The Deeds of God Through the Franks

Book excerpt: Guibert of Nogent's account of the First Crusade is an important but difficult chronicle which will be welcomed in this first English translation. It is a valuable addition to Boydell & Brewer's repertoire of crusading material, and is an interesting text because it represents an attempt to produce a critical history from the eyewitness sources - the Deeds of the Franks and Fulker of Chartres' History of the Expedition to Jerusalem/I>: in the process it reveals considerable detail on Western attitudes to the First Crusade, and, through Guibert's own bias, on medieval mentalites in general. In this translation, Professor Levine has rendered the difficult and idiosyncratic Latin prose and verse into idiomatic English prose, while preserving as far as possible the constructions favoured by Guibert. In addition, he provides a brief introduction containing biographical and bibliographical information, as well as a summary of the translation. Professor ROBERT LEVINEteaches in the Department of English, Boston University.