The Deeds of the Franks and Other Jerusalem-Bound Pilgrims: The Earliest Chronicle of the First Crusades

163 Pages·2011·4.07 MB·English

by  Nirmal Dass

The Deeds
of the Franks and Other
Jerusalem-Bound Pilgrims

The Deeds
of the Franks and Other
Jerusalem-Bound Pilgrims
The Earliest Chronicle of the First Crusades
Edited and Translated
by
Nirmal Dass
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolymitanorum. English.
The deeds of the Franks and other Jerusalem-bound pilgrims : the earliest
chronicle of the first crusades / edited and translated by Nirmal Dass.
p. cm.
Summary: “This new translation offers a faithful yet accessible English-
language rendering of the twelfth-century Gesta Francorum et aliorum
Hierosolomitanorum, the earliest known Latin account of the First Crusade. The
exemplar for all later histories and retellings of the First Crusade, it is filled with
vivid descriptions of the hardships suffered by the crusaders, with deeds of personal
heroism, with courtly intrigues, with betrayal and cowardice, and with a relentless
faith that would see the attainment of the desired goal: the capture of Jerusalem
by the crusaders in 1095. It is also a sweeping tale that swiftly moves from the first
preaching of the crusade by Pope Urban II, to the ragtag and ultimately doomed
effort of the popular People’s Crusade, and then to the more disciplined and
concerted campaign by the French and Norman nobility that led to the conquest
of the Holy Land by the crusaders. Based on the latest scholarly research, including
a substantive introduction that explores the questions surrounding the Gesta and
that sets it in its historical context, this definitive translation will bring the First
Crusade and its era to life for all readers” —Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4422-0497-3 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-4422-0498-0
(paperback) — ISBN 978-1-4422-0499-7 (electronic)
1. Crusades—First, 1096–1099. I. Dass, Nirmal, 1962– II. Title.
D161.1.G413 2011
956’.014—dc23 2011022885
 ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United
States of America
Contents
Introduction 1
The Deeds of the Franks and Other Jerusalemites
The First Narrative: Year-End 1095 to February 1097 25
The Second Narrative: February 20 to June 19, 1097 33
The Third Narrative: The Crusaders in Asia Minor—
July 1097 41
The Fourth Narrative: The Crusaders March to Antioch—
July to October 1097 45
The Fifth Narrative: October to December 1097 51
The Sixth Narrative: The Siege of Antioch Continues—
December 1097 to February 1098 55
The Seventh Narrative: The Siege of Antioch Continues—
March 1098 61
The Eighth Narrative: March to June 1098 65
The Ninth Narrative: June 1098 71
The Tenth Narrative: July 1098 to August 1099 89
Description of the Holy Places of Jerusalem 109
Mass in Veneration of the Holy Sepulcher 113
Verse in Praise of Bohemond 115
v
vi Contents
Four Names 117
Notes 119
Selected Bibliography 149
Index 151

Introduction
AUTHORSHIP
T
he Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum (the Gesta), or “the
deeds of the Franks and other Jerusalemites,” is the primal source for
the First Crusade.1 The various other extant chronicles of this crusade
chiefly depend upon it for episodic and narrative structure, although
the Gesta’s primacy has often been questioned.2 The title of the work
has been given to it from the earliest manuscript tradition, and the
Latin term Hierosolimitanorum, or “of the Jerusalemites,” in the title of
the work points to a medieval practice of associating pilgrims with the
holy place they were going to visit. Thus, the crusaders were Jerusale-
mites because they were pilgrims on their way to the Holy Sepulcher
(the tomb in which Jesus was buried) in Jerusalem. The Gesta is an
anonymous work; nor can it be clearly ascertained where it might have
been written. Paleographic evidence firmly suggests a European origin;
handwriting practiced in the Latin Near East was markedly different.3
The manuscripts also suggest a date around the first half of the twelfth
century—well within living memory of the various events described in
the Gesta. If an original version of the Gesta existed in Jerusalem, it has
not survived; we only have European copies of it. The fact that some
sort of a book about the First Crusade might have existed in Jerusalem
is certain, since a visitor there states that he saw such a little book, a
libellus, in 1101. The visitor’s name was Ekkehard of Aura, the famous
1