Albert of Aachen's History of the Journey to Jerusalem: Volume 1: Books 1-6. The First Crusade, 1095-1099 / Edition 1

by Susan B. Edgington

Overview

Albert of Aachen’s History of the Journey to Jerusalem presents the story of the First Crusade (1095-1099) and the early history of the crusader states (1099-1119). Volume 1, The First Crusade, is a long and richly detailed account of events well known from the reports of participants, such as Fulcher of Chartres, Raymond of Aguilers and the anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum, but told from a strikingly different perspective. Albert did not go on crusade himself, but gathered reports and anecdotes from those who did, and wove them into narrative that foregrounds the activities of Peter the Hermit, Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin of Boulogne, and their followers. His History therefore offers a counter-balance, and sometimes a corrective, to the established view. Susan B. Edgington’s English translation has been widely praised, following its first publication in the Oxford Medieval Texts series, and is here presented with a new introduction and updated notes and bibliography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409466529
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/12/2013
Series:	Crusade Texts in Translation
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Susan B. Edgington is a Senior Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London, UK.

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; Introduction; Books 1-6; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'The English translation is clear and highly readable, the notes modest and helpful. The division into two volumes is an admirable idea ... We are much in debt to Edgington, not only for the original edition/translation, but now also for this handy and very useful two-volume English version. It should have wide and very satisfactory use both in and out of classrooms.' Speculum ’This is an excellent work. Susan Edgington has taken particular trouble to make the book accessible to students through the notes, the running comparisons with other sources and the explanatory elements in the index.’ Malcolm Barber Reviews of the previous edition: ’Susan B. Edgington’s translation of Albert of Aachen’s Historia represents a major contribution to crusade studies and to medieval historiography generally.’ Jay Rubenstein, Journal of Ecclesiastical History ’[T]he translation [is] unfussy and accurate; the notes, both literary and historical, are useful and concise.’ Christopher Tyerman, English Historical Review ’[T]he translation is very good indeed...an essential tool that all students of the Crusades and the Latin East must now have or have access to. Rarely can it be said that a work consigns everything else produced in the past in its genre to oblivion, but this does. Dr Edgington deserves the highest accolades.’ John Pryor, The Journal of Religious History

From the Publisher