The First Crusade: "The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres" and Other Source Materials (The Middle Ages Series) [Paperback]

Edward Peters (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0812216563 | ISBN-13: 978-0812216561 | Edition: Second Edition

The First Crusade received its name and shape late. To its contemporaries, the event was a journey and the men who took part in it pilgrims. Only later were those participants dubbed Crusaders—"those signed with the Cross." In fact, many developments with regard to the First Crusade, like the bestowing of the cross and the elaboration of Crusaders' privileges, did not occur until the late twelfth century, almost one hundred years after the event itself.

In a greatly expanded second edition, Edward Peters brings together the primary texts that document eleventh-century reform ecclesiology, the appearance of new social groups and their attitudes, the institutional and literary evidence dealing with Holy War and pilgrimage, and, most important, the firsthand experiences by men who participated in the events of 1095-1099.

Peters supplements his previous work by including a considerable number of texts not available at the time of the original publication. The new material, which constitutes nearly one-third of the book, consists chiefly of materials from non-Christian sources, especially translations of documents written in Hebrew and Arabic. In addition, Peters has extensively revised and expanded the Introduction to address the most important issues of recent scholarship.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Edward Peters is Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. His publications include Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History, all available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press; Second Edition edition (June 18, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812216563
• ISBN-13: 978-0812216561
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent collection of source material, March 8, 2006

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With Favourable Winds - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Crusade: "The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres" and Other Source Materials (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

I'd like to offer a counterpoint to the rather harsh reviews of this book offered elsewhere on Amazon. While the other reviewers' points about the limited scope of Peters's collection and his choice of organization have some basis, they do not significantly weaken his achievement.

The introduction is worth the cost of the book itself; in it, Peters gives an excellent summary of the continent-wide debate preceding the First Crusade about killing in a Christian context: in a surprisingly short period, a new idea arose that actually encouraged Christian knights to go on crusade. While killing was normally wrong, avenging the deaths of other Christians and meting out God's justice on earth came to be seen as positively redeeming for Christian soldiers; one result of this was the birth of a new epoch in the West, the Crusades. I cannot think of a better way to characterize the ethos of the half-millennium from 1095 to 1565 (the Christian knights' successful defense of Malta) than to call it the Age of Crusade. The introduction also does a good job of setting up the geopolitical chessboard of the day, explaining some of the political reasons that inspired Urban II to make his seminal speech at Clermont.

Peters makes no claim that I can find to being exhaustive; rather, his book is intended to give the average student of the First Crusade a background in the original sources. Surely this is a worthy goal; I would rather have my students read 50 pages of orignal, 900-year-old text than 300 pages of wordy academese or casual potboiler history. Furthermore, this book inspires the reader to seek out complete editions of Fulcher, William of Tyre, and the other writers represented. I can think of no better introduction to the First Crusade than this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All around good, March 3, 2009

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Kirialax (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Crusade: "The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres" and Other Source Materials (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

Peters has put together a nice compilation of primary material regarding the First Crusade. Snippets are arranged by event, so comparing multiple accounts of the same event is no more difficult than turning the page. Fulcher's text dominates the work, and this edition seems to be the primary choice amongst scholars who cite him.

The great achievement of this book is it's price and accessibility. Certain periods of history have texts that are notoriously difficult to acquire cheaply, and having so many together in one cheap little book is very useful. The translations are crisp and clear. Including a number of letters towards the end of the book is also very nice, and provides insight into the minds of the crusaders. Additionally, the introduction is very good.

The only reason that this book gets 4 stars is its lack of maps. Students unfamiliar with the region are given no guidance in this area. Would it have really been so hard for the publisher to insert a basic map of the various routes east, listing important places like Ascalon and Dorylaion that aren't on many non-crusade specific maps?

There is no reason for any serious student of the crusades to not own this work. It is very cheap and accessible, and there is a great deal of content inside.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Origins of the Crusades From the Words of the Christians, Muslims, and Jews That Were Involved, August 29, 2011

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F. Ramos "Exhaustive Thinker / Researcher" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The First Crusade: "The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres" and Other Source Materials (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

This anthology of primary sources from the Europeans and Middle Easterners, that were involved or documented the First Crusade, should be required reading for anyone investigating the nature of violence. This anthology provides essential background and background texts which shed the best light on the issue of why the Crusades started when they did and not before. The foundations for fighting on most sides were definitely secular such as political maneuvering, resources, territory, betrayal, abuses, and humanitarian principles. The documents are sometimes theologically overtoned, but the secular foundations and reasons can clearly be seen throughout the accounts. The Crusaders were all Pilgrims and considered themselves as such. They did not see themselves as soldiers and warriors for a divine cause. They did not consider themselves as "Crusaders" nor as Crusading until centuries after the conflict began. The Bible is rarely referenced in any of the historical documents, but when it is referenced, the citations are usually about calls for unity for Christians like Matthew 10:38-39 and similar calls to follow Christ wholeheartedly. The Psalms or verses concerning spreading the Christian message to others in hopes of saving people were also cited. Strangely enough, the Bible was not used as a source for encouraging violence since references from Jesus encouraging killing of others are virtually nonexistent. Though the Pilgrims could have used the Book of Joshua constantly or other Biblical accounts of war as a potential sources for wanting to fight and kill others, they simply didn't.

The best part of this anthology is that you get the perspectives of the Christians, Muslims, and Jews in their sufferings and triumphs. The views of Jews, Muslims, and Christians were very much influenced by their experiences in these times and their frustrations are reflected in their interpretations of God blessing or cursing their causes. The complexity of all the Crusades is seen by the fact that the conditions changed all the time including Christians fighting Christians and Jews supporting Muslims. The First Crusade, from the Christian's side, was really an unguided set of battles by Pilgrims from many nations who went to defend their cultures as a whole and where leadership was not uniform or rigid. Interestingly, neither Pope Urban II or Emperor Alexius I Comnenus lead these Pilgrim expeditions. Pilgrims did the grunt work themselves. Read on.

For more Muslim perspectives on these times and beyond please read: The Crusades Through Arab Eyes and Arab Historians of the Crusades (Islamic World).

For more Jewish perspectives see: The Jews and the Crusaders: The Hebrew Chronicles of the First and Second Crusades.

The Introduction, by Peters, is definitely worth the price of the book because it documents the reforms in institutional powers and changes in views from clergy, warriors, and laypeople on when violence was allowed in Christianity. He mentions how being a Christian and being a soldier had its paradox. Penance for soldiers was done in many different manifestations like periodical suspension of military duties, becoming a monk later on, etc. These were means of handling sin, penance, and salvation for soldiers, warriors, and other men in a position to use force to protect their lands and nations. Peters claims, "But before the eleventh century no one had worked out a doctrine whereby fighting itself might be considered a penitential and spiritually meritorious act." (8) This means that Christianity had not developed a concept of, what some have erroneously dubbed, "Holy War" for at least the first 1,000 years of existence. In other words, such a concept was more of a gentile-European invention than a Biblical or Judeo-Christian worldview trademark. The incidents in the Old Testament were not used at all as models of how to fight others since Europeans preferred Gentile culture over Jewish history. As will be seen, much of the conflict was neither religious nor holy, but fundamentally and overwhelmingly secular (worldly). Europeans seemed to have developed a different sense of Christianity than historical Christianity which was Jewish to the core as is seen by the fact that nearly all the authors of the books of the Bible were Jews, Jesus himself was Jew who did not abandon Judaism, his disciples were Jews, his ministry never went far from Israel, the first Christians were all Jews from Israel and Paul was a Jew who emphasized to the Jews first then the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). Overall, the Bible is really all about Jews with some moderate focus on gentiles from beginning to end. It is in Europe that Jesus begins to be depicted as a white, blue eyed, Latin speaking icon - even though he was none of these and spoke Aramaic. Culture has way more power and influence than Scripture on many levels - especially concerning wars and conflicts.

Peters mentions how language such as "enemies of God" emerged in the 10th and 11th century and how border areas of contact between Muslims and Christians such as Spain, Sicily, Italy, and Byzantium did not generate this attitude of opposition because of the daily interactions in these countries made for tolerant views of each other's cultures. It was in remote places like Burgundy, Lorraine, and France, where there was little or no contact between Muslims and Christians, that the views of being unavoidable enemies emerged in the late 11th century.

Peters states, "Not only in Spain, however, were armed penitents welcome. The invasions of Europe by Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims in the 9th and 10th centuries had appeared to many as an attack on their lands and their faith. Other enemies appeared in the eleventh century." (11)

He also states, "Early Christianity, which had reluctantly accepted St. Augustine's justification for legitimacy of war under certain specified conditions, had rarely regarded warfare in any way virtuous and often expressed concern for the salvation of those who killed enemies in battle, regardless of the cause for which they fought. The new perils of the 9th and 10th century invasions, however, the clearly acknowledged duty of the powerful to protect the poor and defenseless, and the new successes of Christian armies in Spain, south Italy, and Sicily all represent a slow process by which Christianity came to terms - but its own distinct terms - with war." (15-16) Christian Pilgrims seemed also to be able to fight well when needed.

He notes, "The First Crusade received its name and its shape late. To its participants, it was a journey or pilgrimage, for which the Latin words "iter" and "expeditio" and "peregrinato" sufficed; the later terms "crosata" and "croseria" to designate crusade do not appear until the late 12th and 13th centuries. The men who went on this journey were "peregrini" - pilgrims- and not until much later "crucesignati", "those signed with the Cross"-crusaders." (21)

He mentions, that the First Crusade began with a proclamation of the Peace and Truce of God which was a universal peace for the first time proclaimed throughout all Christendom. It included the Western Church (Rome) and the Eastern Church (Constantinople).

Overall, a few things or events triggered the First Crusade:

* Emperor Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118) from the Byzantine Empire requested help from Pope Urban II and Western Europeans in 1095 concerning an invasion by Middle Easterners from the Eastern part of the empire.

* Pope Urban II at the Council of Clement gave a speech including the Truce and Peace of God which was very much humanitarian oriented, an appeal for assisting the Byzantine Empire halt the Middle Easterner expansions in Romania and other parts of the empire, an appeal by Urban II to make an expedition to free Jerusalem (partly for safety of pilgrims even though some stories may have been exaggerated), a guaranteeing of salvation to those who fought for these causes.

* Pope Urban II toured Europe recruiting people

* Recent history of many attempts of invasion by "outsiders" on the lands of Europeans (in past few centuries and right before the call from Pope Urban II)

* Stories of abuses of Pilgrims in Jerusalem where the Turks ruled, meaning that Pilgrims from various cultures were being taken advantage of physically and economically on their trips to the city and their rights were not protected as harmless visitors of the city. This is why pilgrims even before the first crusade, still armed themselves to make their pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

and a few other events and changes in views of institutions, like the making the secular, all made the Crusades start off.

Here I will cite the section titles and some comments on what is found in these sections:

I. Pope Urban II at the Council of Claremont, November 27, 1095

This section includes 4 versions of Pope Urban's famous speech (Anonymous Gesta, Robert of Rheims, Baldric of Dol, and Guibert of Nogent) including different versions of his the Truce of God which is a utopian vision of peace among Christians of every nation and a stance against injustices. The appeal to protect and repel those who wish to conquer territories held by Christians in the East is seen through these texts among some theological implications of Christians vs Anti-Christians. Heightened views of the significance of the places that are from the Holy Land are part of the message along with an offer for penance of all sin if one becomes a martyr. Fulcher's version of the Speech is in the next section and is considered perhaps the most reliable. The 4 versions of the speech is a... Read more ›