''Gesta Tancredi in expeditione Hierosolymitana'' (The Deeds of Tancred in the Crusade), also known by its full title ''Gesta Tancredi Siciliae Regis in expeditione Hierosolymitana, is'' usually called simply ''Gesta Tancredi'', is a prosimetric history written in laconicLatinprose and episodes of verse by Norman chaplin Ralph of Caen (before 1079 – after 1130). His text provides an exceptional narrative of the First Crusade and events the Crusade entailed, especially those that involved
Tancred
Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espe ...
. It is one of only half a dozen firsthand Latin accounts of those events.
Ralph is largely known to history for this work, though he acted as chaplain to Bohemond of Taranto. He did not take part in the First Crusade, but joined Bohemond later, during his recruiting tour for the crusade of 1107. He was a native of
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Normandy who was a student of Arnulf of Chocques, the future
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wit ...
.Spear, David S. "The School of Caen Revisited" in ''The Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History'' Volume 4 ed. Robert B. Patterson Woodbridge, Suffolk:Boydell Press 1992 p. 57 Arnulf departed for the Crusade in the entourage of Robert II, Duke of Normandy. Ralph was taken up by Bohemond, during Bohemond's return to Francia. After arriving with Bohemond's entourage at his return to
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
(1107), Ralph took service with Bohemond's nephew Tancred, who ruled the principality of Antioch from 1108 to 1112.
Though ''Gesta Tancredi'' depends to a great degree on eyewitness accounts, it was commenced after the death of Tancred (11 December 1112), supposedly in order to avoid possible charges of flattery by Ralph's patrons. Later historians have criticised his work as a panegyric of the Normans, especially his patrons, on crusade, but in fact the text has far more complex nuances. The text covers the years 1096–1105. Either the text, which breaks off abruptly, has lost its final sections covering the last six years of Tancred's career, or Ralph died before his work was completed, though he lived long enough to mention the death of Bohemond the Younger, who died in 1130.
''Gesta Tancredi'', justified by Ralph's former intimacy with Bohemond and Tancred, focuses on the careers of the two men; it is dedicated to Arnulf. ''Gesta Tancredi'' is the most important Latin source for the Norman campaigns in
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coas ...
(1097–1108), and for the early Norman rule in Antioch. The work appears in '' Recueil des historiens des croisades, Historiens occidentaux,'' Volume 3.VIII, pgs. 587-710. ''Gesta Tancredi'' provides an unflattering view of contemporaneous Byzantium, in particularly emperor
Alexios I
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinization of names, Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor ...
.
Ralph of Caen was well educated in the Latin classics. Besides Virgil, whose work he knew well, he was acquainted with Ovid, who did not become popular until the twelfth-century Renaissance, and even
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
, who never developed much medieval reputation. More directly, in view of his project, he had read Roman historians: Livy and
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
(in his '' Gallic War''), whom he took as his models, and also
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
's '' Pharsalia'' and Sallust's history.Bachrach 2005:5. His narrative (in 157 sections) is in prose when recounting events, rising to poetry to describe Tancred's capture and despoliation of the
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock ( ar, قبة الصخرة, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the ''al-Haram al-Sharif'' or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initial ...
Patrologia Latina
The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...