''Historia Hierosolymitana'' is a chronicle of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

written between c. 1107–1120 by Robert the Monk (''Robertus Monachus'')'','' a French prior.The text is dated to 1107 by Starck (2012) but somewhat later, to ca. 1116–1122, by Steven Runciman , ''The First Crusade'' (A History of the Crusades, Volume 1) Cambridge University Press (1951), Appendix I.

Chronicle

Robert has been identified with a prior of Senuc and former abbot of Saint-Remi, who lived c. 1055 – 1122; hence he is also referred to as ''Robert of Reims'' or ''Robert of Saint-Remi'' (''Robertus Remensis''). Robert asserts in his prologue that he had been present at the

Council of Clermont The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Pope Urban's speech ...

of 1095, which makes his account of Pope Urban II's speech that of an eye-witness, even though written from memory, twelve or more years later. Outside of this part, however, the author proposes not to write about his own observations but as a chronicler, having agree to rewrite, at the request of his abbot, the '' Gesta Francorum'', an account written by a soldier of Bohemond I of Antioch, in a less "rustic" style. Robert introduced into the narrative of the First Crusade a Benedictine interpretation, and one that included apocalyptic elements. Robert's chronicle contains an account of Pope Urban II's speech at the

of November 1095, the call to arms for the

. This speech is also recorded by another eye-witness,

Fulcher of Chartres Fulcher of Chartres (c. 1059 in or near Chartres – after 1128) was a priest who participated in the First Crusade. He served Baldwin I of Jerusalem for many years and wrote a Latin chronicle of the Crusade. Life Fulcher was born c. 1059. His app ...

, and most historians tend to consider Fulcher's version as closer to the original speech, while Robert's version is seen as embellished and more "dramatic", and in parts informed by the later success of the First Crusade. Both Robert's and Fulcher's account of the speech include a description of the terrible plight of the Christians in the East under the recent conquests of the Turks and the promise of remission of sins for those who go to their aid. Robert's version, however, includes a more vivid description of the atrocities committed by the conquerors, describing the

desecration Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful, contemptuous, or destructive treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual. Detail Many consider acts of desecration to ...

of churches, the forced circumcision,

beheading Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

and torture by

disemboweling Disembowelment or evisceration is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract (the bowels, or viscera), usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident ...

of Christian men and alluding to grievous

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

of Christian women. According to Robert, Urban addressed his call explicitly to the race of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

, of which he was himself a member, invoking the valour of their ancestors, "the glory and greatness of king

Charles the Great Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, and of his son

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

", culminating in "Oh, most valiant soldiers and descendants of invincible ancestors, be not degenerate, but recall the valour of your progenitors." Robert's version also describes the spontaneous reaction of Urban's audience, bursting into cries of ''

Deus vult ''Deus vult'' (Ecclesiastical Latin: 'God wills it') is a Christian motto relating to Divine providence. It was first chanted by Catholics during the First Crusade in 1096 as a rallying cry, most likely under the form ''Deus le veult'' or ''Deus l ...

'' ("God wills it"); this motto and battle cry is also found in the '' Gesta Francorum'', there in the more "vulgar" or vernacular form of ''Deus le volt''. In a further element not found in Fulcher's account, and perhaps inspired after the fact by the failure of the

People's Crusade The People's Crusade was the beginning phase of the First Crusade whose objective was to retake the Holy Land, and Jerusalem in particular, from Islamic rule. After in 1095 the head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Urban II started to urge faith ...

, Urban warns that the expedition is not commanded or advised for the old or feeble, those unfit for bearing arms, or for women, but for experienced soldiers, that clergy should only take part with the consent of their bishop and laymen only with the blessing of their priest. Robert's work was the likely source of

Gilo of Paris Gilo of Toucy, also called Gilo of Paris or Gilo of Tusculum (died 1139×1142), was a French poet and cleric. A priest before he became a monk at Cluny, he was appointed cardinal-bishop of Tusculum sometime between 1121 and 1123. He served as a pa ...

's ''Historia vie Hierosolimitane''. Metullus of

Tegernsee Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) above sea level. A spa town, it is surrounded by an alpine landscape of Upper Bavaria, and has an ...

, a 12th-century monk and poet, made a verse adaptation of Robert's work in his ''Expeditio Ierosolimitana''.

Publication history

An edition was produced for the

Recueil des historiens des croisades {{italic title The ''Recueil des historiens des croisades'' (trans: ''Collection of the Historians of the Crusades'') is a major collection of several thousand medieval documents written during the Crusades. The documents were collected and publish ...

series, appearing in 1866. A modern critical edition of the work was published in 2013. An English translation appeared in the

Crusade Texts in Translation Crusade Texts in Translation is a book series of English translations of texts about the Crusades published initially by Ashgate in Farnham, Surrey and Burlington, Vermont, and currently by Routledge. Publication began in May 1996. The editors o ...

series in 2005.

References

*Carol Sweetenham, ''Robert the Monk’s History of the First Crusade'', Crusade Texts in Translation, vol. 11, Aldershot: Ashgate (2005). *Georg Strack, "The Sermon of Urban II in Clermont and the Tradition of Papal Oratory", ''Medieval Sermon Studies'' 56 (2012), 30–45, DOI 10.1179/1366069112Z.0000000002
uni-muenchen.de

External links

{{Authority control Crusade literature First Crusade 12th-century Latin books Crusade chronicles