Ambroise Paré Hospital on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
Ambroise, sometimes Ambroise of Normandy,
[This form appeared first in ] (flourished ) was a
Norman poet and chronicler of the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...
, author of a work called ', which describes in rhyming
Old French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th verse the adventures of as a crusade">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
verse the adventures of as a crusader.
Life
The credit for detecting its value belongs to Gaston Paris, although his edition (1897) was partially anticipated by the editors of the ', who published some selections in the twenty-seventh volume of their Scriptores (1885). Ambroise followed Richard I as a
noncombatant, and not improbably as a court-
minstrel
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...
. He speaks as an eyewitness of the king's doings at
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
, in
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, at the
siege of Acre, and in the abortive campaign which followed the capture of that city.
Commentary on his work
Ambroise is surprisingly accurate in his
chronology
Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...
; though he did not complete his work before 1195, it is evidently founded upon notes which he had taken in the course of his
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
. He shows no greater political insight than we should expect from his position; but relates what he had seen and heard with a naïve vivacity which compels attention. He is by no means an impartial source: he is prejudiced against the
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens
''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...
, against the French, and against all the rivals or enemies of his master, including the ''Polein'' party which supported
Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat (Italian language, Italian: ''Corrado del Monferrato''; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''Conrà ëd Monfrà'') (c. 1146 – 28 April 1192) was a nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the '' ...
against
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan ( 1150 – 18 July 1194) was King of Jerusalem, first as husband and co-ruler of Queen Sibylla from 1186 to 1190 then as disputed ruler from 1190 to 1192. He was also Lord of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194.
A French Poitevin kni ...
. He is rather to be treated as a
biographer
Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography.
Biographers
Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...
than as a historian of the Crusade in its broader aspects. Nonetheless, he is an interesting primary source for the events of the years 1190–1192 in the
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...
.
Books 2–6 of the ''
Itinerarium Regis Ricardi
The ''Itinerarium Regis Ricardi'' (in full, ''Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi'') is a Latin prose narrative of the Third Crusade, 1189-1192. The first part of the book concentrates on Saladin's conquests and the early stages of the ...
'', a Latin prose narrative of the same events apparently compiled by Richard, a canon of Holy Trinity, London, are closely related to Ambroise's poem. They were formerly sometimes regarded as the first-hand narrative on which Ambroise based his work, but that can no longer be maintained.
History of the poem
The poem is known to us only through one
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Geography
* Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy
* Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City
* Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome
* Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
, and long escaped the notice of historians.
Published edition
* Ambroise, ''L´Estoire de la guerre sainte''. Paris, 1897: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6517331f.r
* Ambroise, ''Itinerarium regis Ricardi''. London, 1920: https://archive.org/details/itinerariumregis00richuoft
* Ambroise, ''The History of the Holy War'', translated by Marianne Ailes, Boydell Press, 2003.
See also
*
Anglo-Norman literature
Anglo-Norman literature is literature composed in the Anglo-Norman language and developed during the period of 1066–1204, as the Duchy of Normandy and the Kingdom of England were united in the Anglo-Norman realm.
Introduction
The Norman langu ...
*
Norman language
Norman or Norman French (, , Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a ''Langues d'oïl, langue d'oïl'' spoken in the historical region, historical and Cultural area, cultural region of Normandy.
The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to des ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambroise
12th-century deaths
Anglo-Norman literature
Medieval writers about the Crusades
Year of birth unknown
12th-century French poets
Christians of the Third Crusade
Year of death unknown