Ristiretket

by Régine Pernoud, Reino Hakamies (Translator), Asko Rysä (Illustrator)

Ristiretket on uudentyyppinen teos suomeksi ilmestyneiden historiallisten tietokirjojen joukossa: silminnäkijät ja muut mukana olleet kuvaavat itse värikästä ja veristä aikakauttaan. Uutta on myös se, että ristiretkiä tarkastellaan tasapuolisesti kristittyjen ja muhamettilaisten näkökulmasta. Aineisto on loistavan monipuolinen. Kertojina esiintyvät ritarit ja papit, kuninkaat ja kauppamiehet, pyhiinvaeltajat ja kronikoitsijat. Heidän katsantotapansa on ajan hengen läpitunkemaa. Lukija pääsee seuraamaan aitiopaikalta draamaa, joka väikkyy mielikuvissa uskomattomilta tuntuvien seikkailuromaanien aiheena. Suorasukaiset kuvaukset raivokkaista taisteluista ovat keskeisellä sijalla, mutta niiden ohella kerrotaan myös ristiretkeläisten ja musulmaanien rauhallisesta kanssakäymisestä -- Jerusalemin kuningaskunnan alamainen saattoi olla jopa naimisissa vääräuskoisen kanssa. Uskonkiihkosta huolimatta osapuolet kunnioittivat toisiaan tasaveroisina vastustajina, ystävinäkin.

Régine Pernoud on ranskalainen yliopistonopettaja ja museonjohtaja, joka on toiminut myös Amerikassa keskiajan historian ja taidehistorian professorina. Hän kytkee aikalaisten kertomukset tapahtumien yleiseen kulkuun, luo kokonaisuuden yksityiskohtien tulvasta. Maailmanhistoriassa ainutlaatuinen kiihkokausi kuohuu elämää ja kuolemaa -- lukija saa tilaisuuden tarkastella keskiaikaista ihmistä ikään kuin suurennuslasin lävitse.

Genres: History

322 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Régine Pernoud (17 June 1909 in Château-Chinon, Nièvre - 22 April 1998 in Paris) was a historian and medievalist. She received an award from the Académie française. She is known for writing extensively about Joan of Arc.

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FRENCH HISTORIAN PROVIDES A MORE "POSITIVE" PERSPECTIVE ON THE CRUSADES

Régine Pernoud (1909-1998) was a French historian and medievalist; she wrote many other books, such as 'Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths,' 'Joan of Arc: Her Story,' 'The Templars: Knights of Christ,' 'A Day with a Noblewoman,' etc.

She wrote in the Introduction to this 1959 book, "The Crusades represent one of the peaks of achievement of the medieval world, for they are an exploit unique in its kind, being neither migration nor colonization, but a movement of volunteers... For us today they are indeed an amazing spectacle, and one that leads us to conjecture about the men who took part in them. It is from this angle alone that we propose to look at the Crusades... and thus attempt a better understanding of the men who lived through them. What were their modes of life, their outlook, their customs, their mentality?... What was it that stirred them to action, to battle, to love?"

She notes that prior to the Crusades, "pilgrims were at the mercy of the whim of such a ruler as the sadistic Caliph Hakim. In 1009 he began without warning to persecute both Christians and Jews and to destroy all the churches and monasteries in Palestine, a savage act that aroused great feeling among the peoples of the West." (Pg. 25)

Of the First Crusade, she says, "Contrary to what one might have expected, these was little pillaging on the way. Indeed, there was remarkably little, considering the number of people moving along the roads and the difficulty or enforcing discipline among troops---especially those of the People's Crusade---whose recruitment and formation had been left somewhat to chance." (Pg. 63)

She admits, "The massacre that marked the taking of Jerusalem is a tale of blood and horror, and it would have been better for the honor of the Crusaders if it had never been told... It must be remembered, though, that these men had journeyed for three years in constant danger of their lives; that they had known hunger, thirst, and terrible suffering; and that many of them did not reach the end of the road. Their feelings had been exasperated beyond all bearing by the insults that the Muslims had flung at the Cross of Christ from the safety of their ramparts. Is it not surprising that victory was marked by such an outburst of fury; nevertheless the luster of the achievement has been irreparably dulled." (Pg. 81)

She also acknowledges, "While the People's Crusade was making its way through central Europe, certain things happened in Germany that popular opinion has confused with events marking the passage of Peter the Hermit's followers. These events showed the dark reverse of the crusading movement. They revealed leaders who were either priests of dubious character... or else brigands... Men like these gathered their followers for a Crusade, but before setting out they were responsible for a number of atrocities against the Jews." (Pg. 126)

She observes, "During the course of the thirteenth century ... the activity of the preachers increased in inverse proportion to the amount of enthusiasm for a Crusade. It is significant that the same age that fixed the status of a Crusader from a juridical point of view also turned the preaching of a Crusade into a sort of institution. In the same way, feudal customs were first put into writing at the time when they were beginning to decline. There was felt an instinctive need to protect them, but instead it changed them into an administrative shall---the very opposite of living custom. The thirteenth century was the time when the crusading movement lost its enthusiasm and became an institution." (Pg. 217-218)

This is a fascinating and informative perspective on the Crusades, which is an effective counterweight to the portrayals in many other books, as well as the popular media.

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keskiajan kronikoista koottu ristiretkien tarina vaikutti aluksi vaikealukuiselta, mutta kokonaisuus on taitavasti toimitettu ja luettavuus lopulta hyvä. Vanhanaikainen käännös särähtää välillä korvaan, eikä aihetta tarkemmin tunteva ihan aina pysy kärryillä tilannekuvauksessa, mutta mielenkiintoinen kirja silti.