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Literature of the Crusades: Edited by Simon Thomas Parsons and Linda M. Paterson
LITERATURE OF THE CRUSADES
Edited by SIMON THOMAS PARSONS AND LINDA M. PATERSON
The interrelation of so-called 鈥渓iterary鈥� and 鈥渉istorical鈥� 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鈥檚
famous song of captivity; crusade references in the troubadour Cerver铆 of Girona; literary culture surrounding Charles of Anjou鈥檚 expeditions; the use of the M茅lusine legend to strengthen the Lusignans鈥� 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.
SIMON THOMAS PARSONS teaches Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University
of London and King鈥檚 College London; LINDA M. PATERSON is Professor Emerita at Warwick University.