The Crusades From the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World ed by Angeliki E Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh (2001).pdf

Preface

The studies in this volume originated in a symposium organized by Roy P. Mottahedeh

and myself and held at Dumbarton Oaks on 2–4 May 1997. Over the two previous years,

a considerable number of scholarly conferences had been planned, to commemorate the

nine hundredth anniversary of the Council of Clermont and its results. Most of these

focused on the Crusades from the viewpoint of Western Europe. Indeed, the consider-

able and exciting scholarship produced during recent decades has also, to a large extent,

been concerned with the internal, Western, aspects of this movement. Notable excep-

tions do, of course, exist. Still, it seemed to us that there was need of a conference that

would look at the crusade from the perspective of those areas to which it was primarily

directed, namely, the Eastern Muslim areas and the Byzantine Empire.

The Dumbarton Oaks symposium took place on the nine hundredth anniversary of

the appearance of the crusading armies outside the city of Nicaea. Our purpose was to

examine several important issues that, in one way or another, a ﬀ ected the Byzantine and

Muslim worlds at the time of the Crusades or because of them. The movement having

been a lengthy and recurrent one, our time frame extended to the late thirteenth century.

The ﬁrst essay published here analyzes the development of the historiography of the

Crusades. The other essays discuss various topics ranging from the problem of the holy

war in Byzantium and Islam to the question of attitudes and perceptions, the e

ﬀ

Angeliki E. Laiou

Harvard University and Academy of Athens

ect on

art, and the impact of the Crusades on the economies of the East. We neither expected

nor planned a comprehensive examination of the crusading movement seen from Con-

stantinople, Baghdad or Cairo. Rather, we hope that this volume, by contributing to the

very lively scholarly discussion on the Crusades, stimulates further research on develop-

ments that engaged the eastern Mediterranean, both Christian and Muslim, and the

Muslim world generally.

TheHistoriographyoftheCrusades

GilesConstable

I.TheDevelopmentofCrusadingHistoriography

erentpointsofview,and

everyaccountandreferenceinthesourcesmustbeinterpretedinthelightofwhere,

when,bywhom,andinwhoseinterestsitwaswritten. 1 Eachparticipantmadehis—

andinfewcasesher—owncrusade,andtheleadershadtheirowninterests,motives,

andobjectives,whichoftenputthematoddswithoneanother.Theywerealldistrusted

bytheByzantineemperorAlexiosKomnenos,whosepointofviewispresentedinthe

Alexiad writteninthemiddleofthetwelfthcenturybyhisdaughterAnnaKomnene.

TheTurkishsultanKilijArslannaturallysawthingsfromanotherperspective,asdidthe

indigenousChristianpopulationsintheeast,especiallytheArmenians,andthepeoples

oftheMuslimprincipalitiesoftheeasternMediterranean.TherulersofEdessa,Antioch,

Aleppo,andDamascus,andbeyondthemCairoandBaghdad,eachhadtheirownatti-

tudestowardthecrusades,whicharereﬂectedinthesources.Tothesemustbeadded

thepeoplesthroughwhoselandsthecrusaderspassedontheirwaytotheeast,andin

particulartheJewswhosu

ﬀ

eredatthehandsofthefollowersofPetertheHermit. 2

The historiography of the crusades thus begins with the earliest accounts of their

originsandhistory.Asidefromsomestudiesofindividualsources,however,andanum-

berofbibliographiesandbibliographicalarticles, 3 thehistoriographyhasreceivedcom-

1 Thisarticleisarevisedversionofthepaperpresentedatthesymposium.Itconcentratesongeneralprob-

lemsconcerningthecrusadestotheeast.Thereferencestosecondaryworksareillustrativeandarenotde-

signedtogiveabibliographyofthecrusades.IamindebtedtoBenjaminZ.Kedarforvarioussuggestions.A

shortenedversionofpartIwillappear(inRussian)intheforthcomingFestschriftforAaronGurevich.

2 The Jews and the Crusaders: The Hebrew Chronicles of the First and Second Crusades, ed.andtrans.S.Eidelberg

(Madison,Wisc.,1977).Amongsecondaryworks,seemostrecentlyD.Lohrmann,“AlbertvonAachenund

dieJudenpogromedesJahres1096,” Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsvereins 100(1995–96):129–51.

3 H.E.Mayer, Bibliographie zur Geschichte der Kreuzz¨ge (Hannover,1960),andidemandJ.McLellan,“Se-

lectBibliographyoftheCrusades,”in A History of the Crusades, ed.K.M.Setton(Madison,Wisc.,1955–89),

6:511–664.OthergeneralbibliographiesareL.deGermonandL.Polain, Catalogue de la biblioth`que de feu M. le

comte Riant, pt.2(Paris,1899),andA.S.Atiya, The Crusade: Historiography and Bibliography (Bloomington,Ind.-

London,1962),whichhasasectiononhistoriography(17–28).Amongthereviewarticles,seeG.Schnu¨rer,

“NeuereArbeitenzurGeschichtederKreuzzu¨ge,” HJ 34(1914):848–55;T.S.R.Boase,“RecentDevelop-

mentsinCrusadingHistoriography,” History, n.s.,22(1937):110–25;J.LaMonte,“SomeProblemsinCrusad-

ingHistoriography,” Speculum 15(1940):57–75;J.A.Brundage,“RecentCrusadeHistoriography:Some

ObservationsandSuggestions,” CHR 49(1964):493–507;F.Cardini,“Glistudisullecrociatedal1945ad

oggi,” RSI 80(1968):79–106;andH.Mo¨hring,“KreuzzugundDschihadindermediaevistischenundorienta-

Thecrusadeswerefromtheirinceptionseenfrommanydi

ﬀ

[2] Historiography of the Crusades

parativelylittleattentionfromscholars.Theonlygeneralworksarealongandstilluseful

appendixtotheﬁrst(butnotthesecond)editionofHeinrichvonSybel’s Geschichte des

ersten Kreuzzugs, whichappearedatDu¨sseldorfin1841andwastranslatedintoEnglish

in1861,andthetwovolumes(inRussian)byM.A.Zaboroventitled Vvedenie v istorio-

graﬁju Krestovykh pokhodov (Introductiontothehistoriographyofthecrusades),which

dealswiththemedievalsources,and Istoriograﬁja Krestovykh pokhodov (XV–XIX vv.) (His-

toriographyofthecrusades[15th–19thcentury]),whichwerepublishedinMoscowin

1966and1971respectively. 4 Tothesecanbeaddedalongarticle,partlyhistoriographical

andpartlybibliographical,byLaetitiaBoehmentitled“‘GestaDeiperFrancos’—oder

‘GestaFrancorum’?DieKreuzzu ¨ gealshistoriographischesProblem”andachapterby

Jonathan Riley-Smith on “The Crusading Movement and Historians” in the Oxford

Illustrated History of the Crusades. 5 Itisinteresting,andperhapssigniﬁcant,thatthereisno

sustainedtreatmentofhistoriographyinthegeneralhistoriesofthecrusadesbyRene´

Grousset,StevenRunciman,andHansEberhardMayer,norinthesix-volumecoopera-

tive History of the Crusades editedbyKennethSetton.

Thehistoriographyofthecrusadesasseenfromthewest,withwhichthisarticleis

concerned,canbedividedintothreeperiods,ofwhichtheﬁrst,andlongest,wentfrom

1095 until the end of the sixteenth century; the second covered the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries; and the third began in the early nineteenth century and comes

downtothepresent.Therewassomeoverlapbetweentheperiods,butbroadlyspeaking,

duringtheﬁrst,theMuslimswereacontinuingthreattoWesternEuropeandthede-

fenseofChristendomwasseenasapressingconcern.Inthesecondperiod,thecrusades

movedincreasinglyintothepast,butapastthatwascoloredbyconfessionalorrationalist

values,whichchangedinthethirdperiod,whenthecrusadesweresubjectedtoserious,

thoughnotalwaysimpartial,scholarlyinvestigation.Thisthirdperiodbreaksdowninto

thenineteenthcentury,whenthecrusadesweregenerallywellregarded,andthetwenti-

ethcentury,whentherehasbeenarisingtideofcriticismand,morerecently,agrowing

divisionbetweenscholarlyandpopularviewsofthecrusades.

Interestinthecrusadestodayisstillinﬂuencedbypoliticalandideologicalinterests,

includingtheconsequencesofEuropeancolonialism,thetensionsbetweenwesternand

non-westernsocieties,especiallyintheMiddleEast,and,morebroadly,thelegitimacy

ofusingforcetopromoteevenworthyandlegitimatecauses. 6 Theseconcernscontrib-

listischenForschung1965–1985,” Innsbrucker historische Studien 10–11(1988):361–86.SeealsoH.E.Mayer,

“AmericaandtheCrusades,” PAPS 125(1981):38–45;C.R.Young,“TheCrusades:ATragicEpisodein

East-WestRelations,” South Atlantic Quarterly 55(1956):87–97;andthecollectionofreprintsandexcerptsin

The Crusades: Motives and Achievements, ed.J.A.Brundage,ProblemsinEuropeanCivilization(Boston,1964).

4 H.vonSybel, Geschichte des ersten Kreuzzugs (Du¨sseldorf,1841),148–80,trans.L.D.Gordon, The History

and Literature of the Crusades (London,1861),311–56;andM.A.Zaborov, Vvedenie v istoriograﬁju Krestovykh

pokhodov (Moscow,1966)and Istoriograﬁja Krestovykh pokhodov (XV–XIX vv.) (Moscow,1971).Fortheserefer-

encesIamindebtedtoAlexanderKazhdan,whoalsosummarizedthecontentsforme.

5 L.Boehm,“‘GestaDeiperFrancos’—oder‘GestaFrancorum’?DieKreuzzu¨gealshistoriographisches

Problem,” Saeculum 8(1957):43–81,andJ.Riley-Smith,“TheCrusadingMovementandHistorians,”in The

Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, ed.J.Riley-Smith(Oxford,1995),1–12.SeealsoL.Boehm,“Die

Kreuzzu¨geinbibliographischerundhistoriographischerSicht,” HJ 81(1962):223–37.

6 P.Rousset, Histoire d’une id´ologie: La croisade (Lausanne,1983),206–8;K.Armstrong, Holy War (London,

1988),xiii–xiv;J.Riley-Smith,“History,theCrusadesandtheLatinEast,1095–1204:APersonalView,”in

Giles Constable [3]

reyBarracloughechoedthisviewin1970:“Wenolongerre-

gard the crusades ... as a great movement in defense of Western Christendom, but

ratherasthemanifestationofanew,driving,aggressivespiritwhichnowbecamethe

mark of Western civilization. We no longer regard the Latin states of Asia Minor as

outpostsofcivilizationinaworldofunbelievers,butratherasradicallyunstablecenters

ofcolonialexploitation.”Heattributedthischangein“ourverdictontheCrusades”to

“ourexperienceoftotalwarandthehazardsoflivinginathermonuclearage.Waris

alwaysevil,ifsometimesaninescapableevil;HolyWaristheevilofevils.” 8 AndJohn

Warddescribedthecrusadesin1995as“amovementofviolentwhitesupremacistcolo-

nialism.” 9

Thisviewisnowcommoninworksaddressedtothegeneralpublic,includingpopular

presentationsandmovies.AleaﬂetdistributedinClermontduringtheconferenceheld

in 1995 to commemorate the summons to the First Crusade was headed “The Cru-

sades—didGodwillit?”echoingthecrusadingcryof“Deuslevolt.”Itwentontoask

“CantheChurchmemorializetheCrusadeswithoutaskingforgiveness?”andcalledon

thepopetodenythatanywarcanbeholyandthatsinscanbeforgivenbykillingpagans.

Accordingtothisview,thecrusaderswereinspiredbygreedandreligiousfanaticismand

theMuslimsweretheinnocentvictimsofexpansionistaggression.Manyscholarstoday,

however,rejectthishostilejudgmentandemphasizethedefensivecharacterofthecru-

sadesastheywereseenbycontemporaries,whobelievedthatChristianitywasendan-

gered by enemies who had already overrun much of the traditional Christian world,

includingJerusalemandtheHolyLand,andwhothreatenedtotakeovertheremainder.

Almostallthehistoriansandchroniclersoftheexpeditionsthatwerelatercalledthe

FirstCrusadeconsideredthemaresponsetotheMuslimthreatstoChristianholyplaces

andpeoplesintheeast. 10 Theywrotefromdi

ﬀ

erentpointsofview,however,andused

Crusaders and Muslims in Twelfth-Century Syria, ed.M.Shatzmiller,TheMedievalMediterranean1(Leiden-

NewYork-Cologne,1993),7–8;andidem,“RevivalandSurvival,”in Oxford History (asinnote5),386.

7 S.Runciman, A History of the Crusades, 3vols.(Cambridge,1952–54),3:480.

8 G.Barraclough,“Deuslevolt?” New York Review of Books, 21May1970,16.

9 J.Ward,“TheFirstCrusadeasDisaster:ApocalypticismandtheGenesisoftheCrusadingMovement,”in

Medieval Studies in Honour of Avrom Saltman, Bar-IlanStudiesinHistory4(Ramat-Gan,1995),255.Cf.onthe

currentunfavorableviewofthecrusadesM.Balard, Les Croisades (Paris,1988),9;Riley-Smith,“History”(asin

note6),1–2;andthereviewofT.JonesandA.Ereira, Crusades, byM.Evans,D.Green,andJ.M.B.Porterin

Nottingham Medieval Studies 39(1995):201.

10 C.Erdmann, The Origin of the Idea of Crusade, trans.M.BaldwinandW.Go

ﬀ

utedtothechangefromthecomparativelyfavorableattitudetowardthecrusadesthat

prevailedinthenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturiesintoamorecritical,andeven

hostile,view.StevenRunciman,intheconclusiontohis History of the Crusades, called

thecrusades“atragicanddestructiveepisode”andsaidthat“theHolyWaritselfwas

nothingmorethanalongactofintoleranceinthenameofGod,whichisthesinagainst

theHolyGhost.” 7 Geo

ﬀ

art(Princeton,1977),8,349;

E.Delaruelle, Id´e de croisade au moyen-ˆge (Turin,1980),23;andJ.Riley-Smith, What Were the Crusades?

(London-Basingstoke,1977),22–33,whostressedtherecurrenceof“theideasofliberation(anotherwordfor

recovery)anddefence”(23)andsaidthat“acrusade,wheneverandagainstwhomsoeveritwasaimed,wasre-

gardedasbeingessentiallydefensive”(29).SeealsoJ.Flori,“Guerresainteetre´tributionsspirituellesdansla2e

moitie´duXIesie`cle,” RHE 85(1990):627–28,ontheconceptofthelegitimacyofrecoveringwronglytaken

lands.

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