1202 CE Quakes

Other Authors
Guidoboni and Comastri (2005) listed the following Latin sources which wrote about the earthquake up to the 13th century CE while noting that they were briefer and more general than the letters by Geoffrey of Donjon and Philip du Plessis. In most cases Ambraseys (2009) provided an excerpt.

Source Excerpt

Annales Uticenses from the abbey of St.Evroult d'Ouche, which were compiled by various hands from 1098 onwards (the earthquake is wrongly dated to 1203) 1203. There was an earthquake in almost all of Palestine, overturning cities and houses.' (Ann. Uticenses, see also Alexandre 1990,170).

Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, a Cistercian monk who died in 1228 In that year [1202] a great earthquake happened in the land of Jerusalem, such as has not occurred from the Lord's Passion until now: for almost the whole of Tyre, that famous city, was overthrown with its inhabitants, and a third of Ptolemais, that is Acre, with its castle and towers, and other castles were also overthrown, as many in the Christian territory as in that of the Saracens. This particular earthquake even affected several places in England.' (Cogg. 141-142).

Speculum Maius of Vincent of Beauvais

Cronica of Salimbene de Adam (1202) In that year there was a great earthquake in Syria, in which cities and towns were engulfed.' (Sal. Ad. 23).

Cronica Imperatorum of Alberto Milioli AD 1202 . . In the same year there was a great earthquake in Syria, in which cities and towns were engulfed; and virtually the whole city of Tyre collapsed . . .' (Alb. Mil. 654).

Chronicon of William of Nangis (1202) On the 30th day of May there was an earthquake in Outremer, three days before the Ascension of the Lord, and a terrible sound was heard: a great part of the city of Acre collapsed with the royal palace, and many people died, almost all of Tyre was overthrown and Arches, a very well fortified town, was razed to the ground. Most of Tripolis collapsed, and a great many people died. Ancharadus ... came out of it unscathed. And after this the land was barren, and many people died.' (Will. Nang.).

Ambraseys (2009) provided excerpts from the following sources

Source Excerpt

‘Un rituel et un breviaire du Saint-Sepulchre de Jerusalem’ There was a great earthquake in Tyre, on the 3rd [ ]' (MS Barletta, Kohler 1901, 42/401).

Fratis Felicis Fabri evagatorium [30 March 1202] There was the greatest earthquake ever seen in Syria. The city of Acon, with all its palaces and many other buildings, was overthrown, and a similar fate befell many other cities.' (Fabri, i. 283b/ix. 350).

Hethoum Patmic, Table chronologique de Hethoum, Comte de Gor’igos ? (a.Arm. 651) Second earthquake. A large number of cities were overturned on the Sahel [littoral].' (Het'um Chron. 480).

Hethoum Patmic, Table chronologique de Hethoum, Comte de Gor’igos ? In 1202 the violent earthquake happened which destroyed Ak'a, Surplet', Arka and the great part of Trapawl [Soy], and many other cities.' (Het'um Pat. Het. Chron. n. 61).

Nicetas Choniates, Nicetae Choniatae Historia God showed himself to be [the] master of hours and times, and that he either speeds or hinders the journeys of men, for the floor by the Emperor's bed gave a little and a crack of considerable size opened in it. The emperor surprisingly escaped this danger . . (Choniat Bonn 701).

Wilbrand of Oldenburg, Travels Hence we reached Famagusta, a city built close to the sea, with a good harbour, slightly fortified. Here is the third suffrage see of the lord bishop of Nicosia. Near it is the site of the same city now destroyed, from which, they say, came that famous and blessed Epiphanius (Wilb. Old. xxvii/180/Excerpta 14).

Memorials of St Edmund’s Abbey `(1202) A great and terrible earthquake occurred in the Land of Jerusalem.' (Mem. Edm. Abb. 11).

Other secondary sources listed by Guidoboni and Comastri (2005) include

Mich. Syr. Cont., 15.7

Chron., IV, p.586

Bar Hebr., Chron.; pp.406-7, 418

Chron. min. Arm., 11.2, p.61

Vita Innoc. pap. III, co1.503

Sicard, Chron., co1.619

Breviar. Patriar., p.401

Sanudo "Elder", Liber, III, 11, p.1

Pierozzi, Chron., p.104

Fabri Felix, Book, ad ann. 1202

Amadi, Chron

ad ann. 1202

Online Versions and Further Reading

References

Annales Uticenses, or Historia ecclesiastica d’Orderic Vital, vol. 5, in SHF (1855), pp. 139–179 (see also Alexandre (1990), pp. 48, 170 etc.).

Alexandre, P. (1990), Les seismes en Europe occidentale ´ de 394 a 1259 ` , Brussels: Observatoire Royale de Belgique

Cogg.: Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum, ed. J. Stevenson, Rolls Series vol. 66.

Speculum Maius of Vincent of Beauvais

Sal. Ad.: Salimbene de Adam, Cronica, MGH, vol. 32, sub ann.

Alb. Mil.: Albert Milioli, Cronica imperatorum, MGH 31

Will. Nang.: William of Nangis, RHF, vol. 20, p. 738

MS Barletta in Kohler, C. (1901), ‘Un rituel et un breviaire du Saint-Sepulchre de Jerusalem’, ´ Rev. de l’Orient Latin, 8, 383–469.

Attar, Franz (1540), in G. Raynaud, Les Gestes des Chyprois, vol. 5, Paris, 1887, p. 656; also in Kyriaka Chronika, vol. 12, Lenax, 1936, p. 10.

Fabri, Felix (1842–49), ‘Fratis Felicis Fabri evagatorium’ in C. Hassler (ed.), Terrae Sanctae, 3 volumes, Stuttgart: Bibliothek des Literarishen Vereins

Het’um: Hethoum Patmic, Table chronologique de Hethoum, Comte de Gor’igos, RHC, Armen. vol. 1, Paris, 1869; Chronicle, in Hakobyan (1956), vol. 2.; (M) in V. A. Hakobyan Manr Zhamanakagrut’yunner XIII–XVIII DD, pp. 59, 76, 1976, Erevan (Pat. Het.). Choniat.: Nicetas Choniates, Nicetae Choniatae Historia, ed. I. Bekker, CSHB, Bonn, 1835; also City of Byzantium: Annals of Niketas Choniates, ed. Brand, trans. H. J. Magoulias, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1984.

Wilb. Old.: Wilbrand of Oldenburg, Travels, ed. J. C. M. Laurent, Perigrinatores medii aevi quatuor, pp. 161–191, 2nd edn, Leipzig, 1873; also in Cobham (1908)

Cobham, C. D. (1908), Excerpta Cypria, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mem. Edm. Abb.: Memorials of St Edmund’s Abbey, Chronicle, ed. T. Arnold, Rolls Series no. 96, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1892, vol. 2.

Source	Excerpt
Annales Uticenses from the abbey of St.Evroult d'Ouche, which were compiled by various hands from 1098 onwards (the earthquake is wrongly dated to 1203)	1203. There was an earthquake in almost all of Palestine, overturning cities and houses.' (Ann. Uticenses, see also Alexandre 1990,170).
Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, a Cistercian monk who died in 1228	In that year [1202] a great earthquake happened in the land of Jerusalem, such as has not occurred from the Lord's Passion until now: for almost the whole of Tyre, that famous city, was overthrown with its inhabitants, and a third of Ptolemais, that is Acre, with its castle and towers, and other castles were also overthrown, as many in the Christian territory as in that of the Saracens. This particular earthquake even affected several places in England.' (Cogg. 141-142).
Speculum Maius of Vincent of Beauvais
Cronica of Salimbene de Adam	(1202) In that year there was a great earthquake in Syria, in which cities and towns were engulfed.' (Sal. Ad. 23).
Cronica Imperatorum of Alberto Milioli	AD 1202 . . In the same year there was a great earthquake in Syria, in which cities and towns were engulfed; and virtually the whole city of Tyre collapsed . . .' (Alb. Mil. 654).
Chronicon of William of Nangis	(1202) On the 30th day of May there was an earthquake in Outremer, three days before the Ascension of the Lord, and a terrible sound was heard: a great part of the city of Acre collapsed with the royal palace, and many people died, almost all of Tyre was overthrown and Arches, a very well fortified town, was razed to the ground. Most of Tripolis collapsed, and a great many people died. Ancharadus ... came out of it unscathed. And after this the land was barren, and many people died.' (Will. Nang.).

Source	Excerpt
‘Un rituel et un breviaire du Saint-Sepulchre de Jerusalem’	There was a great earthquake in Tyre, on the 3rd [ ]' (MS Barletta, Kohler 1901, 42/401).
Fratis Felicis Fabri evagatorium	[30 March 1202] There was the greatest earthquake ever seen in Syria. The city of Acon, with all its palaces and many other buildings, was overthrown, and a similar fate befell many other cities.' (Fabri, i. 283b/ix. 350).
Hethoum Patmic, Table chronologique de Hethoum, Comte de Gor’igos ?	(a.Arm. 651) Second earthquake. A large number of cities were overturned on the Sahel [littoral].' (Het'um Chron. 480).
Hethoum Patmic, Table chronologique de Hethoum, Comte de Gor’igos ?	In 1202 the violent earthquake happened which destroyed Ak'a, Surplet', Arka and the great part of Trapawl [Soy], and many other cities.' (Het'um Pat. Het. Chron. n. 61).
Nicetas Choniates, Nicetae Choniatae Historia	God showed himself to be [the] master of hours and times, and that he either speeds or hinders the journeys of men, for the floor by the Emperor's bed gave a little and a crack of considerable size opened in it. The emperor surprisingly escaped this danger . . (Choniat Bonn 701).
Wilbrand of Oldenburg, Travels	Hence we reached Famagusta, a city built close to the sea, with a good harbour, slightly fortified. Here is the third suffrage see of the lord bishop of Nicosia. Near it is the site of the same city now destroyed, from which, they say, came that famous and blessed Epiphanius (Wilb. Old. xxvii/180/Excerpta 14).
Memorials of St Edmund’s Abbey	`(1202) A great and terrible earthquake occurred in the Land of Jerusalem.' (Mem. Edm. Abb. 11).