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History of Jerusalem by Fulcher of Chartres

Background and Biography
Background and Biography

Excerpts
English from Ryan (1969)

1113 CE - Book II - Chapters XLVIII-LI



XLVIII

The Signs That Appeared
  1. In the year 1113 of the Incarnation of Our Lord, in the month of March and on the twenty-eighth day of the moon,1 we saw the sun from early morning to the first hour. More than that we saw it wane by fading in one part. The section which first began to fade, at the top, at length came down like a round shape to the bottom. However, the sun did not lose its brightness, which was not diminished I think except in a fourth part. This part was in the shape of a small crescent.
    This was an eclipse, which thus caused the sun to fail us.2


XLIX

The Battle Fought Against the Turks, in Which the King and the Christians Were Defeated and from Which Much Evil Followed
  1. Then in the summer time the Turks massed their forces and crossed the Euphrates in order to advance upon the lands of Jerusalem and, as they thought, to destroy us Christians.1 They left the territory of Antioch to their right, traversed Syria not far from Apamea, left Damascus to their left, and crossed between Tyre and Caesarea Philippi, which is called Paneas,2 into the regions of Phoenicia. They intended to attack King Baldwin. But he heard of their advance and moved his army out of Ptolemais, i.e., Acre, against them.

  2. After providing themselves with what they felt was useful to them and while we were ignorant of what they intended, they circled around the Sea of Galilee through the territories of Napthali and Zebulun to the south end of the aforesaid sea.3 There they hedged themselves between two streams, the Jor and Dan4.

  3. An island lay between two bridges at this point.5 It was so secure that anyone located there could not be attacked because of the narrow entrances at the bridges. When the Turks had pitched their tents, they soon sent out two thousand men across one of the bridges to prepare an ambush for our men. They were confident that these latter would rush up to that point without delay.

  4. When therefore the king came up to encamp near the bridge that has been mentioned, the one leading to Tiberias, he saw nearly five hundred Turks who burst forth from their hiding places to attack our men. Some of the latter rashly charged the Turks and in slaying them did not hesitate to follow the foe up to the place of ambush. Here two thousand of the enemy issued from their hiding places, repulsed our men in a vigorous attack, and scattered them killing three times as many as they themselves lost.6

  5. Oh great sadness! On that day our great sins brought great shame. The king fled losing his flag and his fine tent with many furnishings and silver vessels. Likewise the patriarch who was present also fled. We lost nearly thirty of our best knights and about twelve hundred footmen.7

  6. Phoebus had risen three times four in the Sign of Cancer When this faithless race scattered the incautious Franks.8

  7. But all of the king’s forces were not yet there. In particular Roger, prince of Antioch and son of Richard, was not present. He had been summoned in the name of the love of God and I mg and was coming from Antioch with all haste. A part of the men of Tripoli had already joined the royal army. They were all greatly dismayed. They denounced the impudence of the king hi that he had rushed against the enemy in a rash and disorderly manner without waiting for their advice and aid.9

  8. And because our men could not at that time do any damage to the Turks they camped not far from them. Thus each side i ould watch the other all day.

  9. The leader of the enemy army was called Maledoctus. He had attached Tuldequinus, King of Damascus,10 to himself as an ally. The former led a huge force; the latter had gathered an in numerable host from the part of Syria subject to himself.

  10. The Turks were in the lowland; the Franks settled down upon a height.11 The Turks did not dare issue from their island; the Franks could not attack them. One side schemed, the other feared; one side was crafty, the other wary. The heat of summer oppressed them both Yet they were not able to end such suffering.

  11. The Franks who were absent wondered why those who were there delayed so long. The Saracens subject to us deserted us and as enemies hemmed us in on every side. In addition the Turks went out from their army in bands to devastate our lands and to send back booty and supplies to their army by means of our Sara cens. Sichem, which we call the city of Neapolis, they not only took but destroyed with the help of the Saracens whom we ruled in the mountains.12

  12. Indeed the men of Ascalon, who were Arabs and Saracens, although few in number, advanced upon Jerusalem. One day they reached the outer wall of the city and set fire to the harvests gathered there. They wounded with arrows some of our men on the ramparts of the wall; yet many of their men were mortally wounded. Our soldiers were not in the city, for they had gone against the enemy. On the following night the people of Ascalon retired to the great relief of our men, for they dreaded a siege by the former.13


L

The Great Fear Which Then Possessed Everyone
  1. At that time it was almost impossible, because of the snares of the enemy, for a messenger sent by any of us to venture forth to the king nor for one from him to come through to any of our cities. Hence it was not known by the towns what the king was doing, nor could they tell him what they were doing.
    In many fields the ripened harvest withered
    And no one went into the fields to gather it [Matth. 9:37].
    For none dared to do so. In that year the harvest was abundant, but while the sea is rough men fear to fish. Everything was in doubt to everyone, and all waited to see to whom God would give the victory. Our Christians ceased their business and their labors except to repair damages to the cities and their walls.1


LI

The Earthquake; and the Marriage of the King to the Countess of Sicily
  1. Meanwhile we twice felt an earthquake, to wit, on the fifteenth day before of the Kalends of August and again on the fifth day before the Ides of the same month: the first time at midnight, the second time at the third hour.1

  2. Meanwhile the crafty Turks waited for two months2 for an opportune time for scattering or conquering us, but in vain because in that season the pilgrims from overseas were arriving as was customary, and our army grew from day to day. In addition the men of Antioch did not leave us. At length the Turks with drew into the territories of Damascus.3

  3. King Baldwin then retired with his men to Acre where he found the Countess of Sicily. She had been the wife of Count Roger, brother of Robert Guiscard, but now was to be the wife of King Baldwin.4

  4. Very soon after this event Maledoctus was killed at Damascus by a certain Saracen. The latter had a dagger concealed under his cloak and with it stabbed his victim thrice in the stomach. Thus he there committed a double homicide, for he both killed and was killed instantly by those present.5 It is an ill-omened victory in which he who conquers is conquered. And so it transpired according to the saying of the philosopher:
    Fortune is of glass; while it is shining it breaks.6

  5. Maledoctus was very rich and powerful and very renowned among the Turks. He was extremely astute in his actions but could not resist the will of God.7 The Lord permitted him to scourge us for a while but afterwards willed that he should die a vile death and by the hand of an insignificant man.


Footnotes

XLVIII

1 March 19, 1113 (HF 564, note 2).

2 For discussion of this solar eclipse, see HF 564, notes 1-5.



XLIX

1 The date was near the end of Dhu’l Qa'da, A.H. 506 (ended May 18, 1113), according to Ibn-al-Athir (RHC, Or., I, 288). In this chapter Fulcher gives the principal Latin account of the great Turkish invasion of 1113 , led by Maudud of Mosul and Tughtigin of Damascus, which nearly destroyed the Frankish kingdom. Fulcher himself seems to have been in or near Jerusalem, not with King Baldwin (note 13). The most complete account is by another contemporary, Ibn-al- Qalanisi (The Damascus Chronicle, 132-39). See Fink, “Mawdud,” 23-25, for discussion.

2 Banyas, about twenty-eight miles north of Lake Tiberias.

3 Fulcher indicates that the Turks approached on the west side of Lake Tiberias. See HF 566, note 9.

4 Fulcher is confused because these are not the springs of Jor and Dan he mentioned earlier (I, xxxiv, 4) but streams that he imagined were south of Lake Tiberias (cf. HF 567, note 10). He added these names in his second redaction (HF 567, note b)

5 From Ibn-al-QalanisI we learn that the Franks camped west of the bridge of as-Sinnabrah and hoped to attack the Turks at al-Uqhuwanah (The Damascus Chronicle, 134-35), which is east of the Jordan. His account is followed by Ibn-al-Athir (RHC, Or., I, 288). Fulcher’s version of an island and two bridges is to be doubted, although Hagenmeyer, who did not have access to Ibn-al-Qalanisi, accepts it (HF 567, notes 10, 11).

6 Ibn-al-QalanisI states that a Turkish foraging party crossed the bridge and encountered the Franks west of the Jordan (The Damascus Chronicle, 135).

7 Nearly two thousand Franks were killed, according to Ibn-al-Qalanisi (ibid.).

8 June 28, 1113. Ibn-al-QalanisI agrees (ibid., 136).

9 This refers to Baldwin’s youthful colleagues, Roger, regent of Antioch (1112- 19), and Pons, Count of Tripoli (1112-37).

10 Maudud, Atabeg of Mosul, and Tughtigin, Atabeg of Damascus.

11 This hill was west of the city of Tiberias (Ibn-al-Qalanisi, The Damascus Chronicle, 136).

12 This paragraph is particularly enlightening because it shows how near the Pranks were to total destruction. The Saracens mentioned were the native peasantry on the estates of the Franks, for they were never evicted. Ibn-al-Qalanisi writes that the Turks raided as far as the environs of Jerusalem and Joppa (ibid., 137). Neapolis was Nablus. The Turks gave up and went home after August 16,

13 The date of this foray from Ascalon cannot be determined. This paragraph and the next chapter seem to indicate that Fulcher was in or around Jerusalem, certainly not with Baldwin near Tiberias.



L

1 Damage to the walls would seem to refer to the effects of the earthquakes of that summer (chap, li, 1).



LI

1 July 18 and August 9, 1113.

2a During July and August, the two months after the battle at as-Sinnabrah (chap, xlix, note 8).

3 According to Ibn-al-Qalanisi, the Turks reached Damascus on September (The Damascus Chronicle, 139).

4 The countess was Adelaide, widow of Roger I of Sicily (d. 1101). Baldwin married her for her money and because he wanted diplomatic and naval support from her son, Roger II. See Runciman, Crusades, II, 102-103. Guiscard (d. 1085) was the father of Bohemond I.

5 Maudud was murdered in the great mosque of Damascus on October 2, 1113 (Ibn-al-Qalanisi, The Damascus Chronicle, 139-40).

6 Publius Syrus Mim. 242 (quoted in HF 578, note 10).

7 Fulcher could not resist admiring this very able foe.



1114 CE - Book II - Chapter LII



LII

The Earthquake That Was Felt in Many Places
  1. In the year 1114 an infinite multitude of locusts swarmed out of a part of Arabia and flew into the land of Jerusalem. In a few days, during the months of April and May, they severely damaged our crops.1

  2. Later, on the Feast of St. Lawrence,2 there was an earthquake. Still later, on the Ides of November, an earthquake at Mamistra destroyed a part of the city.3

  3. Likewise a greater quake, the worst ever heard of, shook the area of Antioch and destroyed a great many towns in whole or in part, including houses as well as walls. Some of the common people perished of suffocation in the ruins.

  4. They say that this quake destroyed the city of Marash, which I think is about sixty miles north of Antioch. The houses and walls were completely demolished and the people living there, alas! were all killed.4

  5. Another town called Trialeth, near the Euphrates River, was also destroyed.5


Footnotes

LII

1 This plague is also mentioned by Walter the Chancellor (Bella Antiochena, Prolog., 2). Fulcher mentions another plague of locusts occurring in May, 1117 (chap. lx, 2).

2 August 10, 1114.

3 November 13, 1114. Mamistra was damaged by another earthquake in 1115 (chap. liv, 7).

4 The effects of this earthquake, of November 29, 1114 (HF 579, note 7), upon Antioch are graphically described by Walter the Chancellor (Bella Antiochena, I, i, 1). The quake is apparently mentioned by several Arab writers (Kamal-ad-Din, RHC, Or., III, 607; Ibn-al-Athir, ibid., I, 295; and Ibn-al-Qalinisi, The Damascus Chronicle, 149). Marash is about a hundred miles north of Antioch.

5 Trialeth cannot be identified, but Hagenmeyer suggests that it may have been Balis on the Euphrates, about 100 miles east of Antioch, the scene of an earthquake in A.H. 508 (June 7, 1114—May 26, 1115) recorded by Sibt Ibn-al-Jauzi (RHC, Or., III, 551-52; HF 580, note 12).

1115 CE - Book II - Chapter LIII-LV



LIII

The Gathering of the Turkish Army, and the Siege of the People of Joppa by the Ascalonites and the Babylonians.
  1. In the year 1115 the Turks, resuming their accustomed fierceness and audacity, stealthily crossed the River Euphrates in June, entered Syria, and camped between Antioch and Damascus, to wit, in front of the city of Shaizar.1 They had similarly taken a position here four years before, as has been written above.2

  2. Tuldequinus, the King of Damascus, discovered this and realized that he was no less odious to these Turks than to us Christians because he had deceitfully been privy to the murder of Mandulf in a previous year, as was stated above3. This Mandulf had been the chief satrap of their army. Tuldequinus made peace with King Baldwin and with Roger, Prince of Antioch, to that a third army was added to their two, and a triple cord, as it were, was made which could not afterwards be easily broken by the Turks. For he feared that if he remained alone he together with his kingdom would be entirely destroyed4.

  3. Urged indeed by necessity and advised by an embassy from Antioch, King Baldwin came to the battle which he thought would occur. But when the Turks heard that he had already come up close to them they regarded this as the advance of the men of Antioch and Damascus which they had been expecting for nearly three months.5 Fearing for their lives if they fought so many although they were much more numerous, the Turks quietly retired and entered some caverns which were not very far from us.6 When they did this King Baldwin and his allies thought that the Turks had departed entirely from our territories. For this reason the king went back to Tripoli.

  4. While these things were happening the men of Ascalon, knowing that the land of Jerusalem was devoid of soldiers, rushed up to our city of Joppa and besieged it by land and sea.7 Present there was the Babylonian fleet of nearly seventy vessels, of which some were triremes, some were beaked ships, and some were freighted with supplies for the undertaking.

  5. The men of Ascalon approached, some by sea and the rest by land, prepared to attack the city. And when they made a vigorous effort to scale the wall with ladders which they brought with them, they were strongly repulsed by the citizens although the latter were few and weakened by sickness.

  6. However, when the Ascalonites saw that they could not accomplish anything as they had planned, except to set fire to the gates of the city, they feared that perchance the people of Jerusalem who had already heard the news might bring help to Joppa, and hence they retired. Those that had come by land went back to Ascalon, and those that had come by sea sailed to Tyre.

  7. Ten days later8 the men of Ascalon returned to Joppa thinking that if they were prepared they might by sudden attack destroy their enemy unprepared. But the Omnipotent God as He has done before similarly protected and saved us a second time. In defending themselves the Franks killed some of the enemy and captured their horses. The Ascalonites began to be siege the city with fundibula and tried to enter it as before with ladders brought in small boats. After they had exhausted them selves during the course of six hours they sadly retired carrying with them their dead.


LIV

The Battle Between the Turks and the Men of Antioch in Which the Latter Gained the Victory.1
  1. However, the Turks mentioned above, when they discovered that our army had returned home, went back to their former position and scoured the regions of Syria. They captured whatever castles they could, plundered villages, devastated the countryside, and carried off men and women into captivity.2

  2. But when this was announced to the men of Antioch, who had already retired, they quickly turned back against the Turks by the way they had left. And when they had approached the Turks and noticed that the camp of the latter was closer than they had first thought, they at once formed battle lines and came down into the area of the camp, galloping against the enemy with banners flying. This battle was near the town of Sarmin.3

  3. As soon as the Turks saw the Franks, the Turkish corps of archers forthwith resisted furiously.4 But our Franks were stirred by a mighty spirit of courage and chose to conquer if God willed or be conquered if He permitted, rather than be thus molested by the Turks every year. They assailed the enemy in wondrous manner wherever they saw the mass was densest.

  4. The Turks at first resisted for a little while, then suddenly fled from those who smote and slew them. It is estimated that three thousand Turks were killed, and many captured. Those who escaped death saved themselves by flight. They lost their tents in which were found much money and property. The value of the money was estimated at three hundred thousand bezants. The Turks abandoned there our people whom they had captured, Franks as well as Syrians, and their own wives and maid-servants and many camels. Thousands of mules and horses were counted.5

  5. Truly is God marvelous in all of His miracles. For while the men of Jerusalem along with those of Antioch and Damascus were prepared for battle they accomplished nothing whatever. For when did the victory of fighters ever depend upon the number of men? Remember the Maccabees, Gideon [I—II Mach.; Judic. 6-8], and many others who confided not in their own strength but in that of God and in that way overcame many thousands.

  6. And so by this description the event shall be known to future generations.
    Three nights went by before the Constellation Virgo went away
    As deceptive fortune cruelly betrayed the Turks.6
    Whence it is quite clear that manifestly all must fear
    That before the end of a matter nothing is ever to be regarded as certain.

  7. In that year the city of Mamistra was demolished by an earthquake. Other places in the area of Antioch suffered no less7.

  8. In that same year the Bishop of Orange arrived, sent to Jerusalem by the Apostolic See, and deposed Patriarch Arnulf from his seat. Wherefore Arnulf afterwards went to Rome and recovered the patriarchate.8


LV

The Castle Built in Arabia
  1. In that year1 King Baldwin went into Arabia and built a castle strongly situated on a small mountain. It is not far from the Red Sea, about three days’ journey, and about four from Jerusalem. He placed a garrison in it to dominate the country in the interest of the Christians. He decided to name this castle Montréal in honor of himself because he built it in a short time with a few men and with great boldness.2


Footnotes

LIII

1 In this chapter Fulcher tells of the invasion of Syria by Bursuk ibn-Bursuk of Hamadan, commander-in-chief for the Selchiikid Sultan Muhammad ibn-Malik-Shah in the jihad of 1115. According to Ibn-al-Athir, who was, however, a later writer, the crossing of the Euphrates was prior to the end of A.H. 508, i.e., before May 26, 1115 (RHC, Or., I, 296; cf. Stevenson, Crusaders in the East, 98, note 2). For discussion of this campaign, see Stevenson, Crusaders in the East, 98-100; and Cahen, La Syrie du Nord, 271-73.

2 Chap, xlv, 6.

3 The murder of Maudud of Mosul, Sultan Muhammad’s commander, in 1113 (chap, li, 4).

4 Fulcher correctly diagnoses the plight of Tughtigin. Tughtigin, who was practically independent, preferred an alliance with his neighbors the Syrian Franks to the presence in Syria of a powerful representative of the Selchukid sultan of Bagdad. Fulcher does not mention the regent Lu’ lu’ of Aleppo and Il-Ghazi of Mardin, who also allied with the Franks in 1115. See H. S. Fink, “The Role of Damascus in the History of the Crusades,” Muslim World, XLIX (1959), 45-47

5 Walter the Chancellor, an excellent contemporary authority from Antioch, states that Roger, while at Apamea in August, summoned King Baldwin (Bella Antiochena, I, iii, 2), which bears out the statement of Fulcher. Two Arab writers, both later, indicate that Baldwin was with the allies for two months i.e., from June (Ibn-al-Athlr, RHC, Or., I, 297; Sibt Ibn-al-Jauzi, ibid., Ill, 554). By “three months” Fulcher refers loosely to June, July, and August.

6 I.e., Bursuk broke contact with his enemies. See HF 584, note 16.

7 Fulcher is the sole authority for this campaign against Jerusalem. It may have been prior to August 15, 1115, since Albert of Aix speaks of an Egyptian fleet at Tyre between August 15-September 11 of that year (XII, xvii; see HF 585, note 18; 586, note 21).

8 Ca. August 22, 1115, according to Hagenmeyer (HF 586, note 22)



LIV

1 In this chapter Fulcher gives his account of the great victory of Roger of Antioch over the Selchukid generalissimo Bursuk ibn-Bursuk in the valley of Sarmin near Tell Danith on September 14, 1115. Although Fulcher was not present, he agrees very well with Walter the Chancellor, of Antioch, whose account is quite complete (Bella Antiochena, I, iv, 6; vii, 5). For discussion see Grousset, Croisades, I, 504-10.

2 Bursuk, after the departure of his enemies in August (chap, liii, 3) captured Roger’s stronghold of Kafartab and then ravaged the area around Ma‘arrat-an-Nu'man (Walter the Chancellor, Bella Antiochena, I, iv, 6-7).

3 The town of Sarmin is about thirty-three miles southeast of Antioch and about the same distance southwest of Aleppo.

4 Apparently this is the attack made upon Roger by the Turk Tamirek of Sinjar (Walter the Chancellor, Bella Antiochena, I, vi, 8).

5 Kamal-ad-Din also tells of the great quantity of booty (RHC, Or., Ill, 610). Walter the Chancellor writes that it took three days to divide it (Bella Antiochena, I, vii, 5).

6 September 14, 1115. Two other Latin sources agree with Fulcher (Walter the Chancellor, Bella Antiochene, I, v, 3; Albert of Aix, XII, xx), while Usamah the Arab gives September 15, 1115, as the date (An Arab-Syrian Gentleman, 105). See Stevenson, Crusaders in the East, 100, note 1.

7 No other writer mentions this earthquake, nor is the exact day known (HF 586, note 1; 590, note 22).

8 Arnulf’s reinstatement is announced in a letter of Pope Paschal II dated July 19, 1116 (Rozière, Cartulaire de l'Église du Saint-Sépulcre, No. 11; HF 590, note 24). Fulcher’s original text refers to Paschal “qui tunc Romae papae praeerat,” an indication that Fulcher was writing after 1118, when Paschal died (HF 591, note c; Fulcher, II, briii, 4).



LV

1 1115.

2 This castle, Krak de Montréal, destined to be famous in the time of Saladin, was built upon a ridge at ash-Shaubak, about ninety miles south of Jerusalem and seventy-five north of al-‘Aqabah on the Red Sea gulf of that name. Consult HF 592, note 4; 593, note 5; and Fedden and Thompson, Crusader Castles, 26, 28, 60. Baldwin reconnoitered this area in 1100 (chaps, iv-v).

1116 CE - Book II - Chapter LVI



LVI

The Expedition of the King into Arabia and What He Saw There
  1. In the year 1116 when the king went from Jerusalem with nearly two hundred knights to revisit his castle in Arabia, he advanced as far as the Red Sea to see what he had not seen and perchance to find something on the way that he might want.1

  2. At that time they found the city of Elim on the shore of this sea where we read that the people of Israel camped after crossing the sea.2 Those who dwelt there, when they heard of the king’s approach, withdrew and embarking upon their little vessels rushed out to sea in great fear.

  3. However, when the king and his men looked over the place as long as they wished, they returned to their castle of Montréal and then to Jerusalem.

  4. When they told us what they had seen we were delighted with their tales as well as by the sea shells and certain precious stones which they brought and showed to us. I myself very eagerly questioned them to find what the sea was like, for until then I had wondered whether it was saline or fresh, stagnant water or a lake, whether it had an inlet and outlet like the Sea of Galilee, and whether it was confined by its own dimensions like the Dead Sea, which received the Jordan but had no outlet.3 For on the south the Dead Sea is bounded by Segor, the city of Lot [Gen. 13:10; 19:22-2 3].4


Footnotes

LVI

1 According to Albert of Aix, Baldwin advanced with two hundred knights and four hundred footmen to the vicinity of Mount Horeb, where he built a fortification in eighteen days, and then proceeded with sixty knights to the Red Sea (XII, xxi). However, Albert confused this story with that of the construction of the castle in 1115 (HF 593, note 25).

2 Fulcher confuses Elim, where the Hebrews are said to have crossed the bed of the Red Sea (Exod. 15:27; Num. 33:9), presumably in the Gulf of Suez, with Elath (Ailah, modem al-‘Aqabah) at the head of the Gulf of ‘Aqabah (I Reg. 9:26; II Paralip. 8:17).

3 Cf. Fulcher’s similar curiosity about the Dead Sea in 1110 (chap, v, 1-3).

4 See reference to Segor in chap, v, 4, note 6.

1117 CE - Book II - Chapters LX-LXIII



LX

The Great Plague of the Locusts

  1. In the year 1117 of the Incarnation of Our Lord this queen who has been mentioned1 departed from the port of Acre on the day on which, in accordance with the rule of the church, the greater litany is chanted2 and with seven ships in her company crossed over to Sicily.

  2. Then in the month of May an infinite multitude of locusts swarmed into the land of Jerusalem devouring more completely than usual the vines, field crops, and trees of all kinds.3 You could see them advance like an army of men in good order as if they had previously arranged it in council. When they had made their day's journey, some on foot and some flying, they mutually chose a resting place for themselves. And so when they had eaten up everything green, and had gnawed the bark of the trees, the wingless locusts as well as the others departed in companies.

  3. Oh the wickedness of men who persist in their wicked perversity! How often and how much our Creator touches us with His reproaches and admonishes us, terrifies us by His portents, stirs us by His threats, instructs us by His lessons, and represses us by His punishment. But we always persist in our iniquities, despise His admonitions, and contemptuously violate His precepts.

  4. What wonder that the Saracens or other wicked lords should take from us our lands since we ourselves reach out with thievish hands into the fields of our neighbors! Indeed we wrongfully cheat them with the furrow of the plow or otherwise secretly rob them with greedy acts of fraud and thus sinfully enrich ourselves from their possessions.

  5. What wonder is it that, God permitting, the mice destroy our crops while they are sprouting from the roots in the ground or the locusts devour them ripened in the ear, or that they are damaged in the granaries by worms of every kind or by rotting, when we dishonestly sell the tithes owed to God or sacrilegiously retain them entirely?



LXI

The Portent of the Moon

  1. In the following month, which was June, the moon appeared to us who were looking at it in the sky after cockcrow, first entirely red; very soon, however, the redness changed to black so that the moon lost the strength of its light for nearly two hours. This happened on the thirteenth of the month. If it had happened on the fourteenth we would certainly have thought it an eclipse.1

  2. Therefore we regarded it as a portent. From this redness some conjectured that blood would be shed in battle; from the blackness others prophesied that a famine was coming. But we committed the matter to the disposition and providence of God, who foretold to His disciples that there would be portents in the sun and the moon [Luc. 21:25].

  3. He moreover as He wills causes the earth to tremble and then to be still. This subsequently happened in the same month in the silence of an unseasonable night, on the sixth day before the Kalends of June.2



LXII

The Castle Built near Tyre

  1. Then the king built a castle near the city of Tyre, within five miles. He named it Scandalion, which interpreted means "Field of the Lion."1 He repaired the breaches in it and placed a garrison within to be a restraint upon the people of Tyre.




LXIII

The Marvelous Portent Appearing in the Sun

  1. In the same year, in the month of December, on the fifth night after the eclipse of the moon which happened on the thirteenth of the month,1 in the beginning of the night we all saw the northern sky streaked with the bright color of fire or of blood. Thinking that this phenomenon was full of wondrous portents, we marveled greatly.

  2. Through the midst of this redness, which first began to increase a little by little, we saw a great many white rays rise in a remarkable way from the bottom upwards, now in front, then in the rear, then in the center.2 In the lower part the sky appeared light as if it were dawn when the sky is wont to brighten just before sunrise. In front of this phenomenon, to the east, we saw a white ness as if the moon were about to rise there. For this reason the land and all the places about us glistened clearly in apparition.

  3. If this had happened in the morning we would all have said that the day was bright. Therefore we conjectured that either much blood would be shed in war or that something no less threatening was forecast. But what was uncertain to us we humbly committed to the Lord God for His disposition.

  4. However, some people, prophesying, declared that this was a portent of death for those who were to die during the next year. And subsequently these did die: Pope Paschal in the month of January; Baldwin, king of the people of Jerusalem, in April; also his wife in Sicily, whom he had forsaken; Arnulf, the Patriarch of Jerusalem; Alexius, the Emperor of Constantinople; and many others of the great men of the world.3


Footnotes

LX

1 Adelaide.

2 April 25, 1117 (HF 6o2, note 3).

3 Cf. locust plague in May, 1114 (chap. lii, 4).



LXI

1 Fulcher, here using the Golden Number system of chronology, a lunar system for calculating the dates of Easter, expected the new moon on June 4, which he, however, regarded as the first of the month. He expected the full moon to occur fifteen days later on June 28 (or June 25 by his reckoning). However, his calculations were incorrect in this instance: the new moon came on June 2 (JW: verified with clearskytonight.com), and the full moon followed in fifteen days, on June 26 (JW: This appears to be a typographic error and should be 16 June - clearskytonight.com shows a Full Moon in Jerusalem on 16 June 1117 CE at 3:01 am) (which he regarded as June 13). Hence his astonishment and superstititious awe. He adds that if the full moon had appeared on the fourteenth day (i.e., at any other interval than fifteen days) he would have regarded it as an eclipse. For further discussion, see HF 604, note 3; and Henri Wallon, edition of Fulcher, RHC, Occ., III, 434, note b. Regarding the Golden Number system, see A. Giry, Manuel de diplomatique (Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1894), 148.

2 June 26, 1117.

3 Fulcher apparently errs in his interpretation of Scandalion, for William of Tyre explains that it was named after Alexander the Great, called "Scandar' in Arabic (XI, xxx).



LXII

1 Fulcher apparently errs in his interpretation of Scandalion, for William of Tyre explains that it was named after Alexander the Great, called “Scandar” in Arabic (XI, xxx).



LXIII

1 Fulcher, again using the Golden Number system, began his reckoning for the month of December on November 29, 1117, the date of the new moon. The thirteenth day, counting November 29, was December 11, and the fifth day after that was December 16. This time his calculations were correct. See HF 607, note 3; and Wallon, edition of Fulcher, RHC, Occ., Ill, 435, note d.

2 This was a display of the aurora borealis.

3 Pope Paschal died on January 21, 1118; King Baldwin, on April 2; ex-Queen Adelaide on April 16; Arnulf, possibly on April 28; and Alexius on August 15 (HF 608, notes 12-16).

English from Guidoboni and Comastri (2005)



1114. A plague of locusts poured out of Arabia into the territory of Jerusalem and devastated the cultivated fields for many days during the months of April and May. Then, on the feast of St.Lawrence [10 August], there was an earthquake.


1114. [...] Immediately afterwards, that is to say on the Ides of November [13 November], an earthquake at Mamistra razed part of the town to the ground. The earthquake was even more violent in the region of Antioch, to the extent that walls and houses were totally or partially destroyed in many towns; and some of the inhabitants were also crushed in the ruins. It is said that the earthquake shock was so severe at the town of Mariscum, which stands, I think, about sixty miles to the north of Antioch, that houses and town walls were completely destroyed, and all the inhabitants were killed. What a tragedy!

Another town, called Trihalet, which is situated by the river Euphrates, was also completely destroyed.


1115. [...] Indeed, just as [God] in his love protected men, so he also called them unto himself with implacable justice, [as he showed] that same year by destroying with an earthquake the formerly quite illustrious town of Mamistra, and also by striking many other places in the region of Antioch with a similar disaster.


1117. [...] The month of June. [...] When He wishes, God causes the earth to shake and then calms it again. That is what happened a little later that month, deep in the silence of the night, on the sixth day before the Calends of July [26 June]. Then the king [Baldwin of Jerusalem] built a fortified place about five miles outside the city of Tyre, and called it Scandelion, which means Field of the Lion, and he repaired the damage and posted guardians there to keep the said place under control.

English from Ambraseys (2009)



Meanwhile we twice felt an earthquake, to wit, on the 15th day before the Kalends of August and again on the 5th day before the Ides of the same month: the first time at midnight, the second time at the third hour. (Fulch., Gest. Franc. 50/208f)


(1113) And the sea was rougher than usual, making it impossible to fish on the sea; and the earth was struck twice by a terrible earthquake, and the people were consumed with fear, frightened lest buildings collapsed. (Fulch.Hist. Hier.571)


In the year 1114 and before a multitude of locusts swarmed from parts of Arabia, the territory of Jerusalem was violently laid waste; in the months of April and May and after (sequenti) it was shaken terribly by an earthquake. (Fulch., Hist. Hier.572)


The earthquake that was felt in many places...In the year 1114 an infinite multitude of locusts swarmed out of a part of Arabia... Later, on the Feast of St Lawrence, there was an earthquake. Still later, on the Ides of November, an earthquake at Mamistra destroyed a part of the city...Likewise a great quake, the worst ever heard of, shook the area of Antioch and destroyed a great many towns in whole or in part, including houses as well as walls. Some of the common people perished of suffocation in the ruins...They say that this quake destroyed the city of Marash, which I think is about sixty miles north of Antioch. The houses and walls were completely demolished and the people living there were killed...Another town called Trialeth, near the Euphrates River, was also destroyed. (Fulch. Gest. Franc. lii/210)


In that year [1115] the city of Mamistra was demolished by an earthquake. Other places in the area of Antioch suffered no less. (Fulch. Gest. Franc. liv. 7/214/428)


He moreover as He wills causes the earth to tremble and then to be still. This subsequently happened in the same month in the silence of an unseasonable night, on the sixth day before the Kalends of July. (Fulch.Gest. Franc. lxi/220)

Latin from Hagenmeyer (1913)

1113 CE - Book II - Chapters XLVIII, L-LI

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  • Critical Edition in Latin
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  • from Hagenmeyer (1913:564-578)


XLVIII

De signis apparentibus
  1. Anno M°C°X°III° ab incarnatione dominica, dum niense in Martio lunam habebamus XXVIII, vidimus solem a mane usque ad primam et eo amplius defectione quadam ab una parte minorari, et pars, quae primitus a summo tabescere coepit, tandem quasi in rotundo ad ima devenit. attamen sol claritatem suam non amisit, qui non minoratus est, nisi, ut aestimo, a IV parte suae formae aliquantulum cornutus.
    Hoc eclipsis erat, quo sol ita deficiebat.


L

De metu nimio, qui universos tunc cohibebat
  1. Ea tempestate aut vix aut nunquam valebat nuntius ad regem ab aliquo nostrum mittendus exire nec ab eo ad civitates nostras propter hostiles insidias transire; ideoque nesciebatur ab illis quid isti, nec ab istis quid facerent illi.
    Ruribus in multis marcebat messis adulta,
    Nec qui colligerent in agros exire videres.
    non audebant enim. eo quidem anno messis abunda fuit. sed dum mare turbatur, homines terret, ne piscentur. cuncta cunctis in dubio pendebant, et quibus triumphum daturus esset Deus, unanimiter exspectabant. Christiani nostri a negotiis et operibus cessabant, excepto quod urbium et munitionum fracturas resarciebant.


LI

De terrae motu et quod rex comitissam Siciliae duxit uxorem
  1. Interea terrae motum sensimus bis, scilicet XV Kalend. Augusti et V Idus eiusdem: primum nocte media, secundum hora diei tertia.

  2. Turci autem versipelles, cum per II menses opportunitatem vel dissipandi vel superandi nostros exspectassent nec potuissent, quia de transmarinis partibus, ut mos est, venientibus peregrinis, eo tempore diatim exercitus noster crescebat nec gens Antiochena abibat, secesserunt in partes Damascenorum.

  3. et rex Balduinus cum suis Ptolemaidem reversus est, ubi comitissam Siciliae repperit, quae coniunx fuerat Rogeri, comitis Roberti Guiscardi fratris, nunc autem uxor futura regis Balduini.

  4. nec mora, postmodum apud Damascum interemptus est Maledoctus a quodam Saraceno, qui, sica sub veste occultata et ter in ventrem illius impacta, duplex illic explevit homicidium. illo enim sic occiso et ipse confestim ab adsistentibus occisus est. dira victoria, qua qui vincit vincitur. itaque contigit iuxta illud philosophi
    Fortuna vitrea est, tunc cum splendet frangitur.
  5. erat Maledoctus dives valde et magnipotens, inter Turcos nominatissimus et in actibus suis astutissimus sed voluntati Dei resistere non valuit. permisit eum Dominus aliquandiu nos flagellare, postea voluit eum morte vili et imbecilli manu perire.

1114 CE - Book II - Chapter LII

  • Book II
  • Critical Edition in Latin
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  • from Hagenmeyer (1913:578-580)


LII

De terrae motu multis in locis exsistentep1
  1. Annoq MoCoXoIVo multitudo locustarum2 infinita ebulliit a parte Arabiae advolans in terram Hierosolymitanamr, quae per dies aliquantos segetess mense Aprili et Maio3 multumt vastaveruntu.

  2. die deinde festo S.a Laurentii4 terrae motusb factus estc. tempore autemd sequenti, quod accidit Idus Novembris5 apud urbem Mamistriame6 terrae motus partemf subruitg oppidi.

  3. itemh maior et inauditus regionem Antiochenam7 adeoi per loca8 concussitk, ut oppida plurimal sive tota sive dimidia, tam domos quam muralia9 solotenus subrueret, in qua etiam ruinam pars plebis suffocatae interiretn.10

  4. Mariscum11 dicunt civitatem abo Antiochia LX, ut aestimo, distantema miliariis in parte septentrionali subvertitb in tantum commotio illac, ut domosd et muralia penitus corruerent et populum inhabitantem, pro dolor! cunctum exstinguerete.

  5. aliudf quoque oppidumg, quod Trialethh12 nuncupanti, prope fluvium Euphratem nihilominusk subruitl.
    6.


Footnotes

LII

p De multitudine locustarum et terrae motu K.

q anno autem ABFIO; anno ab incarnatione domini grβ.

r Hierosolymorum ABFGIORβ; terra hierosolymitana Eδμ.

s segetes nostras ABFGHIORβ.

t atque maio valde ABFGIORβ.

u vastavit I.

a sancti martyris ABFGIRβ.

b terrae tremor K.

c est magnus ABFGIORβ.; om. est R.

d item ABDFGHIKORβ.

e manustriam CEP.

f factus est magnus qui partem Gβ.

g subvertit ABDFGHIORβ.

h itemque maiorque K; itaque β; itemque ABFGHIO; itaque R.

i terrae motus adeo ABFGIORβ.

k conbussit E.

l quamplurima ABFGIORβ.

m plnrima O.

n suffocata [suffocatae E] interiit EIδμ; interire R.

o dicunt oppidum peroptimum, quod ABFGIORβ.

a distat ABFGIORβ.

b quam subvertit Kδμ.

c subvertit adeo motus ille ABFGIORβ.

d domus I.

e extingeret R; extinguerent O.

f alium GRβ; aliut E.

g castrum ABFGIORβ.

h Trihaleth ABFH; Trialech Fβ; trihaleth O; Traleth Eδμ.

i nuncupatur Eδμ.

k non minus ABFGIORβ.

l subvertit Gβ.

see embedded text for numerical footnotes

1115 CE - Book II - Chapter LIV

  • Book II
  • Critical Edition in Latin
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  • from Hagenmeyer (1913:586-590)


LIV

De pugna Turcorum et Antiochenorum, in qua Antiocheni victoriam adepti sunt

... 7. Ipso anno iterum subversa est urbs Mamistrias terrae motu. alias autem in regione Antiochena non minus accidit.

1116 CE - Book II - Chapter LVI

  • Book II
  • Critical Edition in Latin
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  • from Hagenmeyer (1913:592-593)


LVI

De castro in Arabia constructo
  1. Eo anno profectus est rex Balduinus in Arabiam et aedificavit ibi castrum unum in monticulo quodam situ forti non longe a mari Rubro, sed quasi dierum trium itinere, ab Hierusalem vero IV, et posuit in eo custodes, qui patriae illius dominarentur ad utilitatem Christianismi. quod castrum ob honorificentiam sui Regalem montem nominari constituit, quia parvo tempore cum pauca gente sed maxima probitate illud aedificaverat.

1117 CE - Book II - Chapters LXI

  • Book II
  • Critical Edition in Latin
  • see embedded text for footnotes (which are largely in German)
  • from Hagenmeyer (1913:604-605)


LXI

De signo lunae
  1. Sequenti quidem mense, qui Iunius erat, apparuit nobis in caelum suspicientibus luna post galli cantum prius tota rubea; novissime vero, mutato rubore, nigredine adeo fuscata est, ut vim sui luminis per II paene horas perderet. contigit autem hoc die, qua eam XIII habebamus. quod si XIV die illo esset, eclipsim nimirum eius esse intelllgeremus.

  2. quod ergo pro signo id accepinius, ex hoc quidam coniectabant rubore in proelio fore fundendum sanguinem; alii vero nigredine significabant venturam famem; nos autem dispositioni et providentiae Dei hoc commisimus, qui in sole et luna discipulis suis praedixit signa fore futura.

  3. qui etiam, quando vult, terram facit tremere et postea quiescere; quod subsequenter accidit in eodem mense noctis intempestae silentio, VI Kalendas lulii



Latin from Guidoboni and Comastri (2005)



Anno millesimo centesimo decimo quarto, multitudo locustarum infinita ebuliit, a parte Arabiae advolans in terram Iherosolymitanam, quae per dies aliquantos segetes, mense Aprili et Maio, multum vastaverunt. Die deinde festo sancti Laurentii, terrae motus factus est.


Anno millesimo centesimo decimo quarto 1...). Tempore autem sequenti, quod accidit idus Novembris, apud urbem Mamistriam terrae motus partem subruit oppidi. Item major et inauditus regionem Antiochenam adeo per loca concussit, ut oppida plurima sive tota, sive dimidia, tam domos quam muralia solo tenus subrueret, in qua etiam ruina pars plebis suffocatae interiret. Mariscum dicunt civitatem ab Antiochia sexaginta, ut aestimo, distantem milliariis, in parte septentrionali, subvertit in tantum cornmotio ilia, ut domos et muralia penitus corruerent, et populum inhabitantem, proh dolor!

cunctum exstingueret. Aliud quoque oppidum, quod Trialeth nuncupant, prope fluvium Eufraten nihilominus subruit.


Anno .M.C.XV. [...] Verum quos ita Deus per se protegebat pius, per se quoque ipse corripiebat justus, eodem anno et Mamistriam terrae motu subvertens, urbem olim satis illustrem, et pleraque alia in territorio Antiocheno loca horrore simili concutiens.


1117. [...] Quidem mense, qui Iunius erat [...]. Deus [...] qui etiam quando vult terrain facit tremere, et postea quiescere; quod subsequenter accidit in eodem mense noctis intempestae silentio, VI kalendas Iulii.

Tune edificavit rex quoddam castrum prope urbem Tyrum, intra quintum ab urbe milliarium, quod vocavit Scandalion, et Campum Leonis interpretatum, et resarcivit diruta eius, et posuit in eo custodes ad coercendum urbem predictam.

English from Ryan (1969) - embedded



Latin from Hagenmeyer (1913) - embedded



Chronology
Chronology Tables

1113 CE - Two Earthquakes (17/18 July and 8/9 August)
Date Reference Corrections Notes
  • midnight 17/18 July 1113 CE

  • ~9 am (3rd Hour) 8/9 August 1113 CE
 Meanwhile we twice felt an earthquake, to wit, on the fifteenth day before of the Kalends of August and again on the fifth day before the Ides of the same month: the first time at midnight, the second time at the third hour none
  • Chapters XLVIII - LI all refer to 1113 CE

  • Kalends refers to the first day of a month in the Roman calendar. The 15th day before the Kalends of August refers to 17 July (calculated with calculat.io) but midnight means it could have also been 18 July. Ryan (1969:209 n.1) dates this earthquake to 17 July 1113 CE

  • Ides of August refers to 13th of August in the Roman calendar. The 5th day before the Ides of August refers to 8 August (calculated with calculat.io). Ryan (1969:209 n.1) dates this earthquake to 9 August 1113 CE

  • Fulcher's dates could be off by a few days as occurred during the 1117 CE Quake

  • Earlier in the year of 1113 CE, Fulcher mentions a solar eclipse which Ryan (1969:204 n.1) dates to March 19. imcee has a total solar eclipse on 26 March 1113 CE (Gregorian) which works out to 19 March 1113 CE in the Julian Calendar (calculated using CHRONOS)
1114 CE - 1st Earthquake (10 August)
Date Reference Corrections Notes
10 August 1114 CE In the year 1114 ... Later, on the Feast of St. Lawrence, there was an earthquake none
1114 CE - 2nd Earthquake (13 November)
Date Reference Corrections Notes
13 November 1114 CE In the year 1114 ... Still later, on the Ides of November, an earthquake at Mamistra destroyed a part of the city. none
1114 CE - greater quake
Date Reference Corrections Notes
1114 CE Likewise a greater quake, the worst ever heard of, shook the area of Antioch and destroyed a great many towns in whole or in part, including houses as well as walls. Some of the common people perished of suffocation in the ruins. none
  • It is unclear if the greater quake is the same as the 2nd earthquake of 13 November 1114 CE or if it refers to a seperate event. However, the year in Section LII is 1114 CE.
1115 CE - Earthquake
Date Reference Corrections Notes
1115 CE In that year the city of Mamistra was demolished by an earthquake. Other places in the area of Antioch suffered no less none
  • Sections LIII-LV all refer to 1115 CE so that year was 1115 CE. Fulcher did not specify the date.

  • Ryan (1969:214 n. 3) states that Mamistra was damaged by another earthquake in 1115 (chap. liv, 7).

  • Ryan (1969:214 n. 7c) states that No other writer mentions this earthquake, nor is the exact day known (HF 586, note 1; 590, note 22)

  • Guidoboni and Comastri (2005) appear to date this earthquake in Book II Section LIV Line 7 to 29 November 1115 CE. Ambraseys (2009) appears to date this same earthquake to 29 November 1114 CE and states that Guidoboni and Comastri (2005, 74) split this earthquake into two events, one on 13 November 1114 and another on 29 November 1115; the reasons for this do not seem clear. Their dates are based on considering other sources.
1117 CE - Earthquake (26-29 June)
Year Reference Corrections Notes
nighttime between the 26th and 29th of June in 1117 CE This subsequently happened in the same month in the silence of an unseasonable night, on the sixth day before the Kalends of June
  • "before the Kalends of July" substituted for "before the Kalends of June" due to apparent typographic error (this error also shows up in the critical Latin edition by Hagenmeyer, 1913). An earlier paragraph (LXI paragraph 1) indicates that the events described occurred in June - not May.

  • Since Fulcher misdated the 16 June total lunar eclipse to June 13 and misdated the 16 June full moon to 14 June, he may have also misdated the earthquake - dating it 2-3 days too early. Although this might be solvable by investigating the Golden Number system of chronology that Ryan (1969:219 n.1) says he employed, for now I am going to just say that the earthquake appears to have struck between the 26th and 29th of June.
  • NASA's Javascript Lunar Eclipse Explorer shows that a total Lunar Eclipse was visible in Jerusalem on 16 June 1117 CE starting at 12:05 am and ending at 5:44 am (local time). The total part of the eclipse lasted from 2:20 am until 3:28 am.

  • imcee dates this total lunar eclipse to 23 June 1117 CE however they are using the Gregorian Calendar for their date. Once this is converted to a Julian Date, they also have the eclipse occurring on 16 June 1117 CE (calculated using CHRONOS)

  • Fulcher of Chartres was an eyewitness to this eclipse and described it earlier in the text - before the earthquake. Fulcher reported the date of the eclipse as 13 June 1117 CE and stated that the moon lost the strength of its light for nearly two hours.

  • Ryan (1969:219 n.1) has a brief discussion about the Golden Number system of chronology used by Fulcher for this passage. She cites Giry (1894:148) for more details about this chronological system

Seismic Effects
Seismic Effects

1113 CE - Two Earthquakes (17/18 July and 8/9 August)

  • we twice felt an earthquake,
1114 CE - 1st Earthquake (10 August)
  • Later, on the Feast of St. Lawrence, there was an earthquake
1114 CE - 2nd Earthquake (13 November)
  • Still later, on the Ides of November, an earthquake at Mamistra destroyed a part of the city
1114 CE - greater quake (29 November ?)
  • Likewise a greater quake, the worst ever heard of, shook the area of Antioch and destroyed a great many towns in whole or in part, including houses as well as walls. Some of the common people perished of suffocation in the ruins.
  • They say that this quake destroyed the city of Marash, which I think is about sixty miles north of Antioch. The houses and walls were completely demolished and the people living there, alas! were all killed.
  • Another town called Trialeth, near the Euphrates River, was also destroyed
  • It is possible that the greater quake is the 29 November Quake.
1115 CE - Earthquake
  • In that year the city of Mamistra was demolished by an earthquake. Other places in the area of Antioch suffered no less
1117 CE - Earthquake (26-29 June)
  • He moreover as He wills causes the earth to tremble and then to be still

Locations
Locations

1113 CE - Two Earthquakes (17/18 July and 8/9 August)

  • unspecified - probably Jerusalem
1114 CE - 1st Earthquake (10 August)
  • unspecified - it could have been felt in Jerusalem since that is where Fulcher was living at the time
1114 CE - 2nd Earthquake (13 November) 1114 CE - greater quake (29 November ?)
  • Other places in the area of Antioch
  • Marash (aka Kahramanmaraş)
  • Trialeth, near the Euphrates River1
  • It is possible that the greater quake is the same as the 29 November earthquake
Footnotes

1 Ryan (1969:210 n.5) states that Trialeth cannot be identified, but Hagenmeyer suggests that it may have been Balis on the Euphrates, about 100 miles east of Antioch, the scene of an earthquake in A.H. 508 (June 7, 1114—May 26, 1115) recorded by Sibt Ibn-al-Jauzi (RHC, Or., III, 551-52; HF 580, note 12). Ambraseys (2009) suggests that Trialeth is Tell Khalid (Trialeth), a fortified site at the head of Sadjour Suyu, a tributary of the Euphrates River. Guidoboni and Comastri (2005) suggest that Trihaleth is present day Akçakoyunlu.

1115 CE - Earthquake 1117 CE - Earthquake (26-29 June)

Sources
Sources

Notes and Further Reading
References