The Representation and Function of Fear in the Narratives of the First Crusade

Wednesday 31st October, 2012

1pm, Arts 2

Over thirty years ago Jan Verbruggen rejected depictions of the undaunted knight
lusting for battle in vernacular poetry by highlighting examples where warriors were
recognised as fearing death in historical narratives, including those pertaining to the
First Crusade. While the nature of these texts may not allow us to empirically
reconstruct what it actually felt like to be a crusader, it is still possible to explore the
emotional personification of the idyllic Christianprotagonist. Focusing on the fear of
death, this paper, by Stephen Spencer of QMUL, investigates whether fear was represented as an appropriate or inappropriate emotion for crusaders to display – whether the novelty of the First Crusade and the unfamiliarity of the Muslim adversary created a context in which fear featured as an acceptable sentiment.