Conceptualizing the Crusade in Outremer: Uses and Purposes of the Word “Crusade” in the Old French Continuation of William of Tyre

This paper was written at Stockholm University within the scope of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual Fellowship (grant agreement n°642384). I am grateful to Peter Edbury for providing me precious information on the manuscripts and for the many comments on this paper before its publication.

Abstract

The Old French continuation of William of Tyre’s chronicle contains six occurrences of the word croisee or croiserie, according to the manuscripts, which can be translated as “crusade.” The hypothesis can be made that croisee was the word used in the earliest texts in Outremer French, while croiserie, used in Anglo-Norman and Île-de-France French, slowly came to dominate. Both are anyhow considered as equivalent by the scribes. The study of their meanings led to distinguish one occurrence, used in a different part of the continuation, from the other five, all situated in a section covering the period 1184–1247, written as a single unit by a single author. The significance of these last five occurrences provides a single coherent conceptualization of the crusade, which fits perfectly the purpose that can be ascribed to the writing of this text: suggesting to the audience, possibly King Louis IX of France, a view of the Holy Land’s recent history compatible with the rights of Outremer’s aristocracy.

Notes

This paper was written at Stockholm University within the scope of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual Fellowship (grant agreement n°642384). I am grateful to Peter Edbury for providing me precious information on the manuscripts and for the many comments on this paper before its publication.