The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources. (eds.) Elizabeth Lapina and Nicholas Morton (Angela Pacheco)

Elizabeth Lapina and Nicholas Morton (eds.)

The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources

(Brill, 2017) 514 pp. $197.00

The media often brings back the world of the crusades through films and books on the matter, but there is always an idealized view of the crusades that does not always reflect the biblical influence and its historical evolution. While references to the Bible remain pervasive in matters related to the crusades, the Bible itself has been represented and used as a way to popularize and justify the crusades without taking into account all of the repercussions. This is why this essay collection is full of historical approaches on the impact of medieval exegesis and its shifts related to the crusades. The target audience appears to be researchers and historians who are interested in a deep analysis of the biblical references.

Given the extensive article collection that it is, the volume is divided into five parts that deal with: the exercise of violence; the chronicles of the first crusade; papal correspondence and crusade propaganda; James of Vitry; and, finally, the crusading movement and the crusader states. As a result, the collection is a comprehensive volume with 19 articles contained within its five parts.

Lapina and Morton’s book begins with a brief introduction that comments on the topics covered in the volume and how these ideas are linked together. The introduction offers a reminder about how the Bible today is essentially different from the concept of the Bible in the Middle Ages. This idea is fundamental to analyze the crusaders’ biblical perspective as observed in the written records we have today.

The first part deals with the exercise of violence and it contains four articles. Katherine Allen Smith addresses the cleansing of the Temple by Jesus and proposes that this scene influenced the crusade, and later on, the Gregorian reform of the 11th century. Thus, the conquest for Jerusalem was justified as a purifier of the church from the avaricious and idolatrous Muslims. Moving to the point of view of the land, Uri Shachar sheds light on how the crusade created a distinct conception of Jerusalem for both Jews and Christians and observes how their texts attempted to explain the holiness of their land. This became an excuse for the use of force and, in this case, the violence that was used on the Rheinish communities. This was justified through the Bible and the idea was reinforced as being approved by God. Luigi Russo describes the sack of Jerusalem through texts by different chroniclers who defended the violence. These authors often used the Bible to explain the bloodbath events that took place after the conquest of Jerusalem. In this way Russo and Shachar attempt to highlight the use of force as an unquestionable tool for the crusades’ cause.  In the last chapter, Sini Kangas draws our attention to the massacre of children mentioned in twelfth century documents. Her article points our attention to a different topic and perspective. While the slaughter of children was not meritorious (even if they had undergone experiences related to the theme of the crusades such as suffering), their deaths were venerated as the result of martyrdom and their vindication came from the afterlife blessing. Kangas also added images about the slaughter as portrayed in books and architecture.

In part two, three articles discuss the topic of the chronicles in the first crusade. The first article by Thomas Lecaque focuses on the texts by Raymond of Aguilers and his use of texts from the cathedral of Notre Dame de Puy’s library. Lecaque’s purpose is to move the attention to the southern part of France in order to reevaluate the extension of the crusades’ studies, which usually focus on the northern side. His article focuses on the idea of the southern regionalism as seen through the texts and life. In the line of violence, Carol Sweetenham mentions how Robert the Monk used the Bible to justify the wars as approved by God. As Raymond of Aguilers in the previous chapter, Robert had been greatly influenced by his monastery, as seen in his references to the Bible in his chronicle. However, in this case, Christians are compared to characters in the Bible and he defends the crusade as a form of pilgrimage. Sweetenham also added a detailed table of references to her study. The last article of this part by Thomas McCarthy analyzes the chronicles by Frutolf of Michelsberg and Ekkerhard of Aura and their biblical influence in their chronicles. Michelsberg’s Chronicle was continued with a text entitled 1106 Continuation, and it’s followed by an appendix entitled Hierosolimita as well. Michelsberg’s chronicle connect to the Bible in general terms, whereas the continuators of his Chronicle emphasized a bigger connection with the Scriptures. McCarthy also added an appendix at the end of the article containing biblical citations.

Papal correspondence and crusade propaganda is the topic covered in part three and it includes four articles. To start with, Miriam Rita Tessera examines documents with biblical influence during the twelfth century. She analyzes the letters by Paschal II, Innocent II, Eugenius III, Alexander III, and Gregory VIII to Outremer in order to show how these popes understood and perceived the crusade, and more importantly, how this affected the creation of papal policy in the East. In the following article, Thomas W. Smith examines the papal correspondence of Gregory IX who encouraged the extension of the crusades. To do this, Smith analyzes the arengae, the preambles of the letters. The arengae’s purpose was to persuade people to follow the pope’s vision to recover the Holy Land and to fight the Mongol invasion. Pope Gregory IX’s support of the crusades in Mongol territory was a different approach to the crusades, which usually focused on the recovery of Jerusalem. Smith also added an appendix containing the arengae of Gregory IX. Kristin Skottki focuses on the theologian Bernard of Clairvaux who used exegesis extensively to defend the crusades. At the same time, Skottki uses the theories by anthropologist Hans G. Kippenberg on the crusades’ violence to analyze the texts. In her article, she holds that Bernard of Clairvaux’s desire to support the violence of the crusade was supported by his use of biblical references. Bernard starts with a well-defended argument, but later on, the legitimacy of violence is questioned. This shift is seen in the chronological order of Clairvaux’s texts.  John D. Cotts, in the final chapter, pays attention to two educated clerics who attempted to understand the biblical view on violence. In this case, he examines the documents by Ralph Niger and Peter of Blois whose opinions of the crusades differed in some regards, but shared common opinions as well. Ralph observed the crusade from the moral point of view and seemed in favor of delaying the fight. While Peter defended the cause, arguing that it followed the biblical apocalyptic path, and he encouraged the knights to get involved in the crusade.

Part four addresses James of Vitry and it includes three articles. The first one by Lydia M. Walker, analyzes James of Vitry’s texts and sermons to show his vision about the purpose of the crusades and the role of each person in God’s plans for the apocalyptic future and for the present. According to Walker, James emphasized the end of times in his sermons in connection with an urgent need for action. James desired to accomplish the biblical prophecies through the reform and the crusades. Jessalyinn Bird ‘s view of James of Vitry shows how his proximity to Oliver of Paderborn influenced theirs sermons and texts. Both were supporting the fifth crusade and used the biblical historical context to justify their strategies. Bird exemplifies these views through three events: the dissolution of the camp after Damietta’s capture, the rout of the crusaders on the Decollation of Saint John the Baptist, and the floods in the Nile region. The last chapter by Jan Vandeburie, focuses on Historia Orientalis written by James of Vitry after the Forth Lateran Council. In this case, James follows an apocalyptic approach to initiate a crusade in order to reform the church and to recapture Jerusalem. According to Vandeburie, James’ book attempted to create a sense of urgency originally motivated by Pope Innocent III during his council sermon.

The final chapter discusses the crusading movement and the crusader states and it includes five articles. This part initiates with an article by Torben Kjersgaard Nielsen who examines the extension of the crusades to the Baltic region. Nielsen observes two crusade chronicles: the Chronicon Livoniae by Henry of Livonia and the Chronica terre Prussie by Peter of Dusburg. Nielsen argues that both authors write the chronicles as a history of God and His interventions through miracles. These ideas are also integrated within a history of the ecclesia militans, arguing that the fate of the warriors is nevertheless triumphant in biblical terms. Nielsen also added a table at the end of his chapter with information about the allegories of physical and spiritual weapons in Peter of Dusburg. The following chapter by Nicholas Morton observes how the biblical passage of Ezekiel 13:5 had been contextualized to have different meanings. Morton opens the article with Pope Innocent III who used the verse to encourage the monks from the order of Santiago after they had received attacks from the king. The verse, which talks about “building a wall for the house of Israel”, was used to motivate the advocates of the crusading movement to fight against military orders, external enemies, the secular power and other non-Christians. In the next article, Julian Yolles uses a different kind of text; in this case poems, to observe the view by Geoffrey the abbot and Achard of Arrouaise. These authors wrote poems about the Maccabees and their example to Christians and to kings. Yolles argues that these poems have been overlooked when studying the crusades and he motivates the reader to think and include all of the sources to understand the movement. The next article observes a different kind of text, in this case, the biblical use in the justice system. Adam M. Bishop articulates how the Bible was the main source for the creation of laws, although it was also cited from other sources such as Roman and canon law. The Bible influenced the Franks’ concept of law, rules, and punishments, while it became a physical symbol of the justice process as seen in swearing oaths. The last article by Iris Shagrir engages with the three women who discovered Jesus’ tomb as representations of the devotion to the tomb and as a symbol to encourage the practice of pilgrimage. Thus, it creates a commemoration of the sacred places in Jerusalem to highlight new forms of spirituality. The idea also shows a dynamic view on devotion since the Holy Women had visited the tomb in a difficult time. Shagrir also added representative images of the topic.

Lapina and Morton’s volume is comprehensive and it offers an informative catalogue of views, sources, and accounts. The book almost serves as an encyclopedia about the crusades and the biblical exegesis. The volume touches ground with different cultures, historical figures, types of texts, places, and all kinds of characters varying from women, children, monks, popes, kings, and so on. The extent of its coverage is well-executed and well-organized for such a big corpus of articles. Multiple authors within the volume encourage further research on specific topics and offer ideas and connections worth studying and reanalyzing. The volume, in this sense, is a jewel for freshmen researchers searching for new paths of analysis. In addition, it is also an excellent panoramic view of the biblical exegesis in the crusades that is thought-provoking and critical. By reading all of the articles, one starts to draw connections between the articles and the topics within the crusades from a macroscopic view. The book is a great source for a general audience who wants to leave the misconceptions and idealization of the crusades, and is eager to learn more about the original sources. Also, many of the authors in the book often give definitions to unfamiliar concepts which can be helpful for a general audience. Finally, the articles in the volume offer a variety of topics that could be used in a classroom. Thus, one article or topic could be observed separately to motivate discussion. Perhaps, the only thing that became obvious through the reading is the need for further research in certain sources or regions, which have been studied little. One hopes there will be a continuation on the topic in future publications and volumes. In general, this a thoughtful and excellent volume on the matter.

Angela P. Pacheco
Taylor University
[email protected]

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