The First Crusade was arguably one of the most significant events of
the Middle Ages. It was the only event to generate its own epic cycle,
the Old French Crusade Cycle. The central trilogy at the heart of the
Cycle describes the Crusade from its beginnings to the climactic
battle of Ascalon, comprising the Chanson d’Antioche, the Chanson
des Chétifs and the Chanson de Jérusalem. This translation of the
Chétifs and the Jérusalem accompanies and completes the translation
of the Antioche and makes the trilogy available to English readers in
its entirety for the first time. The value of the trilogy lies above
all in the insight it gives us to medieval perceptions of the Crusade.
The events are portrayed as part of a divine plan where even outcasts
and captives can achieve salvation through Crusade. This in turn
underlies the value of the Cycle as a recruiting and propaganda tool.
The trilogy gives a window onto the chivalric preoccupations of
thirteenth-century France, exploring concerns about status, heroism
and defeat. It portrays the material realities of the era in vivid
detail: the minutiae of combat, smoke-filled halls, feasts, prisons
and more. And the two newly translated poems are highly entertaining
as well, featuring a lubricious Saracen lady not in the first flush of
youth, a dragon inhabited by a devil, marauding monkeys, miracles and
much more. The historian will find little new about the Crusade
itself, but abundant material on how it was perceived, portrayed and
performed. The translation is accompanied by an introduction examining
the origins of the two poems and their wider place in the cycle. It is
supported by extensive footnotes, a comprehensive index of names and
places and translations of the main variants.
Les mer
Completing the Central Trilogy of the Old French Crusade Cycle
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781317038733
Publisert
2020
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Taylor & Francis
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter