Negotiating knightly piety: the cult of the warrior-saints in the West, ca. 1070-ca. 1200.

MacGregor, James B.

Around 1184, Alan de Lille composed a sermon addressed to Europe's knights (Ad milites) as part of a treatise on the art of preaching (Ars praedicandi). In it, Alan condemned the felonious and violent behavior of Western warriors and reproached them for their mistreatment of the poor and the Church--the very groups that knights ought to protect in an ideal Christian society. According to Alan, such actions must cease and knightly behavior must be reformed. Using scriptural precedent, he encouraged knights to consider their spiritual welfare by articulating a difference between internal and external military service. Knights, if they wish to be soldiers of God, must wield both temporal and spiritual arms: the former to protect the Church and their homelands, the latter to combat the enemies of their souls. Balance between the two was essential since external service (earthly combat) was empty and meaningless without its internal counterpart (spiritual combat). By ensuring the proper equilibrium, knights could fulfill their assigned role in the world while actively working to ensure their own salvation. (1)

Alan's criticism of knightly behavior was not new; similar clerical critiques had already been expressed, most famously in Urban II's call to the First Crusade and in Bernard of Clairvaux's praise of the Templars. Alan's solution to the problem of knightly violence was not new either; Urban had already provided Western warriors with an avenue towards salvation that allowed them to actively practice their martial profession, and Bernard had already articulated the moral dichotomy between internal and external military service, stressing the importance of each to a proper knightly life. (2) In acknowledging knighthood as a valid profession, Alan differed from his predecessors by providing knights with specific examples of warriors from the past whose lives they could, and should, use to model their own:

 They have the example of the lives of His soldiers, the blessed
 warrior-martyr Sebastian, who was employed for a time as a soldier
 under the emperor Diocletian, but who was not abandoned to spiritual
 agony, surrendering to Caesar what was Caesar's, and to God,
 God's. Also the blessed Victor, the blessed Hypolite, and many
 others, who although actively serving in the earthly militia, deserve
 to be happily exalted among the eternal militia of the Highest King.
 And also the Theban legion, in the same way externally associated
 with the warrior's sword, but who served internally as devoted
 soldiers of God. (3)

Alan's knightly archetypes were all martyrs of the early Church who had served as soldiers in the Roman army before suffering for the Christian faith--a group known collectively as the warrior-saints. (4) In using these examples, however, Alan was by no means suggesting that contemporary warriors seek martyrdom. Rather, he urged knights to imitate the virtues of the warrior-saints--qualities such as patience and humility--so that they might ensure their own salvation. By knowing when to wield their swords and when to sheath them, knights could lead rewarding lives on earth while earning themselves a place in the court of heaven.

It is notable that Alan's sermon, written before 1187, makes no overt reference to crusading as an outlet for knightly aggression. It is likely that the decline in crusading's popularity after the Second Crusade helps to explain why Alan urged his knightly audience to imitate the warrior-saints rather than take the cross. Less clear is the extent to which Alan's message reached the hearts and minds of Europe's knights since there is no evidence that he, or anyone else, ever preached this sermon. What, if anything, did the warrior-saints mean to Western warriors, and what role did the clergy play in shaping knightly attitudes towards these saints? To date, the answers to these questions have largely been taken for granted. The cult of the warrior-saints is assumed to be an important part of knightly piety, but its significance within the context of chivalric culture remains ill defined. This situation is due to the general acceptance of two basic assumptions that have dominated the discourse on the subject of these saints. The first is that knightly devotion to the warrior-saints, as well as clerical preaching about them, is to be explained primarily in terms of the affinity between contemporary warriors and their saintly predecessors based on a shared military profession. While this is an accurate assessment of why these saints became associated with knighthood, its chief shortcoming is that it regards the cult of the warrior-saints as a relatively static phenomenon in which knightly and clerical ideas about these saints rarely, if ever, changed. Closely related is the assumption that asserts that the cult of the warrior-saints became popular among Western knights as a result of the First Crusade after which their veneration became both an important part of knightly piety and a mark of knightly identity. Again, this assessment is accurate but, building as it does upon the previous assumption, it shares the same rigidity of interpretation by presuming that the influence of the Crusade was both immediate and universal. As a result, our understanding of knightly devotion to the warrior-saints is often considered complete by ca. 1100. (5)

In order to better comprehend the place of the warrior-saints in the culture of medieval knighthood it is necessary to appreciate more completely the ways in which ideas about them changed over time. Revisiting the evidence used to construct the prevailing paradigm about these saints, and using much of that same evidence to both deconstruct and reconstruct those views, will make it possible to complicate current perceptions of the warrior-saints in order to better explicate their role in medieval knightly piety. Such an investigation will reveal that Western clerics actively discussed the topic of the warrior-saints and debated their proper function in the lives of Western warriors. As a result of this dialectic, attitudes towards the warrior-saints varied widely, and the views expressed by Alan in Ad milites are but one manifestation of this diversity of opinion. Despite these differences, however, a general consensus about the warrior-saints was reached by the end of the twelfth century--a consensus that was also acceptable to, and broadly accepted by, Europe's knights.

I. EXEMPLARS AND INTERCESSORS

The cult of the warrior-saints first emerged in Western Europe on the eve of the First Crusade. Before this, individual warrior-saints such as those mentioned by Alan had risen to various levels of prominence at the local level, but there is no evidence to suggest that Western knights or clerics had yet identified a universal group of saints who they associated with a military life. By the late eleventh century this outlook had changed, and the existence of such a group is first discernable in the Western imagination. Still, it is significant to note that not everyone imagined the warrior-saints in the same way. It is therefore possible to identify two distinct sets of clerical attitudes towards these saints and their perceived role in influencing knightly piety: one that regarded the warrior-saints primarily as pious exemplars, the other that regarded them as potent intercessors. These two roles were not mutually inclusive and stemmed from variant interpretations of the lives and legends of the saints. Thus, for example, when Orderic Vitalis reports that a Norman priest named Gerold d'Avranches sought monastic converts among the knights of Anglo-Norman England in the 1070s, we are told that he achieved his aims by telling stories about "the combats of holy knights, drawn from the Old Testament and more recent records of Christian achievements, for them to imitate." (6) Prominent among the holy knights about whom Gerold preached were several martyrs of the early Church who had been Roman soldiers--Demetrius, George, Theodore, Sebastian, Maurice (the leader of the Theban legion), and Eustace. (7) In urging his knightly audience to imitate these saints, Gerold emphasized their patience and humility in the face of adversity and their willingness to defend the Christian faith both through enlightened debate with their persecutors and, eventually, martyrdom. Using the example of the warrior-saints, Gerold urged knights to renounce the world and temporal warfare in favor of a life in the cloister where spiritual battles were waged for the salvation of mankind.

Gerold's use of the warrior-saints as models to encourage monastic conversion is in keeping with contemporary notions of knightly piety in the decades before the First Crusade. (8) Other clerics in the late eleventh century, however, began to use the example of these saints to support a potentially more militant form of piety--one based not on the pacific virtues of the warrior-saints but rather on their military, and very specifically knightly, identity. Two liturgical sources, one from Anglo-Norman England, the other from northern France, illustrate this development. The first, a Laudes regiae composed at Canterbury ca. 1084-ca. 1095, is a liturgical chant that sought heavenly intercession for all those who wielded authority and power on earth: pope, king, clergy, nobility, knights. Modeled after the Litany of the Saints, this rite reinforced and reiterated right social order by invoking the names of those saints whose intercession was deemed most fitting for each group of the earthly hierarchy. In this context saints Maurice, George, and Sebastian are called upon to ensure the health and safety of the princes and warriors of England. (9) The same saints are also invoked in a ceremony (composed at Cambrai before 1093) that is often identified as an early example of the ritual of dubbing. In fact, this ceremony represents a much more specialized rite through which an individual knight was ritually armed as the defender of a specific ecclesiastical institution. Comprised of prayers intended to bless the knight, as well as his banner, lance, sword, and shield, the ritual concludes with a petition in which God is asked to protect the newly ordained warrior from all of his enemies through the merits of saints Maurice, Sebastian, and George. (10) Taken together, these two liturgical forms make it clear that some clerics considered the warrior-saints as far more than simply pious exemplars for Western warriors. Through the power of prayer, the warrior-saints could also act as efficacious intercessors by defending knights as they fulfilled their martial duties--an idea that intersected neatly with the Church's growing acceptance of military activity on the eve of the First Crusade.

It is within the context of the First Crusade that the acceptance of the warrior-saints principally as intercessors for earthly knights was most clearly articulated. In a letter written in January 1098 (during the siege of Antioch), the Latin and Greek bishops accompanying the Crusade called on the West to supply more troops in order to ensure the continued success of the enterprise. Their characterization of the expedition's progress is positive, noting that forty cities and two hundred castles in Asia Minor and Syria were now in Christian hands. They also reinforced the belief that their cause was divinely sanctioned by reporting that the crusaders had achieved victory in five pitched battles against the Muslims with the assistance of saints George, Theodore, Demetrius, and Blaise. (11) Whereas George, Theodore, and Demetrius were all warrior-saints, the presence of Saint Blaise is curious since he is chiefly remembered as a martyred Armenian bishop who had no association with a military career. The identification of these saints as intercessors for the crusading cause therefore owes as much to geography as to their identification as warrior-saints: all four saints had suffered martyrdom and had major cult sites in the former Eastern Roman Empire, the very regions through which the crusaders undertook their pilgrimage. Given the presence of Greek bishops on the Crusade, their co-authorship of this letter, and the universal Christian belief in the localization of saintly power, it is likely that Byzantine knowledge of local cults influenced Western ideas about the saints who were identified as assisting the crusading armies. (12) It is thus possible that one of the five battles mentioned in the letter occurred in an area where Saint Blaise's power was considered especially potent and that this explains why he was included among the protectors of the Crusade while Western warrior-saints, such as Sebastian and Maurice, are not mentioned. (13) The issue of Blaise aside, the inclusion of George, Theodore, and Demetrius is significant since it points to the willingness of Western clerics to link the warrior-saints with the actions of temporal warriors.

How these clerical opinions influenced knightly attitudes about the warrior-saints before the First Crusade is, unfortunately, difficult to ascertain. Orderic Vitalis tells us that the priest Gerold succeeded in convincing at least five men (three knights, a squire, and a chaplain) to become monks, although his preaching doubtless reached more ears than it produced converts. Additionally the number of knights who may have heard the Canterbury Laudes regiae chanted or who became sworn defenders of a church in the diocese of Cambrai can never be known. (14) Even once the Crusade was underway, there is little insight into this area of knightly piety since we do not know to what extent the clergy who wrote the letter of January 1098 communicated their ideas to the crusaders themselves. It is only in the immediate aftermath of the First Crusade that reports by eyewitness chroniclers suggest that the crusaders regarded the warrior-saints as potent military intercessors and displayed a special devotion towards them. Two events stand out as indicative of that devotion--the appearance of the warrior-saints at Antioch in 1098 and the foundation of an episcopal see in honor of one warrior-saint in particular, Saint George, at Ramla in 1099. A deeper analysis of these accounts, and of their subsequent retelling in later chronicles and chansons de geste, will show how the cult of the warrior-saints continued to evolve in the decades after 1100. Furthermore, it will illuminate the way in which the Western clergy explained and justified the militant role of the warrior-saints in the lives of Western warriors.

II. INTERCESSION AT ANTIOCH

On June 3, 1098, the armies of the First Crusade captured the town of Antioch after a prolonged and arduous siege. Within days, however, Antioch's captors became its captives as a large Muslim army arrived and promptly besieged the crusaders. Conditions inside Antioch were desperate; food and water were scarce, morale was low, and the threat of desertion was high. After attempts at diplomacy and much debate amongst themselves, the crusaders decided that it was better to face the numerically superior Muslim force in combat than to remain trapped within the walls of the depleted town. The resulting battle occurred on June 28, 1098, and the Gesta Francorum, the oldest surviving eyewitness account of the First Crusade, reports that a miracle occurred that ensured victory for the Christians:

 Then also appeared from the mountains a countless host of men on
 white horses, whose banners were all white. When our men saw this,
 they did not understand what was happening or who these men
 might be, until they realized that this was the succour sent by
 Christ, and that the leaders were St George, St Mercurius, and St
 Demetrius. This is quite true, for many of our men saw it. (15)

Unfortunately, the identity of the Gesta chronicler is unknown. It was once commonly accepted that he was a Norman knight from either Sicily or Southern Italy who marched to the East in the contingent of Bohemond of Taranto although more recent scholarship has identified him as a cleric in Bohemond's company. (16) In either case, the Gesta's evidence is valuable. If the chronicler was a layman, then his description of the intercession of saints George, Demetrius, and Mercurius at Antioch provides a unique insight into the piety and beliefs of the knightly participants of the Crusade. On the other hand, if he was a cleric, then his description of the same event demonstrates the way in which a mid-ranking ecclesiastic perceived the warrior-saints and how he may have influenced knightly thinking about their intercession.

Whatever the true identity of the Gesta chronicler may be, there are notable differences between the way in which the sources already surveyed and the Gesta describe the assistance of the warrior-saints. The most obvious is that the saints recorded as aiding the Crusade in the clergy's letter of January 1098 are not the same as those listed in the Gesta as aiding the crusaders at Antioch in June 1098; whereas the clergy reported that saints George, Theodore, Demetrius, and Blaise protected the crusading armies, the Gesta author amended this list by omitting Blaise--no bishops here--and by replacing Theodore with Mercurius, another warrior-saint of Eastern origin. (17) While not providing any definitive clues to the chronicler's identity, the predominance of Eastern warrior-saints reinforces the conclusion that the presence of the crusading armies in the East influenced Western attitudes regarding the identity of the saints who aided the crusading cause. Yet another important difference is the greater level of detail provided by the Gesta when describing the nature of the assistance provided by the warrior-saints. The clergy's letter states that the crusaders achieved their military victories because they were protected and accompanied by the saints, but little is said about how this aid manifested itself. The letter thus displays the same lack of specificity found in the Canterbury Laudes regiae and the Cambrai ceremony, in which the warrior-saints are invoked to protect knights, either individually or as a group, without any indication of the form such protection would take. The Gesta author, on the other hand, is much more explicit in this regard and reports that the warrior-saints interceded visibly and actively on a battlefield outside Antioch; he even provides a stunning visual description of their appearance at the head of a divine force clad entirely in white. Again, this added detail may be attributed to either knightly or clerical influence depending on how one chooses to judge the motives of the chronicler.

If one accepts the traditional view that the Gesta chronicler was a knight, it is tempting to argue from this evidence that knights and clerics had different ideas about how the warrior-saints interceded on temporal battlefields, and that knightly attitudes most likely influenced the way in which these saints, and their intercession, were envisioned. While certainly possible, such a conclusion is far from definitive since, as has already been discussed, knightly attitudes were themselves influenced by clerical ideals. Still, the Gesta does demonstrate that there were competing modes of thought on the subject of the warrior-saints in the late 1090s since the Gesta author felt compelled to defend the veracity of his report--"This is quite true, for many of our men saw it." (18) Whether or not the chronicler was himself an eyewitness to the appearance of the warrior-saints is not explicitly stated, nor is there any reference to whom the potential skeptics may have been. Perhaps some crusaders found the story too fantastic or, as seems more likely, some were unfamiliar with the idea of saintly intercession on the battlefield and either did not recognize the warrior-saints when they appeared or did not understand what they had witnessed. Whatever the case, it does not appear as if the actual intercession of the saints was in doubt, only the account of their physical appearance on the battlefield. (19)

With few exceptions, virtually all subsequent chronicle accounts of the First Crusade record the appearance of the warrior-saints at Antioch. (20) Furthermore, since the clerical and monastic authors of many of these relied either directly or indirectly on the Gesta for their information, the Gesta's defense of the story is also often repeated. There are, however, important differences between the Gesta and some of the later accounts that demonstrate contemporary attitudes about the warrior-saints were far from static. The first and most obvious of these is that the names of the saints responsible for aiding the crusaders at Antioch (George, Mercurius, Demetrius) are sometimes altered. For example, Peter Tudebode, a clerical participant in the First Crusade, records that the intercessors at Antioch were saints George, Theodore, and Demetrius--the same warrior-saints listed by the clergy in the letter of January 1098. (21) Writing much later, the monastic chronicler William of Malmesbury shortened this list to include only George and Demetrius. (22) While such changes seem trivial, they may be interpreted as reflecting a sense of uncertainty about the Antioch story as told by the Gesta and other chronicles. The cause for concern was apparently the presence of Saint Mercurius among the reported intercessors. Not nearly as well known in the West as Saint Theodore, either before or after the First Crusade, Saint Mercurius is noticeably absent from both Peter's and William's version of events. By "editing" the Gesta's account in this way, both chroniclers cast a critical eye at the received history of saintly assistance at Antioch and demonstrated a willingness to assert their own authority over the tales about the warrior-saints.

There is also a significant difference between how the Gesta and subsequent chronicles describe the manner in which the crusaders first identified the heavenly force and its leaders. The Gesta simply states that those who witnessed this apparition did not immediately understand its meaning but only gradually realized that it was divine aid sent by Christ. Since the chronicler does not specifically state who was responsible for identifying the heavenly host, his comments may be interpreted as crediting either the clerics or combatants at Antioch with this deed. While most chronicles repeat the Gesta's account, at least two later chronicles recast the story by firmly attributing the proper identification of the heavenly host to clerical agency. Peter Tudebode reports that before the battle a priest named Stephen experienced a vision in which Christ promised divine assistance to the beleaguered crusaders. Stephen was told by the Lord that if the Christians repented and demonstrated their contrition through processions, almsgiving, and Masses, such aid would be forthcoming: "Then they shall begin the battle, and I shall give them the help of Saint George, Saint Theodore, Saint Demetrius, and all the pilgrims who have died on the way to Jerusalem." (23) When this force appeared on the battlefield outside Antioch, Peter records that the crusaders were uncertain of its identity "until they realized that it was Christ's aid, just as the priest Stephen had predicted." A similar story is told by the monastic chronicler Robert of Rheims although here the priest who experienced the vision remains unnamed, and the help promised by Christ is not specified. On the day of the defense of Antioch, this promise of divine assistance was reiterated by Bishop Adhemar, who told the crusaders that the Lord was sending a legion of His saints to assist them, and it was the papal legate himself, not a lowly priest or a layman, who was responsible for identifying the warrior-saints when they appeared on the battlefield. (24)

Other amendments to the Gesta story confirm that reports of what happened at Antioch were far from unanimous. The anonymous compiler of the Historia peregrinorum, for example, records that saints George, Mercurius, and Theodore assisted the crusaders at Antioch, thereby demonstrating that this chronicler at least did not have the same misgivings about Saint Mercurius as did Peter Tudebode or William of Malmesbury. (25) Furthermore, the chronicle of Robert of Rheims adds the name of a fourth saint--Saint Maurice--to the list of intercessors at Antioch. Although we cannot be certain of the reasons for this addition, Maurice's identity as a warrior-saint in the West before the First Crusade apparently influenced either Robert or one of his informants to include the saint's name in the Antioch story. (26) Despite these alterations and additions to the Gesta's version of events, there are some subjects on which all of the chronicle accounts agree. For example, none refer to Saint Blaise as an intercessor for the crusading cause--an indication that Western knights and clerics alike apparently ceased to regard him as such, if they ever truly did, after January 1098. More importantly, the basic outline of events--the intercession of the warrior-saints and the description of their appearance--remained intact, indicating that beliefs about what occurred at Antioch were largely the same.

There are, however, some chroniclers who make no reference to the appearance of the warrior-saints at Antioch--a silence that in some ways is more intriguing than the dissent expressed by those who simply altered the list of intercessors. Among them are some of the most well-known and important historians of the First Crusade and Latin East: Raymond d'Aguilers, Fulcher of Chartres, Albert of Aachen, and William of Tyre. It is possible that their silence on the matter identifies them as among the potential skeptics the Gesta chronicler hoped to contradict by citing large-scale eyewitness testimony. Thus, while none of them would have denied the power of the saints to intercede on earth, they may very well have been doubtful about the reported form of that intercession. For example, Raymond d'Aguilers--a clerical eyewitness to events at Antioch--says nothing about the warrior-saints, but rather attributes the crusaders' victory at Antioch to the discovery of the Holy Lance and its presence on the battlefield. Despite the doubts some crusaders had regarding the authenticity of this relic, most notably Bishop Adhemar, Raymond considered the Holy Lance to be genuine and strongly defended its discovery as a sign of divine favor in his chronicle. From his perspective then, the aid of the Lord manifested itself at the defense of Antioch through the potency of this very military relic, and not by the presence of the warrior-saints. (27)

The question of how and why the warrior-saints were able to manifest themselves on earth was one that some later chroniclers felt it necessary to address. While the author of the Gesta and others may have taken such apparitions for granted--an easy task for an omnipotent God--there were some who sought scriptural precedent to justify such occurrences. Guibert of Nogent and William of Malmesbury, for example, defended the story of saintly intercession at Antioch by citing Old Testament authority: "nor can we deny that martyrs have aided Christians, at any rate fighting in a cause like this, just as angels once gave help to the Maccabees." (28) By likening Christian warriors to the heroes of ancient Israel, both Guibert and William were able to proclaim the righteousness of the crusading cause and portray the crusaders as legitimate recipients of divine military assistance. (29) At the same time, they effectively silenced any doubters who continued to regard the reported appearance of the warrior-saints at Antioch as spurious by citing evidence that was irrefutable by clerics and laymen alike. In so doing they justified the belief that these saints could manifest themselves physically and partake in earthly battles.

In addition to citing scriptural precedent, other chroniclers constructed theological arguments in order to explain the appearance of the warrior-saints. This point is illustrated most clearly in the chronicle of Robert of Rheims, in which he explains exactly how and why these saints became visible to mortal men. In so doing, Robert also provides us with a unique insight, albeit from a distinctly monastic perspective, into what contemporary knights knew and believed about the warrior-saints. All of this information is contained in the text of a conversation that reportedly occurred between Bohemond of Taranto and Pirrus, the traitor who betrayed Antioch to the Christians--a conversation recorded by no other Crusade chronicle. One day, Pirrus asked Bohemond about the identity of the white force that he had seen assisting the crusaders in battle and wished to know where it was encamped. Divinely inspired, Bohemond replied that this army was not an earthly force but a heavenly one that aided the crusaders at the command of Christ. It was led, according to Bohemond, by saints George, Demetrius, and Maurice, all of whom had served as soldiers and had died for the Christian faith. Pirrus, not entirely convinced with this answer, enquired further: If this force came from heaven, where then did it obtain its white horses, armor, and banners, and how was it able to partake in physical combat? Even with divine inspiration, Bohemond was forced to admit that the answer to this question was beyond his comprehension. He therefore directed Pirrus's query to his chaplain, who explained that when God chose to send his angels or other spiritual beings into the world, either for peaceful or aggressive purposes, they adopted physical forms so that mortal beings might see them. (30)

In this way, the miraculous appearance of the warrior-saints as recorded in the Gesta and elsewhere was provided with a sound theological and metaphysical basis. From Robert's perspective, it required a cleric to articulate these views and explain how the warrior-saints appeared on earth since even an illustrious knight like Bohemond had only a limited knowledge of the workings of the supernatural. (31) It was, however, the words attributed to Bohemond that best explain why the warrior-saints were regarded as effective intercessors for the crusading cause. Like the warrior-saints, the crusaders were military men who were ready and willing to suffer and die for God and the Christian faith. The appeal of these saints for the crusaders was not, therefore, based simply on their shared military profession but existed on a much deeper spiritual and empathetic level. The crusaders, like the warrior-saints before them, were in a position to experience the pains of martyrdom as they struggled, both physically and spiritually, toward the ultimate goal of their armed pilgrimage. Interpreted in this fashion, the Intercession of the warrior-saints in the context of the First Crusade assumed an inherent logic that apparently even Bohemond could understand without the aid of his chaplain. (32)

Not until the end of the twelfth century, however, is it possible to accurately gauge how knightly attitudes about the warrior-saints were shaped by the chronicles. Since at least the early twelfth century, if not already by 1100, it is generally thought that the deeds of the First Crusade were transformed into heroic vernacular verse. Transmitted orally, such tales circulated among knightly audiences in both the Levant and the West and provided subsequent generations of crusaders with information about the heroic deeds of their forebears in the Holy Land. By the end of the twelfth century these chansons de geste had been committed to writing, potentially as propaganda for the Third Crusade, and it is from this period that the oldest surviving chanson about the First Crusade survives--the Chanson d'Antioche. (33) As its title suggests, the focal point of the poem is the struggle to take and hold Antioch, although it also contains information about the origins of the Crusade itself and the historical events leading up to the siege and capture of the town. When recounting the intercession of the warrior-saints at Antioch, the chanson essentially tells the story as it was reported by Robert of Rheims--the appearance of saints George, Maurice, Mercurius, and Demetrius on the battlefield and their subsequent identification by Adhemar. (34) Why the redactor of the Chanson d'Antioche chose to transmit Robert's version of events to his audience is unknown since there is nothing to suggest that this chronicle was more popular or widespread than any of the others. (35) His choice, though, does demonstrate the way in which clerical and knightly ideas about the warrior-saints, and the heroic crusading past, converged within the context of secular literature. The Chanson d'Antioche thus provides us with an important insight into the role of the warrior-saints as intercessors in the context of medieval knightly piety. (36) Yet by focusing primarily on a single act of intercession, the picture of that piety remains one-dimensional and does not take into account how these saints were actually venerated by medieval knights. It is therefore necessary to return to the Gesta Francorum in order to get a sense of the devotion that accompanied this belief.

III. DEVOTION AT RAMLA

The second reference made to the warrior-saints in the Gesta does not occur within the context of combat and refers to only one saint in particular--Saint George. More so than the intercession at Antioch, this highly focused account provides us with a much deeper insight into the workings of knightly piety by demonstrating how Western warriors actually displayed their devotion to an individual warrior-saint. In June 1099, as the crusaders drew ever nearer to Jerusalem, they stopped in the vicinity of the town of Ramla:

 Near Ramleh is a church worthy of great reverence, for in it rests
 the most precious body of St. George, who there suffered blessed
 martyrdom at the hands of the treacherous pagans for the name of
 Christ. While we were there our leaders chose a bishop who might
 protect and build up this church, and they paid him tithes and
 endowed him with gold and silver, horses and other animals, so that
 he and his household might live in a proper and religious
 manner. (37)

Unfortunately, the chronicler does not specify to whom the phrase "our leaders" refers so that it is not possible to accurately gauge the levels of lay and clerical authority involved in the decision to form an episcopal see at Ramla. Still, there must have been support among the crusaders at large for this plan if the success of the tithe is to be explained. Such support would have been due to the recognition of Saint George, by both the clergy and the crusaders, as a powerful and efficacious intercessor for the crusading cause. Since the Gesta author here makes no reference to George's previous appearance at Antioch or to his military background when praising the saint's virtues at Ramla, it is reasonable to assume that Saint George's role as an intercessor and as a warrior-saint was widely accepted among the crusading host.

The Gesta's account of events at Ramla is further significant because it shows for the first time that Saint George had achieved a level of preeminence in the minds of the crusaders greater than that of the other warrior-saints (Demetrius, Mercurius, Theodore, and so on). Again, this is due in large part to geography since Ramla marks the only major cult site of a warrior-saint encountered by the crusaders on their journey to Jerusalem. (38) Still, Saint George's prominence must also be explained in terms of the crusaders' widespread acceptance of him as both a warrior-saint and as an intercessor before arriving at Ramla. As already discussed, his name is found on the clerical list of intercessors compiled in January 1098, as well as in the Gesta's list of intercessors at Antioch in June 1098. Even before the First Crusade, Saint George featured as an intercessor in both the Canterbury Laudes regiae and Cambrai ceremony, indicating that his power as a warrior-saint was already known to at least some Western knights. Furthermore, the chronicler Geoffrey of Malaterra (writing ca. 1098) recorded that Saint George aided a Norman army in Sicily at the battle of Cerami as early as 1063--an event with which the Gesta chronicler was most likely familiar. (39) It is little wonder then that European knights, having been introduced to the idea of Saint George as a warrior-saint in the decades prior to 1095, and exposed to the potency of his intercession during their campaigns in the East, held this saint in higher esteem than the other warrior-saints about whom they were probably less well informed.

As with events at Antioch, the crusaders' actions at Ramla are reported in virtually every subsequent chronicle of the First Crusade. Some of these clearly indicate that Saint George was widely regarded by the crusaders as the special protector of their cause:

 When, during the battle of Antioch, the Christians had seen this
 saint as their guide and forerunner and true champion in the battle
 against a people sunk in error, they had chosen to honor him always
 as their companion and defender. So they showed respect and
 reverence for his church and, as we have said, established a bishop
 at Ramla. (40)

When combined with the Gesta account, reports such as this strongly suggest that it was the lay participants of the Crusade who acknowledged Saint George's special position among the warrior-saints, and it was they who decided to honor the saint's burial place with the foundation of a diocese. Only one chronicler, Guibert de Nogent, provides any evidence that the clergy were involved in this process: "The leaders, after consulting with and obtaining the approval of the clerics and bishops who were able to be present, decided to choose a bishop for this city." (41) In an era when the papacy continued to struggle with the issue of lay investiture, it is perhaps fortunate that the clerics who participated in the Crusade had a say in the matter at all. According to Guibert, however, their role in the foundation of the see at Ramla was limited to sanctioning a decision that the secular leaders of the Crusade had already made it was they, not the clergy, who chose the bishop of Ramla and ensured that he was properly endowed with the fruits of a tithe levied on the crusading army. (42)

Despite the high level of lay participation in selecting this bishop, it is apparent from the chronicle accounts that both clerics and warriors alike regarded Saint George as a powerful and effective military intercessor. Perhaps nowhere is this elevated level of esteem more clearly conveyed than in the chronicle of Raymond d'Aguilers. Although he did not report the appearance of the warrior-saints at

Antioch, Raymond does provide unique information about the importance of Saint George to the crusaders from a distinctly clerical viewpoint. Following the successful defense of Antioch, Raymond reports that a fellow priest, Peter Desiderius, was awakened one night by a vision. In this vision, an unnamed saint Instructed Peter to go to the church of Saint Leontius In Antioch where he was to collect the relics of saints Cyprian, Omechios, Leontius, and John Chrysostom and carry them to Jerusalem. While fulfilling this heavenly command, Peter and his companions--among whom was Raymond d'Aguilers--discovered the relics of an unknown fifth saint that the locals tenuously identified as belonging to Saint Mercurius. Peter argued that this saint's relics should be collected along with the others, but he was overruled by Raymond, who asserted that they be left behind due to their uncertain identity. That evening, Peter had a vision of a young man who inquired of him:

 "Why didn't you carry my relics today with the others?"

 The priest then inquired, "Who are you?"

 The young man continued his questioning, "Don't you know
 the name of the standard bearer of this army?"

 Peter admitted, "No! sir."

 Upon the priest's same answer a second time, the young
 man stormed, "You tell me the truth."

 Then Peter replied, "Lord, it is said that Saint George is the
 standard bearer of this army."

 The youth then said, "Correct you are. I am Saint George,
 and I command you to pick up my relics and place them with the
 others." (43)

Several days later, Saint George again appeared to Peter and chastised the priest for failing to promptly comply with his orders. Soon thereafter, Peter fulfilled the saint's demands and collected the relics.

No other chronicle of the First Crusade tells the story of Saint George's relics being discovered at Antioch or of their transportation to Jerusalem. Furthermore, Raymond himself never mentions these relics again, making it difficult to gauge what influence, if any, their discovery had on the increasing popularity of Saint George among the crusaders. The same uncertainty surrounds the influence of another relic--an arm of Saint George--known to have been carried on the Crusade. It was obtained through dubious means from a monastery in Asia Minor or Syria by Gerbod, a priest serving in the company of Count Robert of Flanders. Because of the way in which the relic was procured, and because Gerbod neglected to properly venerate it, the priest soon fell ill and died. The same fate followed for all those into whose care the relic came until Count Robert intervened. He personally took possession of the relic, punished those involved in its acquisition and neglect, installed it with honor in his tent and charged his chaplain Sannardo with its care. With this action, the cycle of illness and mortality ceased, and the relic began to work miracles in favor of the crusaders. Unfortunately, the only known miracle related to this relic occurred as Count Robert returned to Europe--the count's army was saved from shipwreck during a storm, and the saint's relics, which were lost to the waves, were returned to Robert by a "barbarian." Upon safely reaching Flanders, Saint George's arm was presented by the count to the monastery of Anchin, and it is an anonymous brother of this house who recorded the details of the relic's discovery and donation. (44)

Although neither Raymond d'Aguilers nor the Anonymous of Anchin says anything about the role of Saint George's relics in the military success of the First Crusade, they do provide us with interesting insights into the importance of Saint George to the crusaders. In the case of the Anonymous, this information pertains to one crusader in particular--Count Robert. It was he who ensured that the saint's arm was properly housed and venerated, and it was this act of lay devotion that assuaged the wrath of both God and the saint. Over time, the count's association with the relic even became a part of his heroic crusading identity. When relating the story of Count Robert's deeds during the siege and capture of Antioch, the redactor of the Chanson d'Antioche acknowledges the count's bravery by referring to him as fils saint Jorje--the son of Saint George. (45) Thus, even though Saint George's arm is not specifically mentioned in the chanson, Robert's connection with the relic implied a relationship with the saint that was reflected in both the count's personal prowess and in the success of the Crusade more broadly. Raymond's account, on the other hand, is important because it establishes that Saint George was recognized by the crusaders as a potent military intercessor after the successful defense of Antioch. The reported dialogue between the priest Peter and Saint George, however, suggests that the saint's association with crusading was not instantly accepted by everyone--a suggestion already encountered in the Gesta's truth claim regarding the events at Antioch. Thus, Peter's ignorance when asked who the standard-bearer of the crusading army was, combined with his eventual guess that it might be Saint George, demonstrates that this particular cleric may also have been one of the skeptics the Gesta author sought to silence. More importantly, the presence of this account in Raymond's chronicle--a chronicle that does not report the intercession at Antioch--suggests that Raymond himself only eventually accepted the idea of Saint George as the special intercessor of the First Crusade.

Having accepted Saint George as the protector of the crusading cause, Raymond reiterates the saint's role as a military intercessor when he presents his own version of events at Ramla:

 Upon news of our crossing of a nearby river, the Saracen inhabitants
 of Ramla abandoned their forts and arms as well as much grain in
 the field and harvested crops. So when we arrived on the next day,
 we were certain that God fought for us. Here we [offered prayers] to
 Saint George, our avowed leader, and our [leaders] and [all the
 people] decided to select a bishop, because we [had discovered] the
 [foremost] church [in the land] of Israel. We also felt that Saint
 George would be our intercessor with God and would be our faithful
 leader through his dwelling place. (46)

Unlike other chroniclers Raymond makes no overt reference to Ramla being the burial place of Saint George although his identification of the town as Saint George's "dwelling place" infers that this was the case. Still, this reference is significant because it supports the view that the crusaders, clerics, and soldiers alike, understood the power of the saint to be geographically defined. By entering Ramla and its environs, the crusaders had entered a region--very close to Jerusalem--in which the power of Saint George was considered to be especially potent. It is for this reason that the crusaders addressed their prayers specifically to this saint in Ramla and elevated a church in the town (presumably connected with the saint's cult; Raymond's language is again vague) to an episcopal see. Unfortunately, Raymond does not specify who among the crusading host recited these prayers, making it difficult to determine whether this was a manifestation of knightly piety, clerical piety, or both. He does, however, provide information about the content of the prayers by stating the anticipated outcome of their recitation. Very simply, the crusaders expected that in return for their prayers, and the foundation of a bishopric, Saint George would act as an intercessor on their behalf. Significantly, Raymond states that this intercession was expected to manifest itself in two ways, and that the warrior-saint was therefore expected to be active on two fronts: one in heaven where he would act as a spiritual intercessor before God; the other on earth where he would continue to act as military intercessor as the crusaders approached their ultimate goal of Jerusalem.

Clearly, the distinction made by Raymond between the types of intercession offered by Saint George came from the pen of a cleric versed in the theology of intercessory prayer and the dynamics of saintly intercession more broadly. From the extant chronicle evidence, it is not discernible whether the warriors participating in the First Crusade would have viewed Saint George's assistance to their cause in such a nuanced way. Still, Raymond's comments are important because they serve as a link between the pre-crusade liturgical sources that invoke the warrior-saints and the chronicle literature. The Canterbury Laudes regiae called upon Saint George and others to intercede in heaven on behalf of earthly warriors, and the Cambrai ceremony very specifically asked God to protect a knight from his enemies through the merits of the warrior-saints. In Ramla, we see the clerics and/or warriors of the First Crusade petitioning Saint George directly in the hope of obtaining similar benefits. Since the crusaders successfully captured Jerusalem in the month following their sojourn at Ramla, it can be presumed that these prayers were answered even though none of the surviving Crusade chronicles, not even Raymond's, mention the intercession of Saint George, or of any other warrior-saint, during the battle for Jerusalem in July 1099. (47)

As was the case with the defense of Antioch, it is not until the late twelfth century that it is possible to determine what influence clerical ideas like those expressed by Raymond had on the formulation of knightly piety. In the Chanson de Jerusalem, a continuation of the story begun in the Chanson d'Antioche and attributed to the same redactor, the story of the events at Ramla is told in a very different way than in the chronicles. According to the chanson, the crusaders arrived within sight of Jerusalem in early June 1099 but were forced to retreat in the face of Muslim reinforcements and regroup in the vicinity of Ramla. Realizing that a conflict with the enemy was inevitable, the crusaders dismounted and offered prayers to God and Saint George for the forgiveness of their sins. (48) Like Raymond's chronicle, the connection between Ramla and Saint George is not explicitly stated in the chanson; rather it is implied by the use of the toponym "Saint George" to refer to Ramla and by the fact that the crusaders chose to petition this saint specifically at this location. (49) Furthermore, no details about the content of the prayer are provided, but since forgiveness of sins was the desired outcome, it is likely that it was similar to the prayer described by Raymond in which the crusaders petitioned the saint as a spiritual intercessor before God. Significantly, the chanson states that it was the knightly participants of the First Crusade who offered this prayer to Saint George, and there is no reference whatsoever to clerical involvement in this act of supplication. The question of agency raised by Raymond's account is here settled in favor of the crusading knights who clearly regarded Saint George as an effective intercessor on their behalf before the throne of heaven.

As the crusaders finished this prayer, the chanson records how the enemy arrived and the Christians rode out to meet them. In the ensuing battle, the Muslims gained the initial advantage, and the Christians were again forced to fall back to Ramla. It is at this point, in the midst of the fighting, that Bohemond of Taranto publicly invoked the names of the Holy Sepulchre and Saint George for aid. (50) Shortly thereafter, a heavenly force appeared on the battlefield comprised of saints George, Barbarus, Demetrius, Denis, Maurice, and a legion of angels. The chanson clearly identifies Saint George as the leader of this host and records that he personally participated in the fighting, demonstrating his prowess by killing the amir of Ascalon and unhorsing many others. With this aid the Christians were victorious and successfully secured Ramla as a base. (51) Of the saints named as intercessors in the chanson, saints George, Demetrius, and Maurice have already been encountered in the chronicles and the Chanson d'Antioche and are thus not unusual in the context of the Chanson de Jerusalem. (52) The reference to saints Barbarus and Denis, on the other hand, is new and requires explanation. The most likely reason for the presence of Barbarus is that he was venerated as a warrior-saint in the Eastern Church (like George and Demetrius) and that his cult was known to crusaders even though it never became widespread in the West (like Mercurius). (53) Since the chanson represents the only surviving account of this battle, it is probable that the intercession of Saint Barbarus reflects a now lost tradition, much like the reported intercession of Saint Maurice at Antioch preserved only in the chronicle of Robert of Rheims (and later in the Chanson d'Antioche). Although not traditionally a warrior-saint, the association of Saint Denis with the kingdom of France most likely explains the transformation of the martyred apostle of the Franks into an armed combatant in the fight to liberate Jerusalem. (54) Within the context of the Chanson de Jerusalem--a poem composed in French for a French-speaking knightly audience to praise the heroic deeds of the Franks in the Holy Land--this transformation is not unusual. Nor was it unprecedented since other non-warrior-saints, most notably Saint James in Spain, also found themselves transformed into warrior-saints within the context of armed conflict with Muslims (whether defined as crusading or not). (55) The Chanson de Jerusalem, then, shows that the ranks of the warrior-saints were open and could be adjusted depending upon a variety of factors including the geographical location of the battlefield and/or the geographical origins of the combatants--a possibility already encountered with the inclusion of Saint Blaise among the warrior-saints in the clergy's letter of January 1098.

In addition to demonstrating the flexibility inherent in the cult of the warrior-saints, the Chanson de Jerusalem is important because it provides us with an idea of how Europe's knights understood the dynamics of saintly intercession. The prayer offered by the crusaders before the battle at Ramla has already demonstrated that they valued Saint George, and potentially other warrior-saints, as spiritual intercessors whose merits could ensure the forgiveness of sins. Such intercession was clearly valuable for the safety of one's soul, but it would not necessarily ensure the safety of one's body. For such protection, Bohemond's battlefield invocation was the solution, and his appeal to the Holy Sepulchre and Saint George for aid, although brief and uttered in extremis, was itself a form of prayer. Significantly, unlike the prayer said on the eve of battle, it is obvious that this prayer was answered. This fact alone makes the intercession of the warrior-saints at Ramla different from that reported at Antioch by the chronicles. At Antioch, there is no evidence that the crusaders, clerics or otherwise, called on any specific saints to assist them in battle. Divine aid was prefigured by acts of penance, the discovery of the Holy Lance, and the reports of visionaries, but there was apparently no sense among the crusaders of what form that aid would take. Only when the warrior-saints appeared on the battlefield outside Antioch did the nature of the anticipated assistance become self-evident. At Ramla, however, there were no such uncertainties. Bohemond and the knightly audience of the Chanson de Jerusalem knew exactly what sort of assistance the beleaguered crusaders required and, even more significantly, how to obtain it. Without the aid of a cleric or even clerical sanction, Bohemond was able to summon the warrior-saints and their heavenly company onto the battlefield by invoking the name of their leader, Saint George.

The chanson also reminded its audience that divine assistance was not free and that God and his saints had to be properly thanked and repaid for their aid. Realizing this, Bohemond publicly offered thanks to Saint George after the battle and promised that he would honor the saint's church in Ramla by installing a bishop and twenty clerics to serve at the altar. After making this pledge, he then offered a prayer to Saint George in which he petitioned the saint to continue protecting the crusaders and aid them in achieving their ultimate goal of capturing Jerusalem. (56) As in the previous episodes of prayer, it is a knight, Bohemond, who both offers thanksgiving to Saint George and who prays to the saint for future military aid. Furthermore, it is Bohemond who personally vows to establish and endow an episcopal see in the saint's honor at Ramla. Thus, the corporate act of knightly piety as recorded in the Gesta and other chronicles is transformed into a personal act of knightly piety in the Chanson de Jerusalem. It is in this way that the Chanson de Jerusalem ultimately accounts for the foundation of an episcopal see at Ramla as recorded in the chronicles. The chanson makes it clear that the dynamic force behind these events was the crusader knights and not clerics like Raymond d'Aguilers, who were with the crusading army when it occupied Ramla. Still, the chanson's version of these events is strikingly similar to Raymond's since all of the military action at Ramla revolves around acts of prayer and supplication. In this way, the chanson combined the pious actions attributed to the crusaders by the chronicles with an elaborate description of heavenly military assistance based on details taken from the Antioch story. In so doing, the Chanson de Jerusalem not only illuminates the nature and extent of knightly devotion to the cult of the warrior-saints but also shows the extent to which clerical views influenced that devotion and how those views were communicated to a knightly audience.

IV. CONSENSUS IN THE WEST

Evidence for knightly devotion to the warrior-saints can also be found in other chansons de geste closely related to crusading in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. (57) Perhaps the most prominent example of this is the appearance of the warrior-saints in a continuation of the Roland legend called the Chanson d'Aspremont. This poem, composed around 1190, tells the tale of Charlemagne's successful campaign against Saracen invaders in Calabria. (58) Accompanying the expedition is Charlemagne's young nephew Roland, who, during the course of the poem, acquires the horse, sword, and horn (Viellantif, Durendal, and Olifant) that will figure so prominently in the later ambush at Roncevales. In the present poem, however, as Roland prepares to enter the final battle against the Saracens, the Frankish force is visited by three riders on white mounts who descend from the peaks of the nearby Aspremont. Not readily identifiable as friend or foe, these knights are asked to halt and identify themselves. The first of the riders declares that his name is George and that he has come to protect Roland. Furthermore, he explains that he has come to grant Roland the right of the first blow in the impending battle: a right that was traditionally his own. After the rider had spoken, he was instantly recognized as Saint George by Roland's commander, Duke Ogier. George then took Roland by the hand, told him to be brave and to cry "Saint George" for luck in battle. Only then did Roland recognize Saint George and understand that the saint would protect him from harm in the ensuing conflict. Emboldened by the promise of the saint's aid, Roland spurred his horse, successfully delivered the first blow, and the battle commenced. At this point, the identity of George's two companions, saints Demetrius and Mercurius, is revealed and all three saints charge into battle to assist Roland. (59)

More so than in the Chanson de Jerusalem, the warrior-saints are overtly transformed into chivalric knights by the redactor of the Chanson d'Aspremont. The affinity in military profession that made the warrior-saints ideal intercessors for Western knights in the minds of late-eleventh-century clerics is here carried to its logical conclusion through their association with one of the greatest heroes of medieval epic. Furthermore, the appearance of the warrior-saints on the field at Aspremont clearly demonstrated to a knightly audience the dual nature of their intercessory powers. On the one hand, the warrior-saints could appear unbidden, just as they did at Antioch, in order to assist Christian forces in achieving victory over their predominantly Muslim foes. Such acts of corporate military intercession could also be supplemented by a more personalized form of assistance in which the same saints came to the aid of an individual knight. In the context of events at Aspremont, the power of Saint George is especially emphasized, confirming that this saint in particular was considered an especially potent knightly intercessor. Just as Bohemond was able to summon the aid of Saint George during the battle near Ramla, Roland is told by the saint himself that invoking the name of Saint George will ensure the young hero's safety. The message conveyed by this episode in the Chanson d'Aspremont is thus twofold: by engaging in warfare that was ordained by God (or at least considered righteous by Him), earthly armies could rely on the intercession of the warrior-saints to ensure victory for their cause; and, through the power of prayer (in this case, a battlefield invocation), individual earthly knights could call on the warrior-saints to aid and protect them in battle.

This then is the extent to which knightly devotion to the warrior-saints had evolved by the end of the twelfth century. The nature of that devotion, however, is very different from the brand of knightly piety advocated by Alan de Lille in the same period. Written in the 1180s, his sermon Ad milites makes no reference to crusading as an outlet for knightly aggression, nor does it encourage knights to regard the warrior-saints as military or heavenly intercessors. Rather, it urged knights to reform their lives by using the warrior-saints as models of proper knightly behavior. Significantly, Alan's view of knighthood did not rule out military activity but, using the example of the warrior-saints, it placed moral and ethical restrictions upon when knights could and should fight. His intentions, therefore, were very different from those of Gerold d'Avranches who, a century earlier, had sought monastic converts among Anglo-Norman knights using the example of the warrior-saints. It is thus best to view Alan's sermon as a compromise in which he used the example of the warrior-saints in an effort to temper the aggressive piety fostered by crusading. The nature of this compromise is seen most clearly in the names of the warrior-saints that he suggests as models--Sebastian, Victor, Hypolite, the Theban Legion--none of whom, with the possible exception of the Theban Legion's leader Saint Maurice, had any association with crusading. With these examples, Alan sought to stir the moral sensibilities of Western knights without converting them into monks or referring to the heroic crusading past.

Despite Alan's intent, it is the model of the warrior-saints as military intercessors that remained at the forefront of knightly piety at the end of the twelfth century. With the renewed popularity of crusading after 1187, European knights again took the cross in large numbers, thereby ensuring that the strictly exemplary view of these saints would remain an exercise in clerical wishful thinking. Yet the warrior-saints had not always been the militant intercessors encountered in the chansons. It was the experiences of Western warriors and clerics in the Levant at the end of the eleventh century that transformed the warrior-saints into knightly intercessors. Over the course of the twelfth century, later chroniclers of the Crusade leant their credence to this transformation by providing the necessary scriptural and theological bases to ensure the orthodoxy and acceptance of these views. It was left to the authors and redactors of the chansons de geste at the end of the twelfth century to process this data into a form that was both entertaining and edifying to European knights, as well as reflective of their beliefs and values. In this way, knightly devotion to the warrior-saints evolved over the course of the twelfth century into a form that was clerical in inspiration yet knightly in aspiration. Far from the pious exemplars advocated by Alan, the warrior-saints established themselves as military intercessors and models of prowess for generations of European knights.

(1.) Alanus de Insulis, Ars Praedicandi, ed. J.-P. Migne, Patrologia Cursus Completus. Series Latina, 221 vols. (Paris: Garnier Freres, 1878-90), vol. 210, cols. 185-87 (hereafter cited as Alan de Lille). Marie-Therese d'Alverny, Alain de Lille. Textes inedits (Paris: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin, 1965), 109 and note 2; Jean Flori, L'Essor de la chevalerie, XIe-XIIe siecles (Geneva: Droz, 1986), 291-94; Richard W. Kaeuper, Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 76-77.

(2.) For easily accessible versions of Urban's speech at Clermont, see The First Crusade. The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed. Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), 25-41, 50-53. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood, trans. M. Conrad Greenia (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 2000), 33-43.

(3.) Alan de Lille, col. 186: "Habeant exemplum vitae sure milites, beatum martyrem Sebastianum militem, qui sub Diocletiano imperatore ita temporalem exercuit militiam, quod spiritualem non deseruerit agoniam : reddens quod Caesaris erat Caesari, et quae Dei, Deo. Beatum quoque Victorem, beatum Hypolitum, et multos alios, qui per materialem militiam strenue ministratam, ad aeternam summi regis militiam, feliciter sublimari meruerunt. Thebaea etiam cohors, sic exterius utebatur militiae cingulo, quod interius devote militabat Deo."

(4.) Hippolyte Delehaye, Les Legendes grecques des saints militaires (New York: Arno, 1975), 1-9; Jean-Michel Hornus, It is Not Lawful for Me to Fight. Early Christian Attitudes toward War, Violence and the State, trans. Alan Kreider and Oliver Coburn (Scottsdale, Penn.: Herald, 1980), 118-57; Christopher Walter, The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition (Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, 2003), 9-38, 261-90. I have chosen to use the term "warrior-saints" rather than "soldier-saints" or "military-saints" in order to more closely identify them with Europe's mounted warriors whether defined as knights, chevaliers, or Ritter. For Saint Sebastian, Acta sanctorum (Antwerp and Brussels, 1643-; Brussels: Culture et Civilisation, 1965-), Jan. II, 265-78 (hereafter cited as Acta sanctorum). For the Theban Legion, Acta sanctorum, Sept. VI, 342-49. The identity of saints Victor and Hypolite is more difficult to ascertain. At least three warrior-saints share the name Victor. The most likely reference is to the Victor who was martyred along with his companions at Marseilles ca. 290: Acta sanctorum, July V, 135-62. Other possibilities include Victor, a member of the praetorian guard martyred at Milan in 303 (Acta sanctorum, May II, 286-90), and Victor, a veteran martyred with the Theban legion. The identity of Hypolite is extremely uncertain, and his legend most likely represents the confusion of several saints bearing the same or similar name, one of whom may have been a soldier: Hippolyte Delehaye, "Recherches sur le legendier Romain," Analecta Bollandiana 51 (1933): 58-66. The uncertainty about the identity of saints Victor and Hypolite is reflected in other manuscripts of Alan's text in which their names are omitted altogether, while the references to the better-known Sebastian and the Theban Legion are retained: London, British Library, MS. Royal 7.C.XI, f. 123v; London, British Library, MS. Add. 19767, ff. 46r-46v.

(5.) Carl Erdmann, The Origin of the Idea of Crusade, trans. Marshall W. Baldwin and Walter Goffart (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977), 275-81; Adolf Waas, Geschichte der Kreuzzuge, 2 vols. (Freiburg: Verlag Herder, 1956), 1:14-18; Christopher Holdsworth, "'An Airier Aristocracy': The Saints at War," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th Series, 6 (1996): 103-9, 121-22; Jean Flori, La guerre sainte. La formation de l'idee de croisade dans l'Occident chretien (Paris: Aubier, 2001), 125-34.

(6.) The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, ed. and trans. Marjorie Chibnall, 6 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969-80), 3:216 (hereafter cited as Orderic Vitalis).

(7.) For Saint Demetrius, Delehaye, Les Legendes grecques, 103-9; Walter, The Warrior Saints, 67-93; Acta sanctorum, Oct. IV, 87-104. It is important to note that in the West, before the First Crusade, the legend of Saint Demetrius makes no reference to his background as a soldier. His presence among the saints reportedly used by Gerold d'Avranches in his ministry, however, suggests that this perception may have been changing before 1095. For Saint George, Delehaye, Les Legendes grecques, 50-60; Walter, The Warrior Saints, 109-44; P. Michael Huber, "Zur Georgslegende," Festschrift zum 12. Deutschen Neuphilologentag in Munchen (Erlangen: Junge, 1906), 174-235. For Saint Theodore, Delehaye, Les Legendes grecques, 17-29; Walter, The Warrior Saints, 44-66; Acta sanctorum, Nov. IV, 29-39; Bounius Mombritius, Sanctuarium, seu vitae sanctorum. Novam hanc editionem curaverunt duo monachi Solesmenses, 2 vols. (Paris: Albertum Fontemoing, 1910), 2:588-91. For Saint Eustace, Walter, The Warrior Saints, 163-69; Acta sanctorum, Sept. VI, 123-37.

(8.) C. Harper-Bill, "The Piety of the Anglo-Norman Knightly Class," in Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies II, ed. R. Allen Brown (Woodbridge, U.K.: Boydell, 1979), 71-77; Marcus Bull, Knightly Piety and Lay Response to the First Crusade. The Limousin and Gascony, c. 970-c. 1130 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1993), 125-42; James B MacGregor, "The Ministry of Gerold d'Avranches: Warrior-saints and Knightly Piety on the Eve of the First Crusade," Journal of Medieval History 29 (2003): 219-37.

(9.) H. E. J. Cowdrey, "The Anglo-Norman Laudes Regiae," Viator 12 (1981): 44, 62-65, 72-73. See also Ernst H. Kantorowicz, Laudes Regiae. A Study in Liturgical Acclamations and Medieval Ruler Worship (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1946), 14, 28-29.

(10.) Flori, L'Essor de la chevalerie, 97-111, 379-82; Jean Flori, "Chevalerie et liturgie," Le Moyen Age 84 (1978): 274-78, 436-38.

(11.) Die Kruezzugsbriefe aus den Jahren 1088-1100, ed. Heinrich Hagenmayer (Innsbruck: Verlag der Wagner'schen Universitats-Buchhandlung, 1901), 69, 147, 271-72 (hereafter cited as Kreuzzugsbriefe).

(12.) Jonathan Riley-Smith, "The First Crusade and Saint Peter," in Outremer. Studies in the History of the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem, eds. B. Z. Kedar, H. E. Mayer, and R. C. Small, (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Institute, 1982), 53-55 and note 104.

(13.) Unfortunately, the reason for Blaise's presence among the warrior-saints must remain speculative since the identity of the five battles to which the letter refers may only be guessed at. Hagenmeyer suggests that they are (1) The battle of Dorylaeum (July 1097); (2) The battle of Heraclea (September 1097); (3) The battle at the Iron Bridge on the banks of the Orontes (October 1097); (4) The battle against the Turks from the castle of Harnec (November 1097); (5) The battle against a Muslim force seeking to relieve Antioch (December 1097). See Kreuzzugsbriefe, 245, 272-73. Whether or not the cult of Saint Blaise was associated with any of these sites is difficult to determine since his cult is based in the town of Sebaste, a location well off the route followed by the crusading army. There is, however, a lesser known martyr named Blaise whose cult was centered in Caesarea (Cappadocia), a city through which the crusaders passed shortly after the battle of Heraclea. As with the martyred bishop of Sebaste, however, Blaise of Caesarea had no connection with a military career, having been a shepherd before he suffered for the faith. For Saint Blaise of Sebaste, Acta sanctorum, Feb. 1, 336-53. For Saint Blaise of Caesarea, Acta sanctorum, Feb. 1, 353.

(14.) Orderic Vitalis, 3:226.

(15.) Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolymitanorum, ed. Rosalind Hill (London: T. Nelson, 1962), 69.

(16.) For the traditional view that the Gesta chronicler was a knight, see Gesta Francorum, xi-vi; Anonymi Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolymitanorum, ed. Heinrich Hagenmeyer (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1890), 1-7; Anonymi Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolymitanorum, ed. Beatrice A. Lees (Oxford: Clarendon, 1924), xiii-xvi. For the more recent view that the chronicler was a cleric, see Colin Morris, "The Gesta Francorum as Narrative History," Reading Medieval Studies 19 (1993): 55-71.

(17.) For Saint Mercurius, Delehaye, Les Legendes grecques, 91-101; Walter, The Warrior Saints, 101-8.

(18.) Jeanette M. A. Beer, Narrative Conventions of Truth in the Middle Ages (Geneva: Droz, 1981), 23-34.

(19.) For example, see the letter written in October 1098 by the clergy and people of Lucca in support of the Crusade. It recounts the experiences of Bruno, a layman from Lucca who had participated in the defense of Antioch. He reports that the crusaders were aided by the miraculous appearance of a large, shining host ("ecce vexillum admirabile excelsum valde et candidum, et cum eo multitudo militum innumera") but makes no reference to the warrior-saints. Kreuzzugsbriefe, 167.

(20.) Riley-Smith, "The First Crusade and Saint Peter," 55-56 and note 105.

(21.) Petrus Tudebodus, Histeria de Hierosolymitano itinere, ed. John Hugh Hill and Laurita L. Hill (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1977), 111-12 (hereafter cited as Peter Tudebode).

(22.) William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum, ed. and trans. R. A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson, and M. Winterbotton, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1998-99), 1:638 (hereafter cited as William of Malmesbury).

(23.) Peter Tudebode, 98-100. Translation from Peter Tudebode, Historia de Hierosolymitano itinere, trans. John Hugh Hill and Laurita L. Hill (Philadelphia, Penn.: American Philosophical Society, 1974), 74-75.

(24.) Robertus Monachus, Historia Iherosolimitana, in Recueil des historiens des croisades. Historiens Occidentaux, 5 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1844-95), 3:821-22, 830, 832 (hereafter cited as Robert of Rheims; the Recueil will be cited as RHC Hist. Occ.).

(25.) Historia peregrinorum euntium Jerusolymam, in RHC Hist. Occ., 3:205.

(26.) Robert of Rheims, 832. The proximity of Rheims to the Imperial domain, where the cult of Saint Maurice was particularly popular, offers one possible explanation as to why this saint's name was added to Robert's version of the Antioch story. See Flori, La guerre sainte, 131.

(27.) Le "liber" de Raymond d'Aguilers, ed. John Hugh Hill and Laurita L. Hill (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1969), 81-83 (hereafter cited as Raymond d'Aguilers); Steven Runciman, "The Holy Lance Found at Antioch," Analecta Bollandiana 68 (1950): 199-205; Colin Morris, "Policy and Visions: The Case of the Holy Lance at Antioch," in War and Government in the Middle Ages. Essays in Honour of J. O. Prestwich, ed. John Gillingham and J. C. Holt (Woodbridge, U.K.: Boydell, 1984), 33-45.

(28.) William of Malmesbury, 1:638, 639. See also Guibert de Nogent, Dei Gesta per Francos et cinq autres textes, ed. R. B. C. Huygens, Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis, 127 A (Turnholt: Brepols, 1996), 240 (hereafter cited as Guibert of Nogent).

(29.) Yael Katzir, "The Conquests of Jerusalem, 1099 and 1187: Historical Memory and Religious Typology," in The Meeting of Two Worlds. Cultural Exchange between East and West during the Period of the Crusades, ed. Vladimir P. Gross (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute, 1986), 104-7.

(30.) Robert of Rheims, 796-98.

(31.) Bull, Knightly Piety, 197; Robert Levine, "The Pious Traitor: Rhetorical Reinventions of the Fall of Antioch," Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 33:1 (1998): 65-67.

(32.) H. E. J. Cowdrey, "Martyrdom and the First Crusade," in Crusade and Settlement, ed. Peter W. Edbury (Cardiff, U.K.: University College Cardiff Press, 1985), 46-56. Bohemond's interaction with Pirrus is similar to the dialogue/debate that most martyrs reportedly had with their persecutors. Still, Bohemond's inability to answer all of the theological questions posed by Pirrus demonstrates that Robert of Rheims was willing to push this resemblance only so far.

(33.) For an introduction to the content, intent, and audience of the chansons de geste, and the chansons de croisade more specifically, see James M. Powell, "Myth, Legend, Propaganda, History: The First Crusade, 1140-ca. 1300," in Autour de la Premiere Croisade. Actes du Colloque de la Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (Paris: Sorbonne, 1996), 131, 136-38; Robert Francis Cook, "Crusade Propaganda in the Epic Cycles of the Crusade," in Journeys toward God: Pilgrimage and Crusade, ed. Barbara N. Sargent-Baur (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute, 1992), 157-75; D. A. Trotter, Medieval French Literature and the Crusades (Geneva: Droz, 1987), 107-25; Herman Kleber, "Pelerinage--Vengeance--Conquete. La Conception de la premiere croisade dans le cycle de Graindor de Douai," in Au carrefour des routes d'Europe: La Chanson de geste, 2 vols. (Aix-en-Provence: Cuer, 1987), 2:757-75; Karl-Heinz Bender, "Die Chanson d'Antioche: eine Chronik zwischen Epos und Hagiographie," Oliphant 5 (1977): 89-104; Karl-Heinz Bender, "Des chansons de geste a la premiere epopee de croisade. La presence de l'histoire contemporaine dans la literature francaise du 12eme siecle," in Actes du Vle congres international de la Societe Rencevals (Aix-en-Provence: University of Provence, 1974), 485-500.

(34.) La Chanson D'Antioche, ed. Suzanne Duparc-Quioc, 2 vols. (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1976-78), 1:444-46 and note, lines 9052-71.

(35.) On the use of Robert's chronicle by the author/redactor of the chanson, see Chanson D'Antioche, 2:132-39.

(36.) Susan B. Edgington, "Holy Land, Holy Lance: Religious Ideas in the Chanson d'Antioche," in The Holy Land, Holy Lands, and Christian History, ed. R. N. Swanson (Woodbridge, U.K.: Boydell, 2000), 142-53.

(37.) Gesta Francorum, 87.

(38.) For Ramla and other sites important to the cult of Saint George, see Delehaye, Les Legendes grecques, 45-50.

(39.) Gioffredo Malaterra, De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabiae et Siciliae comitis et Roberti Guisgardi ducis fratris eius, in Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, vol. 5, part 1, ed. Ernesto Pontieri (Bologna: Nicola Zanichelli, 1928), 44; Kenneth Baxter Wolf, Making History. The Normans and Their Historians in Eleventh-Century Italy (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995), 143-47, 155-57.

(40.) Orderic Vitalis, 5:156, 157. See also the chronicle of Baldric of Dol from whence Orderic took his information: Historia Jerosolimitana in RHC Hist. Occ., 4:95-96.

(41.) Guibert of Nogent, 269; Translation from Guibert of Nogent, The Deeds of God through the Franks, trans. Robert Levine (Woodbridge, U.K.: Boydell, 1997), 125-26.

(42.) Bernard Hamilton, The Latin Church in the Crusader States: The Secular Church (London: Variorum, 1980), 10-12. For a brief history of Ramla, see Denys Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993-98), 2:181-85.

(43.) Raymond d'Aguilers, 131-34; Translation from Raymond d'Aguilers, Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem, trans. John Hugh Hill and Laurita L. Hill (Philadelphia, Penn.: American Philosophical Society, 1968), 112 (hereafter cited as Hill and Hill).

(44.) Narratio quomodo reliquae martyris Georgii ad nos Aquicinenses pervenerunt, in RHC Hist. Occ., 5:xliv-xlv, 248-52; Acta sanctorum, Apr. III, 134-36.

(45.) Chanson D'Antioche, 1:304, line 6064; Riley-Smith, "The First Crusade and Saint Peter," 56 and notes 109, 110.

(46.) Raymond d'Aguilers, 136; translation from Hill and Hill, 114-15. I have slightly altered the translation by Hill and Hill for clarity. These changes are indicated above in brackets. "Itaque obtulimus vota sancto Georgio, et quia se ducem nostrum confessus fuerat, visurn et majoribus et omni populo, ut episcopum ibi elegeremus, quoniam ecclesiam illam in terra Israel primam inveneramus."

(47.) Raymond does report that some crusaders witnessed a vision of Bishop Adhemar (the papal legate had died on August 1, 1098) on the walls of Jerusalem: Raymond d'Aguilers, 151. It is not until the thirteenth century that Saint George becomes associated with the fall of Jerusalem: lacopo de Varazze, Legenda Aurea, ed. Giovanni Paolo Maggioni, 2 vols. (Florence: SISMEL, 1998), 1:398.

(48.) La Chanson de Jerusalem, ed. Nigel R. Thorp (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1992), 50, lines 679-89.

(49.) Hamilton, The Latin Church in the Crusader States, 84-85.

(50.) Despite what the chanson says, Bohemond cannot have been present at this battle. When the crusading army continued its march to Jerusalem, Bohemond remained at Antioch where he ruled as the first prince of this new crusader principality.

(51.) Chanson de Jerusalem, 50-53, lines 690-854.

(52.) The identity of the saint named "Domins" in the Chanson de Jerusalem is commonly thought to be Saint Demetrius. Given that Demetrius is named in virtually all of the chronicles, and since no other saints with similar names present themselves as possibilities, this identification appears sound.

(53.) Acta sanctorum, May III, 285-86; Hippolyte Delehaye, "Les actes de S. Barbarus," Analecta Bollandiana 29 (1910): 276-301. It is unlikely that the reference to "saint Barbe" in the Chanson de Jerusalem refers to Saint Barbara--there is no indication in the chronicles or chansons that female saints were associated with the success of the First Crusade or with the ranks of the warrior-saints. The only possible exceptions to this statement are the reported visions of the Virgin Mary to individual crusaders and the report, found only in the chronicle of Raymond d'Aguilers, that Saint Agatha accompanied the Virgin during one of these appearances. See Riley-Smith, "The First Crusade and Saint Peter," 53; Raymond d'Aguilers, 127. It is not until the late Middle Ages that Barbara's purported patronage of artillerymen associates her with military activity.

(54.) Gabrielle M. Spiegel, "The Cult of St Denis and Capetian Kingship," in Saints and Their Cults. Studies in Religious Sociology, Folklore and History, ed. Stephen Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 141-68.

(55.) Flori, La guerre sainte, 131; T. D. Kendrick, St. James in Spain (London: Metheun, 1960), 19-24, 41-43; Klaus Herbers, Der Jakobskult des 12. Jahrunderts und Der "Liber Saneti Jacobi" (Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1984), 108-63. Saint Denis is also named as one of the heavenly leaders of the First Crusade in the Chanson d'Antioche, 1:262-63, lines 5115--20. The transformation of saints Denis and James into warrior-saints is theologically justified by Robert of Rheims. In the context of the reported conversation between Bohemond and Pirrus, Bohemond's chaplain explains that God could choose to send His saints to earth as either peaceful or aggressive intercessors. The implication seems to be that the warrior-saints could intercede in times of peace just as easily as pacific saints could intercede in times of war.

(56.) Chanson de Jerusalem, 53-54, lines 855-70.

(57.) For the titles of other chansons de geste in which the warrior-saints appear, see the appropriate volumes and entries in Andre Moisan, Repertoire des noms propres de personnes et de lieux cites dans les chansons de geste francaises et les oeuvres etrangeres derivees, 5 vols. (Geneva: Droz, 1986).

(58.) Wolfgang van Emden, "La Chanson d'Aspremont and the Third Crusade," Reading Medieval Studies 18 (1992): 57-60.

(59.) The Song of Aspremont, trans. Michael W. Newth (New York: Garland, 1989), 203-6, lines 8505-610.

James B. MacGregor is a Ph.D. graduate of the University of Cincinnati.