Secunda Pars is a text
traditionally considered to be a sort of epitome of the
work
of
Fulcher of Chartres
(
Guidoboni and Comastri, 2005).
Earthquakes are described in 1113, 1114, and 1115 CE,
though the chronology appears somewhat muddled.
- 1113 CE — In what appears to be July–August
1113 CE, two shocks are described:
the earth is shaken twice. A terrible earthquake, and
the overthrow of the buildings, withering away, threatens
mortals with fear
. Immediately before this,
Secunda Pars notes that the sea is disturbed even more
than usual, and even denies the possibility of fishing in
the seas
, possibly describing a minor tsunami or seiche.
The location is unspecified, but the two shocks occur
during hostilities in Galilee between Baldwin I’s Crusader
army and Maudud’s Seljukid forces.
Ambraseys (2009) characterizes this account as
questionable
.
- 1114 CE — Secunda Pars states that in
April–May and the following [months?]
of 1114 CE
a horrible earthquake struck
and that
some parts of the city of
Mamistria were
overturned and many towns were affected in the region of
Antioch, some partially destroyed and some fully
destroyed, with some of the people killed
. It adds that
also in the city of Mariscum, the entire populace was
overwhelmed by the sudden collapse of the buildings
and
in the Euphrates, a town called Thihalet was completely
overthrown
.
Luard (1890 v.2:43 n.7) identifies Mariscum as
Marash.
The location of Thihalet is debated:
Ryan (1969:210 n.5) suggests
Balis on the Euphrates,
while
Ambraseys (2009) identifies Trialeth as
Tell Khalid (Trialeth), a
fortified site at the head of the Sajur River, a tributary of
the Euphrates.
Guidoboni and Comastri (2005) instead propose that
Trihaleth corresponds to modern
Akçakoyunlu.
These authors argue that the compiler of
Secunda Pars misread Fulcher of Chartres and thus
misdated the event. They note that the April–May 1114
earthquake follows a locust swarm described by Fulcher
which actually preceded his earthquake account. Fulcher
dated:
- an earthquake at an unspecified location to
10 August 1114 CE, following the April–May locust
invasion;
- the destruction of
Mamistra to
13 November 1114 CE;
- a
greater earthquake
which destroyed
Marash and Trialeth
to sometime in 1114 CE;
- an earthquake that demolished
Mamistra and
other places in the area of Antioch
to sometime in
1115 CE.
Ambraseys (2009) and
Guidoboni and Comastri (2005) interpret the Latin text
to indicate that Jerusalem was shaken during the 1114 CE
event described in Secunda Pars. However, as read from
the RHC edition, the passage seems instead to refer to
Mamistra:
prius locustarum multitudine infinita ex Arabiae
partibus convolante, a territorium Jerosolimitanum per
dies aliquot vehementer vastalum est;
mense Aprili vel Maio et sequenti terrae motu
horribiliter concussum Mamistriae urbis pars nonnulla
subversa
.
This text lacks a semicolon between concussum and
Mamistriae. Perhaps other editions, such as that of
Bongars (1611:610–611),
insert a semicolon, suggesting a separate earthquake in
the territory of the Jerusalemites
.
- 1115 CE — Secunda Pars reports that in this
year an earthquake overthrew the city of
Mamistra and that
most other places in the Antiochene territory
suffered
a similar horror
. The date is given simply as 1115 CE.