Book contents
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Alexander and Alexandria in Life and Legend
- 3 The Image of Alexander in Ancient Art
- 4 Alexander, Philosophy and Rome
- 5 Christianising Alexander Traditions in Late Antiquity
- 6 Alexander in Ancient Jewish Literature
- 7 The Medieval Alexander
- 8 Alexander the Great and the Crusades
- 9 The Slavic Alexander
- 10 Alexander the Great in Byzantine Tradition, AD 330–1453
- 11 The Spanish Alexander
- 12 The Persian Alexander (1)
- 13 The Persian Alexander (2)
- 14 Alexander in Medieval Arab Minds
- 15 Alexander in the Age of Shakespeare
- 16 Alexander the Great in Opera
- 17 Alexander in the Long Eighteenth Century (c.1660–1830)
- 18 Images of Alexander in Germany
- 19 Alexander the Gay and the Gloryhole That Was Greece
- Index
- References
8 - Alexander the Great and the Crusades
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2022
By
Edited by
Book contents
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Alexander and Alexandria in Life and Legend
- 3 The Image of Alexander in Ancient Art
- 4 Alexander, Philosophy and Rome
- 5 Christianising Alexander Traditions in Late Antiquity
- 6 Alexander in Ancient Jewish Literature
- 7 The Medieval Alexander
- 8 Alexander the Great and the Crusades
- 9 The Slavic Alexander
- 10 Alexander the Great in Byzantine Tradition, AD 330–1453
- 11 The Spanish Alexander
- 12 The Persian Alexander (1)
- 13 The Persian Alexander (2)
- 14 Alexander in Medieval Arab Minds
- 15 Alexander in the Age of Shakespeare
- 16 Alexander the Great in Opera
- 17 Alexander in the Long Eighteenth Century (c.1660–1830)
- 18 Images of Alexander in Germany
- 19 Alexander the Gay and the Gloryhole That Was Greece
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter addresses how the Crusades spurred a renewed appropriation of Alexander in historiography, literature, images and cartography in late medieval Europe. Alexander’s legend was particularly relevant because it reflected the era’s geopolitical and epistemological complexity. The chapter focuses first on the ancient Alexander legend’s adaptation in Crusade-era texts including Crusade chronicles, epics, antique romances and encyclopedias. These works compare Alexander to Crusaders, present Alexander as a precursor of the Crusaders who fights Asian tyranny, interpolate Alexander into the stories of Crusaders through ekphrasis, and frequently cite the legend of Alexander’s enclosure of Gog and Magog. The chapter’s second part focuses on how manuscripts present Alexander as a proto-Crusader even if texts do not overtly describe him as such. Particular attention is paid to compilations that join Alexander and holy warriors (Judas Maccabeus, Godfrey of Bouillon), and to images that Christianise Alexander or demonise his foes. The final section examines the influence of Alexander’s legend on the apocalyptic geography of late medieval maps, which often depict Gog and Magog and other elements (toponyms, sites, monstrous peoples) of the Alexander tradition.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture , pp. 167 - 196Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
References
Akbari, S. C. (2009) Idols in the East: European Representations of Islam and the Orient, 1100–1450. Ithaca.Google Scholar
Anderson, A. R. (1932) Alexander’s Gate, Gog and Magog, and the Inclosed Nations. Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Bachrach, B. S., and Bachrach, D. S. (2005) The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen: A History of the Normans on the First Crusade, tr. and comm. Aldershot.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, E. (2002) ‘The Raid on Gaza in Alexandre de Paris’s Romance’, in The Medieval French Alexander, ed. Maddox, D. and Sturm-Maddox, S.. Albany, NY: 29–38.Google Scholar
Beckingham, C. F., and Hamilton, B., eds. (1996) Prester John, the Mongols and the Ten Lost Tribes. Aldershot.Google Scholar
Bellon-Méguelle, H. (2008) Du Temple de Mars à la Chambre de Vénus: Le Beau Jeu courtois dans les Voeux du paon. Paris.Google Scholar
Blondeau, C. (2009) Un conquérant pour quatre ducs: Alexandre le Grand à la cour de Bourgogne. Paris.Google Scholar
Brandt, W. I. (1956) Pierre Dubois: The Recovery of the Holy Land, tr. and comm. New York.Google Scholar
Busby, K. (2002) Codex and Context: Reading Old French Verse Narrative in Manuscript. 2 vols. Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Cruse, M. (2011) Illuminating the Roman d’Alexandre. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS 264: The Manuscript As Monument. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cruse, M. (2015) ‘Stories for the King: Narration and Authority in the “Crusade Compilation” of Philippe VI of France (London, British Library, MS Royal 19.D.i)’, in Telling the Story in the Middle Ages, ed. Duys, K. A., Emery, E. and Postlewate., L. Cambridge: 205–18.Google Scholar
De Visser-Van Terwisga, M., ed. (1995/9) Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César (Estoires Rogier). 2 vols. Orleans.Google Scholar
Gaullier-Bougassas, C. (1998) Les Romans d’Alexandre: Aux frontières de l’épique et du romanesque. Paris.Google Scholar
Gaullier-Bougassas, C., ed. (2011) L’historiographie médiévale d’Alexandre le Grand. Turnhout.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaullier-Bougassas, C., Harf-Lancner, L., Foster, B. and Short, I. (2003) Thomas de Kent: Le Roman d’Alexandre ou Le Roman de toute chevalerie, tr. and comm. Paris.Google Scholar
Gow, A. C. (1994) The Red Jews: Antisemitism in an Apocalyptic Age, 1200–1600. Leiden.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gow, A. C. (1998) ‘Gog and Magog on Mappaemundi and Early Printed World Maps: Orientalizing Ethnography in the Apocalyptic Tradition’, Journal of Early Modern History 2: 61–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosjean, G. (1978) Mapamundi: The Catalan Atlas of the Year 1375, tr. and comm. Dietikon.Google Scholar
Harf-Lancner, L. (1994) Alexandre de Paris: Le Roman d’Alexandre, tr. and comm. Paris.Google Scholar
Hériché-Pradeau, S. (2008) Alexandre le Bourguignon: Etude du roman Les Faicts et les Conquestes d’Alexandre le Grand de Jehan Wauquelin. Geneva.Google Scholar
Kinoshita, S. (2006) Medieval Boundaries: Rethinking Difference in Old French Literature. Philadelphia.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinoshita, S. (2016) Marco Polo: The Description of the World, tr. and comm. Indianapolis, IN.Google Scholar
Leo, D. (2013) Images, Texts, and Marginalia in a ‘Vows of the Peacock’ Manuscript. New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS G24. Leiden.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leopold, A. (2000) How to Recover the Holy Land: The Crusade Proposals of the Late Thirteenth and Early Fourteenth Centuries. Burlington.Google Scholar
Meyer, P. (1886) Alexandre le Grand dans la littérature française du Moyen Age. Paris.Google Scholar
Mittman, A., and Kim, S. (2013) Inconceivable Beasts: The Wonders of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript. Tempe.Google Scholar
Moodey, E. J. (2012) Illuminated Crusader Histories for Philip the Good of Burgundy. Turnhout.Google Scholar
Patterson, J. (2013) ‘Stolen Scriptures: The Bible Historiale and the Hundred Years’ War’, Digital Philology: A Journal of Medieval Cultures 2/2 (Fall). https://muse.jhu.edu/article/527831 (accessed 3 February 2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Simon, M. (2015) Mise en roman et mise en image: Les manuscrits du Roman d’Alexandre en prose. Paris.Google Scholar
Ross, D. J. A. (1963) Alexander Historiatus: A Guide to Medieval Illuminated Alexander Literature. London.Google Scholar
Stone, C. R. (2016) ‘Proud Kings, Polyglot Scribes, and the I3 Historia de preliis: The Origins of Latin Alexander Romance in Norman and Staufen Italy’, Speculum 91/3: 724–44.Google Scholar
Stone, C. R. (2019) The Roman de toute chevalerie: Reading Alexander Romance in Late Medieval England. Toronto.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strickland, D. H. (2003) Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art. Princeton, NJ.Google Scholar
Strickland, D. H. (2012) ‘Monstrosity and Race in the Late Middle Ages’, in The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous, ed. Mittman, A. S. and Dendle., P. J. London: 365–86.Google Scholar
Townsend, D. (2007) The Alexandreis: A Twelfth-Century Epic, tr. and comm. Peterborough.Google Scholar