Enlightenment Historiographies of the Crusades - Research Paper Example

 Enlightenment Historiographies of the Crusades The historiography of the Crusades has been somewhat contrasted In Western Europe. Perhaps, more often than not, the Crusades have been considered as heroic adventures and this despite the fact that the majority of those who embarked on the First Crusade never returned. The initial mass enthusiasm for the crusades largely dissipated at this time but their reputation has remained largely favorable in Western Europe (and indeed those countries founded by Western Europeans such as the United States) that is at least until relatively recently. In fact, there have been numerous and fairly vociferous critics of the Crusades throughout Western Europe that can be traced as far back as the Renaissance and have now stretched to the point where a largely critical standpoint is taken by most. The last 30 years in particular have seen a massive change in fortune for the heroic reputation of the crusades – a reputation that was a mainstay of all accounts for several centuries and which still, to a point, influence popular opinion. Accounts such as those by the British Enlightenment historians Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) and Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) tend to view the crusades as perpetrated by westerners who, while perhaps glamorous, were on the whole, uneducated, childish and destructive. On the other hand, for the French historian, Joseph Francois Michaud (1767-1839), the crusades were merely "glorious instruments of nationalism and proto-imperialism".1 His romantic assertion that the crusades were imperialistically motivated is now perhaps a more regular feature of the common perception. Now is perhaps the time to look again at accounts such as these as well as to reexamine the men behind them in more detail and that is what I shall attempt in the following essay, starting with Thomas Fuller. 1 Quoted in Siberry,E The New Crusaders: Images of the Crusades in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries. p 125 l. 14 Perhaps before entering into any analysis of both the character and craft of Thomas Fuller, it would be a good idea to provide some biographical information on the man. He was, in fact, born in 1608 in the English county of Northamptonshire. His initial education was provided by his own father who was the rector of the local church. Nonetheless, it would appear that his father was more than adequate as educator as the young Thomas was to enter Queen's College, Cambridge at twelve years of age. He subsequently gained his BA in1625 and his MA some three years later. Shortly after, he decided to transfer himself to Sidney College where his prowess as a preacher suitably developed during his term as Minister of St Benet's Church. His success continued to gain momentum from then on as in the year of 1631 he was to both see himself elected fellow of Sidney College and enjoy his first publication. As with many writers who go on to enjoy success as prose writers his first publication was in fact poetical in genre. In addition, as Henry Rogers alludes to in his biography An Essay on the Life and Genius of Thomas Fuller his work was to betray the quaintness that was characteristic not only of the writer himself but also of his period.2 In fact, in many ways Fuller is exemplary of the seventeenth-century religious writers of whom the term 'quaint' can be categorically applied. Nonetheless, the publication in 1639 of his historiography of the crusades, History of the Holy War was met with accolades that were to cement his reputation. 2 Indeed the period of England in which Fuller lived was a period typical of quaintness that can be observed through many disciplines of the time including: gardening, architecture, costume, manners, religion as well as other literature of the period. Rogers p 8 l.13 Indeed the style of this book ensured that one thing Fuller could never be accused of was being tedious. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of Fuller's account of the crusades is how it is replete with the wit that is so characteristic of his genius. However, as the English poet Coleridge noted, "This very attribute has defrauded him of his due praise for the practical wisdom of his thoughts – for the beauty and variety of the truths into which he shaped the stuff".3 Nevertheless for all his, perhaps often inappropriate, use of wit his form never took on that of satire. Although often blatantly caustic it was generally tinged with light-hearted humor and never bitter. A "sly irony" is how Rogers perhaps best describes it.4 His work is suitably constructed so as to allow himself the freedom to digress, as he in fact quite regularly does. Often, seemingly unrelated stories and ramblings fill up the pages generally where and when he pleases. For this purpose his histories tend to be divided up into small sections that are often entirely unrelated both to each other as well as the main subject in hand. For him, any interesting fact or anecdote deserves inclusion provided they have at least some passing reference to the events he is ultimately portraying. Furthermore, Fuller's imagination, which he readily employs throughout his writings on the crusades, was often capable of reaching heights of both exquisite beauty and poetic grace. Often enclosing maxims of great wisdom, his prose was replete with powerful and moving metaphor which is perhaps the most effective way of ensuring they suitably reach the reader. 3 Quoted in Rogers, Henry. An Essay on the Life and Genius of Thomas Fuller p 14 ll. 6-11 4 Ibid., p 19 ll. 5-10 The style of writing particular to Fuller generally tends to avoid the mannerisms of many of his contemporaries such as the tendency to include Latinisms.5 In fact, his style lends more to an idiomatic diction that is much closer to an Anglo Saxon derivation. Moreover, his sentences are generally more simply constructed than many other writers of this period. There are two possible reasons for this: The first reason is probably tied to his inherently practical nature, however possibly more telling is the fact that Fuller would spend hours and hours exchanging conversation with the 'ordinary people'. He was not in fact a reclusive 'bookworm' (as was typical of many writers) rather he would much prefer to gather materials for his work by listening to the stories and views of the people around him.6 To all this we have to add that his reflections and his images are more often than not both highly unique and, while often a little far-fetched and certainly quaint, also quite beautiful. Often his prose is pleasantly surprising, employing turns of phase for which the reader is usually unprepared. In fact there are perhaps few writers certainly within the English language tradition who can match him for his constant and quick fire variety of expression. In his History of the Holy War we find many examples of this such as his expression for giving what he calls " a Pisgah-sight, or Short Survey of' Palestine in general"7 On a final note perhaps his approach can be best expressed in his own words when he says, "Some men are of a very cheerful disposition; and God forbid that all such should be condemned for lightness".8 5 Ibid p 33 l. 11 6 Indeed his way of life meant he would frequently relocate himself, a fact which often meant he was without recourse to both books and other source documents. 7 Quoted in Ibid p 8 l.12 8 Quoted in Ibid p 26 ll. 24-26 In our second essay here we join the life of the French Historian Joseph Francois Michaud at a much later stage. In 1786, when he was 19 years old, Michaud found himself a job with a publishing house in Lyons. It was here that he wrote copiously about the French Revolution staunchly taking the side of the Royalist cause. He continued this practice having moved himself to Paris and it was here that his fervent anti-Napoleonic stance was to land him in jail on many occasions. It was on one of these occasions that after his release he began to take up what was to be a life-times interest in the crusades. He hitherto spent most of his free time carrying out enormous amounts of research on the subject until finally in 1812 the fruits of his labor appeared with the publication of the first part of his multi-volume Histoire des Croisades.9 Sometime later, at the beginning of the 1830s in fact, Michaud embarked on extensive travels to the eastern Mediterranean in order to carry out direct research of the Holy Land and its environs. This intensive stint of research and study was to provide the foundations of his subsequent volumes of the Histoire. These subsequent volumes eventually amounted to seven and they were to be published between the years of 1833 and 1835. From the outset Michaud was intent on gathering a vast amount of resource material from numerous areas which he could incorporate into his work. These sources were to include many examples of Arabic materials and for this reason he decided on recruiting an assistant. Joseph-Toussaint Reinaud (1795–1867), an oriental specialist, was the man he eventually chose. Reinaud was in fact to assist Michaud 9 For an excellent biography of Michaud, see Chisholm, Hugh, ed. "Joseph Francois Michaud". Cambridge University Press.1911  6 from 1819 onwards and the work carried out by both men was eventually published in 1829 under the title, Bibliothèque des Croisades. This massive collection comprised some four volumes of various source materials which were all translated into the French language. The first three of the volumes consisted of exclusively western sources gleaned from France, England and Italy, and the Nordic countries respectively, while the last volume was dedicated to Arabic sources that had been translated by Reinaud.10 As with his early writings that involved his criticisms of Napoleon, Michaud's work on the Crusades was very much tinged by his nationalist and royalist leanings. For him, in many ways the escapades of the Crusaders from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries should be viewed as inspirational examples of national pride. He was in fact adamant that the crusaders achievements were largely both triumphant and 'French'. It would appear that Michaud was intent on effectively 'nationalizing' the crusades. His take on the original crusades could in fact be compared to the views that were typical of those expressed by accounts that originated in the twelfth-century writers. In other words Michaud much like his twelfth-century counterparts saw the events and those who participated in them to be largely heroic. For example, here is a quote taken from his first volume of the Histoire. 10 This information was respectfully provided by E Siberry in his The New Crusaders: Images of the Crusades in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries. If many scenes from this great epoch excite our indignation or our pity, how many events fill us with admiration and surprise! How many names made illustrious in this war are still today the pride of families and of the nation! What is the most positive of the results of the First Crusade is the glory of our fathers, this glory which is also a real achievement for a nation, for these great memories establish the existence of peoples as well as that of families, and are, in this respect, the noblest source of patriotism.11 If Michaud's view of the crusades is somewhat 'romantic' then this is almost certainly through the influence of two of his contemporaries. The first influence would have been François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848), a man often given credit for encouraging renewed enthusiasm for the Middle Ages that was established towards the beginning of the nineteenth-century. However, the second influence is likely to have originated in Michaud's reaction against Voltaire's sweeping criticism of the crusades on the whole, and his subsequent intent in searching for the positive in them.12 For many reasons Michaud's work is now seen as one of the great foundations for subsequent studies of the crusades. His Histoire des Croisades has actually been cited by Siberry as "a major landmark in European crusade historiography".13 In fact the numerous volumes of the Histoire went through several editions throughout the nineteenth century, and were subsequently translated into several languages including, English, German, Italian and Russian. In addition, the structure and style of the narrative as well as the multi-volume format provided the model that was to be 11 Cited in Siberry p 150 ll. 8-15 12 This information is based on the ideas put forward by Siberry 13 Ibid p 8 l. 12 followed by a huge number of subsequent scholars. Nonetheless, Michaud’s perhaps overly ‘romantic’ approach to the subject has received a relative amount of adverse criticism and is now in fact regarded by many as in reality only being of real value to those scholars who are interested in making studies of medievalism. Besides the landmark quality of the Histoire, for many scholars at least, equally significant was the publication of the Bibliothèque. According to Siberry in fact, these volumes permitted the fact that, "For the first time a crusade scholar unable to read Arabic could see both sides of the story, Christian and Moslem".14 In addition, the Bibliothèque has subsequently been widely used as source material for many scholars such as those involved in the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. This institution was to eventually publish a similar multi-volume collection called The Recueil des Historiens des Croisades (Paris, 1841–1906), which mainly focused on the listing of sources relevant to the Crusades that were written from either western or eastern perspectives as well as Greek or Armenian perspectives. Before his eventual death in 1839 Michaud himself was to become a member of the Acadamie while his assistant Reinaud contributed much to the translation and editing of Arabic texts. Our final historian in this series of essays is the English historian Edward Gibbon. Gibbon was very much a man of the Enlightenment and his view of the crusades is evident from his verdict of his own work where he stated, "I have described the triumph of barbarism and religion."15 Nonetheless, his political leanings were in actual fact decidedly conservative, highlighted by both his distaste for the 14 Ibid p 6 ll. 12-13 15 Gibbon, Edward. The life and Letters of Edward Gibbon: with his History of the Crusades p 112 l. 7 democratic movements so popular in his time as well as his agreement with Edmund Burke's dismissal of the rights of man.16 Edward Gibbon was born in 1737 in Putney in the English county of Surrey. He was actually one of seven children although he was the only one of them who was to survive infancy. His family however was reasonably wealthy due to his father's substantial inheritance. Despite being the only one among his siblings to survive infancy, Gibbon was not an entirely healthy child. Much of his childhood in fact was spent indoors and this is where he developed a passionate love of reading and studying. By the age of fourteen Gibbon was already reading extensively and his choice of reading material are perhaps an indication of his future career. Among the books he devoured were: Laurance Echard's A Roman History (1713), William Howel's An Institution of General History (1680–85), and several of the 65 volumes of the acclaimed Universal History from the Earliest Account of Time (1747–1768). A year later Gibbon's father sent him to enroll at Magdalene College, Oxford where he was interestingly enrolled as a gentleman-commoner. In 1753 Gibbon was again sent away this time to Lausanne in Switzerland. It was during his stay here that he first became acquainted with Voltaire whose notorious negative views of the crusades undoubtedly would have had some influence on the young Gibbon. He was to eventually move back to England where from 1774 – 1783 he sat, rather eventfully, in the House of Commons. It was during this period that he wrote his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire the first volume of which appeared in 1776. 16 Burke supported the American rebellion, while Gibbon sided with the ministry; but with regard to the French Revolution they shared a perfect revulsion. At first (1789–1790), Gibbon cautiously withheld his condemnation of the latter (David Womersley, "Gibbon's Unfinished History," in Gibbon and the 'Watchmen of the Holy City', 195–196 Nonetheless by 1783 Gibbon settled back in Lausanne where after publishing the final volumes of The Decline and Fall in 1788 went on to publish both his memoirs and his History of the Crusades some six years before his death in 1794. Gibbon's work has subsequently received a great deal of praise. His style full of poignant epigrams and subtle irony was wide ranging in influence and replete with insightful analysis and reflection.17 Consequently his work has been an influence for many writers who have come after him. Moreover, his approach to his work was fairly unique for his time in the sense that he always sought to stick to primary sources rather than second-hand accounts as far as possible.18 In his memoirs he wrote how he, "… always endeavoured to draw from the fountain-head; that my curiosity, as well as a sense of duty, has always urged me to study the originals; and that, if they have sometimes eluded my search, I have carefully marked the secondary evidence, on whose faith a passage or a fact were reduced to depend."19 In this respect we could arguably consider Gibbon to be one of the first modern historians. His disregard of his contemporaneous historians led him to seek his own particular approach. He was therefore inclined to willingly accept the influences of a diversity of sources such as, for example, both the Protestant and Scottish Enlightenment movements as well as the Parisian philosophers. While it is true to say that many of Gibbon's conclusions have been criticized, his work on the crusades has, on the whole, heralded enough praise that he must be considered to be one of the most important historians to have contributed to the scholarship on this subject. 17 Roland Quinault, "Winston Churchill and Gibbon," in Edward Gibbon and Empire, eds. R. McKitterick and R. Quinault (Cambridge: 1997), 317–332 18 Womersley, Decline and Fall, vol. 2, Preface to Gibbon vol. 4, p. 520. 19 Gibbon, Edward. The life and Letters of Edward Gibbon: with his History of the Crusades p 57 ll. 12-16 Works Cited Gibbon, Edward. The life and Letters of Edward Gibbon: with his History of the Crusades: Frederick Warne and co. 1889. Print Rogers, Henry. An Essay on the Life and Genius of Thomas Fuller: Biblio Life, LLC, 1995. Print Siberry, E The New Crusaders: Images of the Crusades in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries; Aldershott. 2000. Print  Read More