediterranean region. After Jerusalem was conquered of by Saladin in 1187, a new expedition has been prapered to the Holy Lands by Germany, France and England Kings in order to retake it. King Richard, during the time of his expedition, disembarked his troops at Cyprus and seized the administration. Thus the Latin rule was set up on the island within a short time. Cyprus under the Latin rule has begun to play more active role in the Crusades and has served as outpost for Crusaders. In this study, the process of invading the island by Richard has been evaluated using the sources of the period. The events that put forward the importance of island from 1191 to 1291 have been discussed. Besides, the military orders that defected from the Eastern Mediterranean to Cyprus, the process of the abolition of the order of the Knights Templier and its repercussions on the island have been described. Key Words: Cyprus, Crusades, Lusignan, The Eastern Mediterranean

Highly Commended in the British Records Association Janette Harley Prize 2018.

The pontificate of Honorius III (1216–27) ranks among the most important papal reigns of the thirteenth century: the pope organised two large-scale crusades to recover the Holy Land, the second of which recovered Jerusalem for the first time since 1187; he presided over a ‘golden summer’ of papal-imperial relations with the medieval stupor mundi, Frederick II, emperor of the Romans and king of Sicily; he developed an original theological conception of his office; and he laid the foundations for a centralised papal financial machine. Yet, despite his significant impact on early thirteenth-century Christendom, Honorius has often languished in the shadow of his famous predecessor, Innocent III – a balance that the present book redresses.

Grounded in extensive original research into the manuscripts of Honorius’s letter registers, this study develops a revisionist interpretation of how the curia marshalled the crusading movement to recover the Holy Land. Questioning the utility of the historiographical construct of ‘papal policy’, this book provides new insights into crusade diplomacy, papal theology, the roles of legates, and the effectiveness of crusade taxation. It also includes a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the papal chancery and its documents, which will be of particular use to students and those approaching the medieval papacy for the first time.

Vortrag, Veranstalter:  Jüdisches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung
16.10.2019 , 18:30 - 20:00 Uhr
Kursleitung: Mag. Dr. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller
Kursort: Jüd. Institut f. Erwachsenenbildung, Praterstern 1 , 1020 Wien

https://www.vhs.at/de/k/288502203

Am 15. Juli 1099 eroberten die Truppen des Ersten Kreuzzugs das damals unter Kontrolle der schiitischen Fatimidenkalifen stehende Jerusalem. Das folgende Blutbad unter der Bevölkerung verhieß wenig Gutes für die nichtchristlichen Gemeinschaften im Heiligen Land, darunter die Juden. Ihr Schicksal vor und während der Kreuzfahrerherrschaft im Nahen Osten wird mit Text- und Bildmaterial eingehend beleuchtet.