The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen

A History of the Normans on the First Crusade

Bernard S Bachrach, David S. Bachrach

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351888943
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

This is the first translation into English of Ralph of Caen's Gesta Tancredi. This text provides an exceptionally important narrative of the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath, covering the period 1096-1105, but is often neglected, due in no small part to the difficulties of its Latin. A native of the Norman city of Caen where he was a student of Arnulf, the future patriarch of Jerusalem, in 1107 Ralph joined Bohemond of Taranto's army as a military chaplain. After arriving in the East, Ralph took service with Bohemond's nephew Tancred, who ruled the principality of Antioch from 1108 to 1112. Although dedicated to Arnulf, the Gesta Tancredi focuses on the careers of Bohemond and, especially, of Tancred. It is one of the most important sources - indeed the most important Latin source - for the Norman campaigns in Cilicia (1097-1108), and for the early Norman rule of Antioch. The work as a whole has a striking Norman point of view and contains details found in no other source, providing a corrective to the strong northern focus of most of the other narrative sources for the First Crusade.

The Gesta Tancredi

Preface

It is a noble exercise to recount accurately the deeds of princes. To do so is to consider generously all that is subject to time, to celebrate the dead, to entertain the living, and to set out a past life as a model for later generations. It is to bring back what has happened in the past. When it displays victories, it confers them on the victorious. It eliminates sloth, conveys honesty, presents virtues and draws a crowd. We should, therefore, press forward with the greatest effort to read what has been written and to write down what ought to be read. Thus, in reading old things and writing new, antiquity may be able to satisfy our needs and we may be able to nourish to the fullest the requirements of our posterity.

When considering these matters, I have frequently turned my mind to that joyous pilgrimage, that glorious labor that restored to us our inheritance, that is our mother Jerusalem. That pilgrimage extinguished idolatry and restored the faith (Christianity). Indeed, it would not have been absurd for someone to exclaim, ‘behold your sons, o Jerusalem, they have come from afar, and have lifted out of obscurity your daughters namely Joffa and many other places that have suffered ruin’. It is fitting for me to battle on behalf of those who participated in this glorious labor, that is on behalf of Bohemond when he besieged Durazzo, and on behalf of Tancred when a short time later he freed Edessa from a Turkish siege.¹ Both of these men recalled daily the fleeing Turks and the approaching Franks. Sometimes they discussed the deadly enemies and sometimes the captured cities: Antioch that was captured by night through guile and Jerusalem that was captured by day through force of arms.² They both called out, ‘o fathers, how much has sloth cost us? When was it the highest desire for the old prophets to write? Today, they relate fabulous inventions. Today, they pass over the victories of the army of Christ in silence. Truly a despicable herd, one that should be covered in excrement.’ The Norman leaders said these things publicly and often turned their eyes toward me, for what reason I do not know, as if to say: ‘we are speaking to you, we trust you’. Thus, I grew to know both of them, but especially Tancred. No one had a kinder lord, or one who was more generous or charming. In the presence of this very vigorous man, my quiet spirit responded in this manner: ‘What you seek as a living man, you will receive once you have been buried, if I should survive. I will not praise you while you live. I will praise you after your death. I will praise you after all is complete. For in this case it will not happen that Tancred will rise up in elation after being praised and that [Ralph] shall fall into the trap of flattering his subject while praising him. The envious man will be silent and the murmurer will become muted when you are dead and when the gifts, which the living use as reward, cease to come to you. So too will fall silent the poisonous voices of the rumor mongers who would cast me in the role of seller and you as the buyer.’

It is for this reason that I delay, and for another as well. Since I am not confident in my skills, I was waiting to see if anyone with a more adept style might address these matters, if anyone more beholden to Tancred might pursue this course. But I have found that some neglect this topic, others are lazy, and still others are whisperers, and, horrible as it is to say, this last group tries to keep the story from being told. Fathers, where is the reverence, where is the liberty, where are the gifts, by which this glory of princes continually illuminated the dark places, absolved the guilty, and enriched those who were without hope? Therefore, I have taken up the burden that was left to me, not because I am worthy of it, but rather because those who were worthy scorned it as unworthy. Indeed, since it is necessary for someone to proceed if he is no longer bound, it is permissible for me to pass on this crude work to later generations.³

I predict that benevolent posterity will beautify the plain material which the present has left to me. On this account, o reader, it is fitting for me to beg you for forgiveness and for you, in turn, to pardon me. The language which is now spare will become full and vibrant. Minerva (agriculture), as they say, has degenerated through long neglect.⁴ Indeed, since Maro’s (Vergil) works have hardly sufficed to reach the summit, my useless tongue fairly babbles.⁵ I recognize that I have a poor style. I depend entirely on His strength, that is of Christ, whose standard bearer and triumphs I intend to describe. Therefore, I have chosen you Arnulf,⁶ most learned patriarch, as the physician who will cut the excess from my pages, fill in the gaps, illuminate the obscure points, and water the dry sections. We know that you are learned in all of the liberal arts. Whatever corrections you make will be particularly sweet to me since as a boy I had you as a teacher when you were in your youth, and now as a man I have chosen you as an old man to be my corrector.

Chapter 1

Tancred’s parents, Tancred’s royal character, Tancred prepares himself for holy war

Tancred, the most glorious descendant of a renowned clan had extraordinary parents, the marquis⁷ and Emma. From his father’s side, he was hardly an undistinguished son. However, he was an even more lofty nephew to the brothers of his mother. This second line of his ancestors had earned praise beyond the borders of their region. The brothers of his mother had demonstrated the glory of their military prowess beyond the boundaries of their homeland, that is Normandy. For who has not considered the virtue of Guiscard at the sight of whose victorious banner, they say, both the Greek and the German emperors quailed on the same day?⁸ When he was in Rome, he freed her from the German emperor.⁹ When Guiscard’s son Bohemond conquered the king of the Greeks, Guiscard subjugated the region to his own rule. Guiscard’s eleven brothers conquered Campania, Apulia, and even Calabria. Particular mention should be made of Roger who gained the greatest glory among the remaining brothers and took his place second only to Guiscard when pagan Sicily fell to him.¹⁰ But the narrative which has caused me to discuss these matters no longer permits me to delay.

Now I return to Tancred. The wealth of his father’s family did not lead him toward wantonness nor did the power of his mother’s relatives make him arrogant. As a youth, he surpassed his elders in the practice of arms and in the seriousness of his conduct. He regularly offered new demonstrations of strength of character to both the young and to the old. From this point on, as a zealous adherent to God’s commands, he strove to gather and to keep the Lord’s commands. Moreover, in so far as his dealings with those of his own age permitted, he put into practice the things that he had learned. He did not deign to disparage anyone even when he himself was maligned. For as the herald of hostile action was accustomed to say, ‘an enemy is to be borne not to be slandered’.¹¹ He refused to say anything about himself, but had an insatiable longing to be talked about. He disregarded sleep in favor of watchfulness, quiet in place of labor, satiaty in place of hunger, leisure in favor of work, and indeed everything that was superfluous in favor of what was needed. It was only the glory of praise that moved the spirit of this young man. But in regularly pursuing glory he brought frequent suffering on himself, for he did not spare his own blood or that of his enemy.

Over time, however, his prudent soul raised concerns that caused him anxiety. It seemed that his military life contradicted the Lord’s command. The Lord had commanded that after one cheek had been struck the other was to be offered as well. But a secular military life did not even permit the sparing of a relative’s blood. The Lord admonished that it is necessary to give over one’s cloak, as well, to the one asking for a tunic.¹² By contrast, the necessity of military life urges that once these two garments have been seized, the rest are to be taken as well. These two principles opposed one another and undermined the bravery of a man full of wisdom, if, indeed, they ever permitted him to sleep. But when Pope Urban’s decision granted a remission of all sins to all of the Christians setting forth to fight against the pagans, then finally it was as if the vitality of the previously sleeping man was revived, his powers were roused, his eyes were opened and his boldness set in motion.¹³

Earlier, as is noted above, his soul was at a crossroads. Which of the two paths should he follow: the Gospels or the world? His experience in arms recalled him to the service of Christ. This two-fold opportunity for struggle energized the man. Therefore, once the task of going forth had been set, the necessary preparations were quickly made. Nor, indeed, did this man, whose custom it had been from boyhood to have others administer his inheritance, require great expenses. He furnished the military arms, horses, mules, and other goods of this type in quantities sufficient for the number of his fellow soldiers.

Chapter 2

Eulogy for Bohemond

There was in those days a hero of great stature whose youth was discussed above. This was Bohemond, the son of that distinguished soldier Robert surnamed Guiscard, who was a vigorous emulator of his father’s daring. The same apostolic sermon that stirred the souls of other princes around the world to free Jerusalem from the yoke of the infidels also moved him. The area he ruled included all of the towns and cities from Siponto to Oriolo on the sea. In addition, all of the flatlands and mountainous areas also served him. Moreover, many of the cities and towns of Apulia as well as the highland areas of Calabria also supported him. While serving under his father, he had twice forced the Greek emperor Alexios to retreat. The first time was in the presence of his father beneath the walls of Durazzo.¹⁴ The second time, however, occurred when his father had returned to Rome and he had been left in command of his father’s army at Larissa.¹⁵ This victory, just as had been true of the first, brought him a double glory since it permitted the victor, who had been fighting sharply, to pass over the straits in peace.

[Now in this new campaign]he feared the ambushes of the Greeks since they had a habit of attacking even those whom they had earlier invited as guests, and moreover guests who were worthy of receiving gifts. What did these exasperating people want? For what did these people so often defeated strive? For what could their conquerors hope after defeating them? Either destruction had to be wrought on these miserable people, or they had to be made to end their struggle because they feared their own lack of strength. These concerns delayed Bohemond’s crossing.¹⁶ Before he left, he immediately forbade anyone to fortify his own property or to leave from any of the ports.¹⁷

Burning with the same desire as Bohemond, when he heard the news, Tancred’s concern both diminished and increased. His fear was diminished because he thought he would be adding his strength to that of another. His fear grew as he considered how to acquire provisions along a path so lacking in supplies.

Chapter 3

Tancred enters into an agreement with Bohemond

After Bohemond made many rich and flattering promises, Tancred agreed that he would fight under Bohemond as his second-in-command, just like a duke under a king. But in addition to these flatteries and rich gifts, two other matters urged him on, namely their close family ties and the difficulty of making the crossing [from Italy to Byzantine territory]. As they shared wine with one another, it was clear that the first of these reasons was bound up in their love for one another and that the second was based on fear. If Tancred did not obey Bohemond, he might easily be accused of jealousy and seem to be worthy of being sent away from the expedition. Finally, because of his gifts and prayers to God, they earned a safe passage.

When both of the Guiscardian offshoots, who exceeded their entire family in energy, were joined together, they set out for Epirus in a loosely arranged fleet.¹⁸ It was Tancred’s role to exercise his valor. When he served in the vanguard, he came upon ambushes. When he served in the rearguard of the army, he gave battle to brigands. Whether he proceeded [the army] or followed it, he was always ready, always armed, and took pleasure in being exposed to danger. While others were buried in wine or sleep, he kept watch along the road to temper the heavy snows and hailstorms with his shield. It was a fortunate old woman, weakened by starvation, who was found by Tancred, just as she was about to set her feet on the banks of a flooded river. Food was immediately made available to the starving woman. She was given a horse in place of a boat, and a horseman in place of an oar. Tancred, I say, freely offered himself to serve as this horseman.

Chapter 4

Tancred crosses the Vardar river with his troops. He defeats the Greeks

Under such leadership, this blessed people happily was led to a river which is called the Vardar. After establishing a camp there, they delayed for many days. The flooding river blocked their advance and the opposite bank, filled with threatening enemies, frightened many [of the Latins]. There seemed to be a fear that those who crossed first would have the turcopoles in front of them and those who delayed would have the turcopoles behind them.¹⁹ But...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• List of Maps
• Introduction
• The Gesta Tancredi
• Bibliography
• Index