The Western Sources

About the lecture

In this module, we think about the western sources for the First Crusade, focusing in particular on: (i) the four accounts of Pope Urban II's speech at Clermont: that of Guibert of Nogent, that of Fulcher of Chartres, that of Robert the Monk, and that of Baldric of Bourgueil; (ii) the similarities and differences between these four accounts, and what we can deduce about the reliability of each source; (iii) the legal documents (contracts, charters, etc.) in which departing knights make arrangements before they go on crusade, and the value of these sources for understanding the motivations of those who went on crusade, and what they hoped to achieve; (iv) letters written by the Pope; (v) crusade chronicles, include the accounts of Fulcher of Chartres, Peter Tudebode and Raymond of Aguilers, and the anonymous Gesta Francorum (Deeds of the Franks); (vi) the strengths and weaknesses of these accounts; (vii) letters written by the crusaders while they were on campaign; and (viii) the importance of sources to historians.

About the lecturer

Dr Nicholas Morton is a specialist in the history of crusading and the Medieval Mediterranean between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. More recently he has begun to focus specifically upon the theme of inter-faith relations between Christianity and Islam in this region. He has published extensively on topics connected to this subject area, writing a range of monographs and scholarly articles. He is also an editor for the Ashgate series Rulers of the Latin East.

Currently Dr Morton is completing a monograph exploring the First Crusaders' attitudes and behaviour towards the various non-Christian peoples they encountered during their campaign. This will be a highly revisionist work addressing many key scholarly and public orthodoxies surrounding the nature of Christian/Islamic interaction during the crusade.