5 - Foundation and Settlement in Fulcher of Chartres’ Historia Hierosolymitana: A Narratological Reading

Summary

Fulcher of Chartres’ Historia Hierosolymitana, which covers the First Crusade and the early history of the so-called crusader states (c. 1095–1127), is not only an important piece of historical crusade writing, it also provides a foundation narrative for the states of Outremer, especially the kingdom of Jerusalem. Yet, few studies have considered Fulcher's narrative strategies within this context, and the Historia is rarely included within wider considerations of crusade narratives as cultural artefacts. This is due in part to the fact that the Historia's status as a ‘participant’ account of the First Crusade is complicated by Fulcher's absence from the main army for most of the campaign, which undermines his ‘eyewitness’ credentials. Moreover, as noted in the present collection's Introduction, within crusade studies, ‘eastern’ chronicles like Fulcher's have yet to be examined in as much detail as those composed in western Christendom. There is much, therefore, still to be done to develop a fuller understanding of not only Fulcher's account as a narrative, but also the process by which he shaped his work to offer a foundation story for the crusader states.

Indeed, foundation myths exist across the western canon of historical writing. As Naoíse Mac Sweeny notes, beginnings are (unsurprisingly) one of the most important elements of storytelling, for they set the scene. It is well established that the need for origin stories stems partly from a desire to make order out of chaos, particularly moments of great societal upheaval, and to provide legitimacy, both for events and new regimes. Like their classical predecessors, medieval historians wrote foundation narratives for various reasons. Walter Pohl observes that, from the late fourth century onwards, where once ‘Roman-ness’ was central to identity-building, now regional identities or ethnicities became more important. In a similar fashion, it has been argued that Fulcher of Chartres’ Historia forms part of a wider process of identity-construction in the crusader states, not least because the text emphasises the notion of ‘Frankishness’. Thus, Timo Kirschberger and Kristin Skottki have explored ‘ethnohistorical’ and religious readings of the Historia, arguing that central to its foundational agenda is the transformative nature of the First Crusade and the Latin settlement of Outremer.

Key to these discussions is the prologue, which places events within a theological framework, and a later section at the end of the entry for 1124, which bookends the prologue's narrative arc.