Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1160044 Journal of Medieval History 2009 15 Pages PDF
Abstract
When Guibert of Nogent, a Benedictine monk living in northern France, re-wrote the anonymous Gesta Francorum, an eyewitness chronicle of the First Crusade, he changed more than just the style and the title. One of Guibert's most significant additions to his model was vitriolic anti-Jewish rhetoric. The present article explains some of the reasons why Guibert felt the need to deride the Jews of the Old Testament, particularly the Maccabees, as part of his narrative of the First Crusade. It attempts to demonstrate that Guibert's playing down the achievements of Jewish warriors of the past was inseparable from his aim to present crusading, to quote Jonathan Riley-Smith, in 'theologically acceptable terms', as a spiritual enterprise.
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Social Sciences and Humanities Arts and Humanities History
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