Baldric of Bourgeil's Historia Ierosolimitana is a fascinating Latin prose account of the events of the First Crusade (1095-99), and a clarification of their miraculous meaning. It was composed around 1105 by Baldric, the abbot of Bourgueil, who later became the archbishop of Dol. It is a crucial text, yet, in part because its manuscript tradition has not been fully explored, it has been hitherto neglected.
This volume presents the first critical edition of the text for nearly 150 years. Importantly, the editor has established that the text exists in over three times as many manuscripts as originally thought, thus indicating a far greater impact, geographically and chronologically, for Baldric's work than has been previously considered, and placing it at the forefront of crusade accounts of the period. In addition to a careful examination of the greatly extended manuscript tradition, the editor's critical analysis explores Baldric's career; his writing style; the dating and reception of his text; the amplification of the language, narrative and characters found in his recapitulation of his primary source, the Gesta Francorum; the influence of the text on medieval authors from Orderic Vitalis to Humbert of Romans; and its perspective on the crusade as a means of protecting the familia Christi .

Dr STEVEN BIDDLECOMBE has taught widely in a number of universities.