Albert of Aix(-la-Chapelle) or Albert of Aachen; la, Albericus Aquensis; ''fl.'' c. 1100) was a historian of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

and the early

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establish ...

. He was born during the later part of the 11th century, and afterwards became

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

(priest) and ''custos'' (guardian) of the church of

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...

. Endnote: See * F. Krebs, ''Zur Kritik Alberts von Aachen'' (Munster, 1881) * B. Kugler, ''Albert von Aachen'' (Stuttgart, 1885) * M. Figeonneau, ''Le Cycle de la croisade et de la famine de Bouillon'' (Paris, 1877) * H. von Sybel, ''Geschichte des ersten Kreuzzuges'' (Leipzig, 1881) * F. Vercruysse, ''Essai critique sur la chronique d'Albert d'Aix'' (Liege, 1889). Nothing else is known of his life except that he was the author of a ''Historia Hierosolymitanae expeditionis'' (“History of the Expedition to Jerusalem”), or ''Chronicon Hierosolymitanum de bello sacro'', a work in Latin in twelve books, written between 1125 and 1150. This history begins at the time of the

Council of Clermont The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Pope Urban's speech ...

in 1095, deals with the fortunes of the First Crusade and the earlier history of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, and ends somewhat abruptly in 1121. The ''Historia'' was well known during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, and was largely used by

William of Tyre William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...

for the first six books of his ''Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum''. In modern times, it was accepted unreservedly for many years by most historians, including

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, i ...

. In more recent times beginning with Heinrich von Sybel,Sybel, H. von., Duff Gordon, L. (18--)
The history and literature of the crusades
London. its historical value has been seriously impugned, but the verdict of the best scholarship seems to be that in general it forms a true record of the events of the First Crusade, although containing some legendary matter. Albert never visited the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

, but he appears to have had a considerable amount of discourse with returned crusaders, and to have had access to valuable correspondence. Unlike many other chronicles of the First Crusade, Albert did not rely on the ''

Gesta Francorum The ''Gesta Francorum'' (Deeds of the Franks), or ''Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum'' (Deeds of the Franks and the other pilgrims to Jerusalem), is a Latin chronicle of the First Crusade by an anonymous author connected with Bohemon ...

'', but used his own independent interviews; he may also have had access to the ''

Chanson d'Antioche The ''Chanson d'Antioche'' is a ''chanson de geste'' in 9000 lines of in stanzas called ''laisses'', now known in a version composed about 1180 for a courtly French audience and embedded in a quasi-historical cycle of epic poems inspired by th ...

'', as his work shares textual similarities with that poem. The first edition of the history was published at

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage o ...

in 1584, and a translation, with the original Latin, is in the ''

Recueil des historiens des croisades {{italic title The ''Recueil des historiens des croisades'' (trans: ''Collection of the Historians of the Crusades'') is a major collection of several thousand medieval documents written during the Crusades. The documents were collected and publis ...

'', Volume 4.iii (1879). A modern edition in Latin and English translation by Susan B. Edgington is available in the Oxford Medieval Texts series. (cf. Volumes 24 and 25 of Crusader Texts in Translation.)

References

*Susan B. Edgington, "Albert of Aachen and the Chansons de Geste" in ''The Crusades and their sources: essays presented to Bernard Hamilton'' ed. John France, William G. Zajac (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998) pp. 23–37. *Albert of Aachen, ''Historia Ierosolimitana'', ed. and trans. S. Edgington (Oxford: Oxford Medieval Texts, 2007).

Bibliography

* Albert of Aachen, ''Albert of Aachen's History of the Journey to Jerusalem, vol.1: Books 1-6. The First Crusade 1095-1099'', trans. S.B. Edgington (Farnham, 2013). * Albert of Aachen, ''Albert of Aachen's History of the Journey to Jerusalem, vol. 2: Books 7-12. The Early History of the Latin States 1099-1119'', trans. S.B. Edgington (Farnham, 2013).

External links

Albert of Aix
at

The Latin Library The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. It is run by William L. Carey, adjunct professor of Latin and Roman Law at George Mason University. The texts have been drawn from different sources, are not intended for ...

(from the

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...

edition). {{DEFAULTSORT:Albert Of Aix Crusade literature 12th-century German historians 12th-century Latin writers 11th-century births 12th-century deaths