The First Crusade
In their book, From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to HistoricalMethods, the authors write, "History as academic historians write it todaywould be almost unrecognizable to scholars working even fifty years ago,let alone in a past that is a century, two centuries - or twenty centuries- old" (Howell and Prevenier 119). The First Crusade, edited by EdwardPeters, is a collection of texts that includes not only currently acceptedhistorical views, but also primary source material. This book allows thereader an opportunity to examine the method used by the author whilereading the various accounts of events. It is important for the reader tohave a basic comprehension of historical methodology to understand thevalue and context of the texts contained in The First Crusade. There are many ways by which to record history. The methods used byhistorians are as different as are the historians themselves. This is whya collection of primary source materials differs from 'digested' andcompiled history. Howell and Prevenier explain that this interpretationalframework may include Historicism, a process attributed to Leopold vonRanke, or Positivism, as defined by August Comte. A third approach to
The product depends upon the method and sources used by theanalyst. It combines primary source materials that one might classify inseveral categories, while presenting an historical view of medieval times. Howell andPrevenier suggest that history as it is written today would be almostunrecognizable to scholars of the past - even a recent past. By seeing history as a type of creation, one understands the value ofprimary sources such as those in Peters' book. Yet,"sources are all we have" (Howell and Prevenier 149). Historicism, as described, is a strict presentation of facts concerning anevent or place etc. Does this mean that historyexists only as an extension of the writer's viewpoint' Are the academichistorians of today re-creating a history that would be unrecognizable topeople who lived it' There is always an overall effect established by the manner in whichthe editor of primary sources presents his material. Howell and Prevenier write, "few historians have argued that there isa single lens through which the past can be interpreted" (131). Peters prefaces eachtext with contextual information, which allows the reader to understand thebias' that may be involved. In keeping with his view that allaspects of an event help define the event, Peters might well have includeda brief story of the first crusade along with a map, to help the readerappreciate the numerous campaigns that occurred in this four year period. Linguistics involves the meaning of the words themselves within the contextof the time they are written. Peters combines acompelling compendium of texts to explain a period in history. "The study of the First Crusade must encompass eleventh-century reform ecclesiology, the appearance of new social groups and their attitudes, the institutional and literary evidence dealing with Holy War and pilgrimage, and, most important, the accounts of firsthand experiences by men who participated in the events of 1095-1099" (Peters xvii). Brundage,Medieval Canon Law and the Crusader (Madison, Wisc.
Common topics in this essay:
Howell Prevenier,
Edward Peters,
Peters Peters,
Medieval History,
August Comte,
St Gilles,
Madison Wisc,
Holy War,
Pope Urban's,
Historical Methods,
howell prevenier,
urban's speech,
primary source,
primary source materials,
primary sources,
story crusade,
unrecognizable scholars,
history moving,
allows reader,
peters appears,
history howell prevenier,
history moving target,
source materials,
|
Acceptance Essays
