Elizabeth Lapina

Demetrius of Thessaloniki: Patron Saint of Crusaders

The article examines the emergence of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki as a patron saint of crusaders, focusing on the narratives of his intervention in the Battle of Antioch (28 June 1098), one of the most important military encounters of the First Crusade. The main argument is that the inclusion of quintessentially Eastern saints such as Demetrius in the narratives of the miracle served to solidify the claim of Bohemond of Toranto to Antioch and to undermine those of the Byzantine emperor Alexius. The article also traces several other attempts to “appropriate” St. Demetrius, both in Western and in Eastern Europe, from the ninth through the fifteenth century, and attempts to explain them in the context of rivalry with Byzantium.

Nec signis nec testibus creditur …”: The Problem of Eyewitnesses in the Chronicles of the First Crusade

This article challenges the widely accepted convention that medieval authors hardly ever dared to question the veracity of first-hand accounts. It demonstrates that the concept of “witness” as defined in Christian theology had a significant impact on the writing of history in the Middle Ages. This concept discounts the importance of observation and emphasizes divine inspiration as the source of superior knowledge. The goal of this article is to trace its influence on the chronicles of the First Crusade. The article begins by examining the instances when second-hand chroniclers chose to disagree with an interpretation of events offered by first-hand observers. It then analyses the attempts by the former to justify their decision to correct the accounts of the enterprise written by its participants. Some of these chroniclers, especially Guibert of Nogent, worked to undermine the prestige of eyewitnesses by arguing that senses could mislead and, more important, that observation did not necessarily entail und...

The uses of the Bible in crusader sources

The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources seeks to understand the ideology and spirituality of crusading by exploring the biblical imagery and exegetical interpretations that were woven together to form its philosophical basis.

Index of Biblical Citations and References to Biblical Books

The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources seeks to understand the ideology and spirituality of crusading by exploring the biblical imagery and exegetical interpretations that were woven together to form its philosophical basis.

Anti-Jewish rhetoric in Guibert of Nogent's Dei gesta per Francos

When Guibert of Nogent, a Benedictine monk living in northern France, re-wrote the anonymous Gesta Francorum, an eyewitness chronicle of the First Crusade, he changed more than just the style and the title. One of Guiberts most significant additions to his model was vitriolic anti-Jewish rhetoric. The present article explains some of the reasons why Guibert felt the need to deride the Jews of the Old Testament, particularly the Maccabees, as part of his narrative of the First Crusade. It attempts to demonstrate that Guiberts playing down the achievements of Jewish warriors of the past was inseparable from his aim to present crusading, to quote Jonathan Riley-Smith, in ‘theologically acceptable terms’, as a spiritual enterprise.