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Literature of the Crusades / edited by Simon Thomas Parsons and Linda M. Paterson.

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: Cambridge : D.C. Brewer, c2018.Description: xiii, 210 p. : 25 cmISBN:
  • 9781843844587 (hardback)
  • 1843844583 (hardback)
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 809/.93358207 23
LOC classification:
  • PN682.C725 .P37 2018
Contents:
1. `Claruit Ibi Multum Dux Lotharingiae': The Development of the Epic Tradition of Godfrey of Bouillon and the Bisected Muslim / Simon John -- 2. Reflecting and Refracting Reality: The Use of Poetic Sources in Latin Accounts of the First Crusade / Carol Sweetenham -- 3. Emotions and the `Other': Emotional Characterizations of Muslim Protagonists in Narratives of the Crusades (1095 -- 1192) / Stephen J. Spencer -- 4. A Unique Song of the First Crusade: New Observations on the Hatton 77 Manuscript of the Siege d'Antioche / Simon Thomas Parsons -- 5. Crusade Songs and the Old French Literary Canon / Luca Barbieri -- 6. Wielding the Cross: Crusade References in Cerveri de Girona and Thirteenth-Century Catalan Historiography / Miriam Cabre -- 7. `Voil ma chancun a la gent fere oir: An Anglo-Norman Crusade Appeal (London, BL Harley 1717, fol. 251v) / Anna Radaelli -- 8. Richard the Lionheart: The Background to Ja nus hornspris / Charmaine Lee -- 9. Charles of Anjou: Crusaders and Poets / Jean Dunbabin -- 10. Remembering the Crusaders in Cyprus: The Lusignans, the Hospitallers and the 1191 Conquest of Cyprus in Jean d'Arras's Melusine / Helen J. Nicholson.
Summary: The interrelation of so-called "literary" and "historical" sources of the crusades, and the fluidity of these categorisations, are the central concerns of the essays collected here. They demonstrate what the study of literary texts can do for our historical understanding of the crusading movement, challenging earlier historiographical assumptions about well-known poems and songs, and introducing hitherto understudied manuscript sources which elucidate a rich contemporary compositional culture regarding the matter of crusade.The volume discusses a wide array of European textual responses to the medieval crusading movement, from the Plantagenet and Catalan courts to the Italy of Charles of Anjou, Cyprus, and the Holy Land. Meanwhile, the topics considered include the connexions between poetry and history in the Latin First Crusade texts; the historical, codicological and literary background to Richard the Lionheart's famous song of captivity; crusade references in the troubadour Cerverí of Girona; literary culture surrounding Charles of Anjou's expeditions; the use of the Mélusine legend to strengthen the Lusignans' claim to Cyprus; and the influence of aristocratic selection criteria in manuscript traditions of Old French crusade songs. These diverse approaches are unified in their examination of crusading texts as cultural artefacts ripe for comparison across linguistic and thematic divides.--
Item type: Books
Holdings
Current library Collection Call number Vol info Status Date due Barcode
Judith Thomas Library General Stacks BKS PN 682 .C725 P37 2018 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) AUA25145 Available AUA25145

"This book is the outcome of a one-day research workshop open to the general public which was organized by Simon Parsons in London at Senate House on Saturday 22 March 2014. It contains versions of some of the papers given there with a number of additional contributions."--Page ix.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [173]-197) and index.

1. `Claruit Ibi Multum Dux Lotharingiae': The Development of the Epic Tradition of Godfrey of Bouillon and the Bisected Muslim / Simon John -- 2. Reflecting and Refracting Reality: The Use of Poetic Sources in Latin Accounts of the First Crusade / Carol Sweetenham -- 3. Emotions and the `Other': Emotional Characterizations of Muslim Protagonists in Narratives of the Crusades (1095 -- 1192) / Stephen J. Spencer -- 4. A Unique Song of the First Crusade: New Observations on the Hatton 77 Manuscript of the Siege d'Antioche / Simon Thomas Parsons -- 5. Crusade Songs and the Old French Literary Canon / Luca Barbieri -- 6. Wielding the Cross: Crusade References in Cerveri de Girona and Thirteenth-Century Catalan Historiography / Miriam Cabre -- 7. `Voil ma chancun a la gent fere oir: An Anglo-Norman Crusade Appeal (London, BL Harley 1717, fol. 251v) / Anna Radaelli -- 8. Richard the Lionheart: The Background to Ja nus hornspris / Charmaine Lee -- 9. Charles of Anjou: Crusaders and Poets / Jean Dunbabin -- 10. Remembering the Crusaders in Cyprus: The Lusignans, the Hospitallers and the 1191 Conquest of Cyprus in Jean d'Arras's Melusine / Helen J. Nicholson.

The interrelation of so-called "literary" and "historical" sources of the crusades, and the fluidity of these categorisations, are the central concerns of the essays collected here. They demonstrate what the study of literary texts can do for our historical understanding of the crusading movement, challenging earlier historiographical assumptions about well-known poems and songs, and introducing hitherto understudied manuscript sources which elucidate a rich contemporary compositional culture regarding the matter of crusade.The volume discusses a wide array of European textual responses to the medieval crusading movement, from the Plantagenet and Catalan courts to the Italy of Charles of Anjou, Cyprus, and the Holy Land. Meanwhile, the topics considered include the connexions between poetry and history in the Latin First Crusade texts; the historical, codicological and literary background to Richard the Lionheart's famous song of captivity; crusade references in the troubadour Cerverí of Girona; literary culture surrounding Charles of Anjou's expeditions; the use of the Mélusine legend to strengthen the Lusignans' claim to Cyprus; and the influence of aristocratic selection criteria in manuscript traditions of Old French crusade songs. These diverse approaches are unified in their examination of crusading texts as cultural artefacts ripe for comparison across linguistic and thematic divides.--