The Second Crusade: holy war on the periphery of Latin Christendom, edited by Jason T. Roche and Janus Møller Jensen (original) (raw)
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In the later Middle Ages, the crusades where most European knights fought were initiated first by the Sword Brothers and then the Teutonic Knights in the lands east and south of the Baltic Sea-Livonia, Prussia, and Lithuania (modern day Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, western Russia, Kaliningrad Oblast, and Poland). This article deals with a hitherto unexplored way in which three Latin chronicles produced for the Sword Brethern and the Teutonic Order use direct speech mostly for communication by or to three groups: pagans or recent converts, supernatural beings, and those who commit crimes. As in other frontier areas, here infidel and Christian, the pious and the transgressor, heavenly voices and demons battled but also communicated. The unusual nature of their exchanges is perhaps indicated through the frequent use of direct speech as a signifier of liminal interactions in the chronicles of Peter of Dusburg, Wigand of Marburg, and Henry of Livonia.
This introductory article serves a number of purposes. It offers an abridged narrative of the scope of the Second Crusade and introduces the major debates associated with the venture. All the contributions to the present volume are introduced within this framework and, when applicable, their place in the current historiography is highlighted. While serving as a concise introduction to the multifaceted nature of the crusade and, for the first time, drawing attention to the main debates associated with it within a single article, the historiographical discussion of this remarkable mid-twelfth-century endeavour has necessarily proved to be a testing ground for a familiar although still unresolved debate: what do scholars mean when the employ the terms ‘crusading’, ‘crusade’ and ‘crusader’?
Latin Literature and Frankish Culture in the Crusader States (1098–1187)
Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 2015
The so-called Crusader States established by European settlers in the Levant at the end of the eleventh century gave rise to a variety of Latin literary works, including historiography, sermons, pilgrim guides, monastic literature, and poetry. The first part of this study (Chapter 1) critically reevaluates the Latin literary texts and combines the evidence, including unpublished materials, to chart the development of genres over the course of the twelfth century. The second half of the study (Chapters 2-4) subjects this evidence to a cultural-rhetorical analysis, and asks how Latin literary works, as products by and for a cultural elite, appropriated preexisting materials and developed strategies of their own to construct a Frankish cultural identity of the Levant. Proceeding on three thematically different, but closely interrelated, lines of inquiry, it is argued that authors in the Latin East made cultural claims by drawing on the classical tradition, on the Bible, and on ideas of a Carolingian golden age. Chapter 2 demonstrates that Latin historians drew upon classical traditions to fit the Latin East within established frameworks of history and geography, in which the figures Vespasian and Titus are particularly prevalent. Chapter 3 traces the development of the conception of the Franks in the East as a "People of God" and the use of biblical texts to support this claim, especially the Books of the Maccabees. Chapter 4 explores the extent to which authors drew on the legend of Charlemagne as a bridge between East and West. Although the appearance of similar motifs signals a degree of cultural unity among the authors writing in the Latin East, there is an abundant variety in the way they are utilized, inasmuch as they are dynamic rhetorical strategies open to adaptation to differing exigencies. Over the course of writing this dissertation, I have benefited from the intellectual and emotional support of innumerable friends, relatives, and colleagues, only a few of whom I will be able to mention here. Firstly, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the warm intellectual community of the Classics Department at the University of Amsterdam, where I learned the value of thorough philological investigation. Likewise, the Department of the Classics at Harvard University has proven to be supportive, stimulating, and remarkably generous. My advisor at Utrecht University, Babette Hellemans, continues to be of immense support, whose dedication I will never be able to repay. I am profoundly grateful for the generosity afforded to me by the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, where I profited from the wealth of research materials and knowledgeable staff and fellows. I must mention here Margaret Mullett, who tirelessly advocated an atmosphere of intellectual exchange, Deb Stewart, who intuited all of my bibliographical needs, and the fellows Deniz Turker Cerda, Nawa Sugiyama, and Saskia Dirkse, whose friendship helped me retain my sanity during some of the more frantic periods. Throughout the writing process, I have benefited immensely from the insightful remarks of my committee: Marcus G. Bull, Benjamin Z. Kedar, Richard J. Tarrant, and above all my advisor Jan M. Ziolkowski, from whose guidance I have profited immeasurably on both a personal and professional level. Whatever insights I am able to offer would not have been possible without Jan's continuous encouragement and development of my ideas, while any shortcomings are my own. Finally, I am profoundly grateful to Coleman Connelly, whose friendship sustained me through graduate school, and to the Rife family, whom I will always consider my own family, viii and who have been there for me through all the hardships life has to offer, as have been the Bos family, whom I love dearly. Lastly, I wish to dedicate this dissertation to my sister Bernadette Yolles, who has always stood by me and means everything to me. Part I: Latin literature from the Crusader States Fulcher of Chartres, writing shortly after 1120: Considera, quaeso, et mente recogita, quomodo tempore in nostro transvertit Deus Occidentem in Orientem. Nam qui fuimus occidentales, nunc facti sumus orientales. Qui fuit Romanus aut Francus, hac in terra factus est Galilaeus, aut Palaestinus. Qui fuit Remensis aut Carnotensis, nunc efficitur Tyrius vel Antiochenus. Iam obliti sumus nativitatis nostrae loca; iam nobis pluribus vel sunt ignota, vel etiam inaudita. Hic iam possidet domos proprias et familias quasi iure paterno et haereditario, ille vero iam duxit uxorem non tantum compatriotam, sed et Syram aut Armenam et interdum Sarracenam, baptismi autem gratiam adeptam. .. Diversarum linguarum coutitur alternatim eloquio et obsequio alteruter.Lingua diversa iam communis facta utrique nationi fit nota, et iungit fides quibus est ignota progenies. .. Qui erat alienigena, nunc est indigena, et qui inquilinus, 1 est utique incola factus. 2 Consider, I ask, and reflect, how in our age God has transformed the West into the East. For we who were Westerners have now been turned into Easterners. He who was a Roman or Frank has become a Galilean in this land, or a Palestinian. He who was from Reims or Chartres has now become a citizen of Tyre or Antioch. We have already forgotten the places of our birth; already they have become unknown to many of us, and even unheard of. Some already own their own homes and households as if by hereditary right, while others have already married-and not just women of their own people, but even Syrian and Armenian women, and sometimes even Saracens, after they have received the grace of baptism. .. Each uses the idioms and expressions of various languages in conversing. A mixed language has become a common
Death on the Altar: the Rhetoric of 'Otherness' in Sources from the Early Period of the Crusades
Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, 2021
The article poses a thesis that the chroniclers of the First Crusade were tapping into a preexisting literary tradition of religious conflict in the process of shaping an image of an enemy. It centres on an analysis of the symbolic significance of the particular description of a priest's death at the hands of the Turks on the altar during the celebration of mass found in several sources describing the massacre of Christians in Civetot during the First Crusade (Gesta Francorum, Tudebode's Historia de Hierosolymitano itinere, Baldric of Dol's Historiae Hierosolymitanae libri IV, Guibert of Nogent's Gesta Dei per Francos, Robert the Monk's Historia Hierosolymitana, and Oderic Vitalis' Historia ecclesiastica). The article argues that the presented description could be considered an example of a rhetorical strategy employed in the crusading accounts, used for the purpose of depicting the enemy as religious and cultural 'other'. Furthermore, the article discusses the intertextuality and the potential influence of ancient and scriptural motifs on the literary workshop of the chroniclers in their versions of the story.
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2000
Here the longest article, more than pages, is on creation (SchoW pfer\SchoW pfung). But if we put all the articles about Scripture together (origin of writing, exegesis of the Bible, idea of sacred writings, learned exponents, reading in public) they come to even more. We are well treated in these essays. The church history of three countries is here-Scotland (James Cameron), Switzerland (Ulrich Gabler) and Sweden (Bertil Nilsson and Anders Jarlert), all admirable but the last covers more ground unknown to most English readers-and three of German Lander, Silesia, Schleswig-Holstein and Schaumburg-Lippe. For the Reformation the treatment of school (Schule\Schulwesen) is helpful, and there is also the Sandomir Consensus and the Schmalkaldic Articles and the League, with the radicals Michael Sattler and Schwenkfeld. Except within the long articles there is little on the Middle Ages except for the school of St Victor. The moderns are select but interesting-naturally a fundamental treatment of Schleiermacher ; among them Albert Schweitzer is hard to put down, and there are scholars like Eduard Schwartz and Seeberg and Philip Schaff. Ethically the key article is that on abortion (Schwangerschaftsabbruch), liturgically that on the Sanctus. The preface tells that Dr Joachim Mehlausen who for twenty years edited the TRE articles on the Reformation and after died last year ; we owe him thanks. S C, O C C Princeps christianus und Kaiser aller RoW mer. Theodosius der Grosse im Lichte zeitgenoW ssischer Quellen. By Jo$ rg Ernesti. (Paderborner Theologische Studien, ). Pp. incl. ills. Paderborn : Ferdinand Scho$ ningh, . DM . The Emperor Theodosius ( -) is generally known to have forcefully pushed through the Nicene faith as the sole belief among Christians and exclusive state religion of the Roman empire. Having in mind the surprising fact that even most pagan writers take a positive view of Theodosius-the version noire of Eunapius and Zosimus being an isolated exception (p. )-Ernesti has undertaken to challenge this simplistic view of the princeps christianus. His careful handling of many historical sources of very different types deserves admiration : the constitutions of the Codex Theodosianus (pp. -), various inscriptions (pp. -), coins (pp. -, with illustrations at pp. f.) and iconographic sources (pp. - with illustration at pp. -) are taken into account as well as literary texts (pp. -). The excellent presentation of the material (an introduction conveying information about the genre, the author and\or the Histoire du christianisme, III : Les E T glises d'orient et d'occident (-). By Luce Pietri. Pp. incl. ills. Paris : Descle! e, . Fr. . This third volume in the comprehensive Histoire du Christianisme planned to supersede the Fliche-Martin History of the Church completes the part devoted to antiquity. Neither the title page nor the preface indicate its chronological limits ; only the cover discloses that its spread is from to . Such minor flaws abound. The bibliographies appended to each chapter are very uneven in scope, and, what is worse, in their method of arrangement. Editions of texts used in different chapters are not always the same ; there is no list of abbreviations ; the index is only of proper names. The editorial hand of Luce Pietri has clearly not weighed heavily on the contributors. In a work evidently aiming to be definitive such blemishes should be ironed out in subsequent editions. In scope and arrangement the nearest comparison is with the History of the Church, edited by Hubert Jedin and John Dolan -), conceived on a similar scale. Compared with this, the French equivalent is considerably larger, the treatment more expansive, often more relaxed and more narrative in its approach. The quarter of a century that has elapsed between the two naturally allows the French volume to be more up to date. As in the Herder, the chapters are also written by different experts in each field, and have a good claim to being authoritative. Their quality is bound to vary. On any showing, some are outstanding : the present reviewer would place Jacques Fontaine's chapters on Christianity in the Iberian peninsula, Claire Sotinel's on Italy, Yves Mode! ran's on North Africa and Philippe Bernard's on the liturgy among these. It is refreshing to see language-boundaries becoming less intrusive in European scholarship. Although there are still surprising absences of important English and German work, the bibliographical horizon includes a fair number of nonfrancophone items. The lack of any reference, either in the notes or bibliographies, to the late Michael Wallace-Hadrill's large contribution to the study of Frankish Christianity is astonishing, though, happily, untypical of the book as a whole. N R. A. M Early Christians and animals. By Robert M. Grant. Pp. ixj incl. plates. London-New York : Routledge, . £. Unfortunately, this book fails to live up to the blurb's claim that it provides ' a comprehensive and coherent analysis '. Its structure is curious. The first half covers ' Biblical animals ' (though the discussion includes pagan evidence), ' Unusual animals ' (including fish and insects) and ' Unreal animals ' (the criterion for ' reality ' is unclear). Then follow chapters on ' The Alexandrians ', ' The Antiochenes ' and ' The Latin Fathers ', each including a section of translation, from the Physiologus, Basil of Caesarea's Homilies on Genesis and Isidore of Seville's Etymologies respectively. Finally, a translation of Etymologies xii is provided. By ' Antiochene ', Grant simply means ' literal interpreter ' (he includes even Irenaeus) ; but the implied contrast with Alexandrian treatment of this topic needs fuller defence. The translations are lucid and accurate. The text, however, sadly lacks direction and analysis. It also presumes knowledge of relatively obscure classical and early Christian authors. Despite the title, it ranges
This article presents the first forensic source criticism of the papal encyclical that launched the Third Crusade, Audita tremendi (1187/1188); it makes four main arguments. First, its core empirical contribution is to demonstrate textual variation across the four issues of the letter. Second, it engages with the debate on whether the crusading movement existed in an institutional form in the twelfth century by challenging the interpretation that the reissue of Audita tremendi and similar papal documents was the result of uninspired "plagiarism". Third, it offers a new reconstruction of the immediate context of the issue of the document and argues that, rather than being the product of a long period of careful composition, it was issued as a hurried response to the arrival of the news from Hattin. Fourth, it reconsiders the role of the encyclical in the call for the Third Crusade and contends that the papacy was focussed not on the promotion of the military expedition but the launch of an immediate liturgical campaign of communal repentance. Additionally, the article prints comparative transcriptions of the four issues as an appendix, three of which are published here for the first time.
Catholicism and Anti-Catholicism in Early Modern English Texts
The Sixteenth century journal, 2000
Theologische RealenzyklopaW die, XXXI : SeelenwanderungkSprache\Sprachwissenschaft\ Sprachphilosophie. Edited by Gerhard Mu$ ller and Claus-Jurgen Thornton. Pp. vijj ills. Berlin-New York : Walter de Gruyter, . DM . ; JEH () ; DOI : .\S This volume begins with two sad obituaries ; of Joachim Mehlhausen who for fifteen years cared for the articles on modern church history, and of Carl Heinrich Ratschow who persuaded the publishing house that another theological encyclopaedia was needed and laid down the principles that themes must be selective and that the chief weight must be historical. We owe gratitude to both. The letters in this volume mean many articles beginning with Social or Sozial and make a more dominantly modern volume than most ; Socialism and Christian Socialism, Social Democracy, Sociology, Social Ethics and more, a wide range in these subjects ; with excellent articles on slavery and Christian attitudes to it, sexuality, simony and the religion of gypsies and their fate in Christian cultures (not easily found, it is under Sinti und Roma, the Byzantine word Zigeuner is regarded as pejorative). Of states, Spain (moderate and wise upon the civil war and its aftermath), Slovakia and Siebenbu$ rgen. The histories of Sunday, and Sunday Schools, are well done. Of individuals, Popes Silvester and Sixtus and Sixtus ; two Lord Shaftesburys ; Archbishop So$ derblom ; Robertson Smith ; in the Reformation Spalatin and Servetus and Sozzini and Selnecker, in Pietism Spener, in Orthodoxy Serafim of Sarov ; in the Fathers Severus of Antioch and the Sibylline books. As always some of the best articles are on pastoral care ; here that on Seelsorge and an unusual one illustrated briefly on Sepulkralkunst. A surprise is a long essay on Shakespeare. Simultaneum gives a unique account of the way churches were shared between denominations in a way that cannot be described as ecumenical. S C, O C C Les Reliques. Objets, cultes, symboles. Actes du colloque international de I'UniversiteT du Littoral-CoV te d'Opale (Boulogne-sur-Mer).-septembre. Edited by Edina Bozo! ky and Anne-Marie Helve! tius. (Hagiologia. E; tudes sur la Saintete! en Occident-Studies on Western Sainthood, .) Pp. incl. ills and colour plates. Turnhout : Brepols, . B.Fr. ,. JEH () ; DOI : .\S U S A J M. H. S Augustine in iconography. History and legend. Edited by Joseph C. Schnaubelt and Frederick Van Fleteren, artistic editor George Radan. (Augustinian Historical Institute, .) Pp. xxij incl. numerous ills. New York : Peter Lang, . £. JEH () ; DOI : .\S For this its fourth volume, Collectanea Augustiniana, a series of studies designed to form a complementary corpus to the mainstream of scholarship on St Augustine, takes up the analysis of his iconography. Covering more than archaeological and artistic topics, both historical and legendary, its range makes it a welcome addition to the study of religious iconography in general and of the visual representation of Augustine in particular. The organisation of the material is tripartite. And the first principal part is preceded by a lengthy editorial introduction in the form of a kind of Quellenforschung, which provides a programmatic statement, and describes and interprets the significant literary sources underlying the representations. Part offers several independent studies considering the artistic setting of Augustine's biography. It covers the relevant archaeological excavations, including an analysis of the ruins of the baptistry of Milan and a critical study of the Basilica pacis at Hippo. The probable historical journey of Augustine's remains to Italy, and the history and influence of Augustinian monasticism there, also emerge clearly in this section. Part examines the Augustinian cycles, including the Augustine screen in Carlisle Cathedral, and part concentrates on Augustine's portrait, and its elaboration, from the earliest recorded in a twelfth-century manuscript in the Laurentian Library to that of the fifteenth-century Certosa of Pavia, and the celebrated sixteenth-century portrait ' St Augustine in his Study ' by Carpaccio. The value of the uniformly interesting essays in these two parts is to bring out the influence of Augustine's thinking and exegesis on general artistic problems : the widespread and pervading cultural influence of the De civitate dei is here clearly demonstrated. The editors round off their volume with a brief retrospective. In this unusual work, therefore, they offer church historians an account in one volume of the evolution of the artistic persona, as opposed to the historical person, of St Augustine, and of the perennial cultural influence of his thought. So although it is not a complete treatment of Augustinian iconography, which at present is impossible, nevertheless this collection of studies is remarkable from many points of view and it extends most usefully the solid catalogue raisonneT established earlier by P. Courcelle and J. Courcelle. U N M C-M Imaging the early medieval Bible. Edited by John Williams. (The Penn State Series in the History of the Book.) Pp. viij incl. figsj colour plates. University Park, P : The Pennsylvania State University Press, . $. JEH () ; DOI : .\S Until recently the study of the patchy and varied surviving evidence for early medieval biblical illustration has focused on its origins and precursors. The illuminator's docility to artistic models, and the continuity and constancy of