Warfare and the Miraculous in the Chronicles of the First Crusade

In Warfare And The Miraculous In The Chronicles Of The First Crusade, Elizabeth Lapina Examines A Variety Of These Chronicles, Written Both By Participants In The Crusade And By Those Who Stayed Behind. Her Goal Is To Understand The Enterprise From The Perspective Of Its Contemporaries And Near Contemporaries. Lapina Analyzes The Diversity Of Ways In Which The Chroniclers Tried To Justify The First Crusade As A “holy War,” Where Physical Violence Could Be Not Just Sinless, But Salvific. The Book Focuses On Accounts Of Miracles Reported To Have Happened In The Course Of The Crusade, Especially The Miracle Of The Intervention Of Saints In The Battle Of Antioch. Lapina Shows Why And How Chroniclers Used These Miracles To Provide Historical Precedent And To Reconcile The Messiness Of History With The Conviction That History Was Ordered By Divine Will. In Doing So, She Provides An Important Glimpse Into The Intellectual Efforts Of The Chronicles And Their Authors, Illuminating Their Perspectives Toward The Concepts Of History, Salvation, And The East. Warfare And The Miraculous In The Chronicles Of The First Crusade Demonstrates How These Narratives Sought To Position The Crusade As An Event In The Time Line Of Sacred History. Lapina Offers Original Insights Into The Effects Of The Crusade On The Western Imaginary As Well As How Medieval Authors Thought About And Represented History.-- Eyewitnesses Of Miracles -- Supernatural Interventions In The Battle Of Antioch : The Origins -- Hostile Appropriations Of Byzantine Saints By The Normans Of The South -- The Normans Of The South : From Scourge Of God To Chosen People -- Judas Maccabeus : A Jewish Warrior, A Christian Patriarch, And A Muslim General -- The West Prepares To Illuminate The East. Elizabeth Lapina. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 177-201) And Index. In __Warfare and the Miraculous in the Chronicles of the First Crusade__, Elizabeth Lapina examines a variety of these chronicles, written both by participants in the crusade and by those who stayed behind. Her goal is to understand the enterprise from the perspective of its contemporaries and near contemporaries. Lapina analyzes the diversity of ways in which the chroniclers tried to justify the First Crusade as a “holy war,” where physical violence could be not just sinless, but salvific. The book focuses on accounts of miracles reported to have happened in the course of the crusade, especially the miracle of the intervention of saints in the Battle of Antioch. Lapina shows why and how chroniclers used these miracles to provide historical precedent and to reconcile the messiness of history with the conviction that history was ordered by divine will. In doing so, she provides an important glimpse into the intellectual efforts of the chronicles and their authors, illuminating their perspectives toward the concepts of history, salvation, and the East. __Warfare and the Miraculous in the Chronicles of the First Crusade__ demonstrates how these narratives sought to position the crusade as an event in the time line of sacred history. Lapina offers original insights into the effects of the crusade on the Western imaginary as well as how medieval authors thought about and represented history. COVER Front 1 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 Notes to Introductiion 164 Chapter 1: Eyewitnesses of Miracles 26 Notes to Chapter 1 165 Chapter 2: Supernatural Interventions in the Battle of Antioch: The Origins 48 Notes to Chapter 2 168 Chapter 3: Hostile Appropriations of Byzantine Saints by the Normans of the South 65 Notes to Chapter 3 170 Chapter 4: The Normans of the South: From Scourge of God to Chosen People 86 Notes to Chapter 4 175 Chapter 5: Judas Maccabeus: A jewish Warrior, a Christian Patriarch, and a Muslim General 108 Notes to Chapter 5 179 Chapter 6: “The West Prepares to Illuminate the East” 133 Notes to Chapter 6 183 Conclusion 154 Notes to Conclusion 186 Notes 164 Bibliography 188 Index 214 COVER Back 225 'Focusing on accounts of miracles reported to have happened in the course of the crusade, especially the miracle of the intervention of saints in the Battle of Antioch, Elizabeth Lapina shows why and how chroniclers used these miracles to provide historical precedent and to reconcile the messiness of history with the conviction that history was ordered by divine will. In doing so, she provides an important glimpse into the intellectual efforts of the chronicles and their authors, illuminating their perspectives toward the concepts of history, salvation, and the East.' -- Details from publisher "Analyzes how chroniclers of the First Crusade attempted to represent the enterprise as a "holy war." Focuses on accounts of miracles, especially the intervention of saints in the battle of Antioch ; explores how the chroniclers related the crusade to biblical events"--Provided by publisher