James Naus
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780719090974
- eISBN:
- 9781526115041
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090974.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Chapter three focuses on Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis’ close relationship with the French royal court and his hitherto neglected concerned for a lack of crusading prestige. Virtually none of the vast ...
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Chapter three focuses on Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis’ close relationship with the French royal court and his hitherto neglected concerned for a lack of crusading prestige. Virtually none of the vast literature on the abbot has considered his attitude toward the early crusading movement, which, this chapter argues, is long overdue. In particular, this chapter focuses on Suger’s well-known biography of Louis VI, the Gesta Ludovici Grossi, a text that combined Carolingian notions of kingship with the newer crusade ideology to fashion a highly selective narrative of Louis’ reign that, at once, casts doubts on the value of many crusaders and their exploits while also asserting that the French king possessed such virtues. The text, in short, if rife with inconsistency, which has been a difficult point for scholars to reconcile. By setting the text within the context of the crusades, however, the contradictions begin to make more sense. Far from supporting an image of Suger as the quintessential ideologist and progenitor of French royalist propaganda, his attitude towards the crusade instead demonstrates the traditional and flexible way he worked to create a smooth, positive account of the Capetian dynasty as at time of major political and cultural transformation. This image was crucial in the evolution of the Capetian image and power structure, and reinforces the important connection that existed between French kings and the crusading movement, even in the years before they took the cross themselves.Less
Chapter three focuses on Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis’ close relationship with the French royal court and his hitherto neglected concerned for a lack of crusading prestige. Virtually none of the vast literature on the abbot has considered his attitude toward the early crusading movement, which, this chapter argues, is long overdue. In particular, this chapter focuses on Suger’s well-known biography of Louis VI, the Gesta Ludovici Grossi, a text that combined Carolingian notions of kingship with the newer crusade ideology to fashion a highly selective narrative of Louis’ reign that, at once, casts doubts on the value of many crusaders and their exploits while also asserting that the French king possessed such virtues. The text, in short, if rife with inconsistency, which has been a difficult point for scholars to reconcile. By setting the text within the context of the crusades, however, the contradictions begin to make more sense. Far from supporting an image of Suger as the quintessential ideologist and progenitor of French royalist propaganda, his attitude towards the crusade instead demonstrates the traditional and flexible way he worked to create a smooth, positive account of the Capetian dynasty as at time of major political and cultural transformation. This image was crucial in the evolution of the Capetian image and power structure, and reinforces the important connection that existed between French kings and the crusading movement, even in the years before they took the cross themselves.
James Naus
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780719090974
- eISBN:
- 9781526115041
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090974.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Scholars of medieval power structures, feudal relations, monarchy, and ritual performance have long recognized that the early twelfth century was ground zero in the cultural, social, and political ...
More
Scholars of medieval power structures, feudal relations, monarchy, and ritual performance have long recognized that the early twelfth century was ground zero in the cultural, social, and political transformation of France from a weak and fragmented kingdom to one centralized under the leadership of a purposeful ruler. This book considers the role played by the crusaders in the development of the French monarchy. While the First Crusade was launched in 1095 ,the first French monarch did not join the movement until 1146, when Louis VII led the ill-fated Second Crusade. The failure of the French kings to join the crusading movement created a ‘crisis of crusading’ that the French royal court confronted in a variety of media, including texts, artwork, architecture, and rituals. The book finds that in a short span of time, members of the court fused the emerging crusade ideas with ancient notions of sacral kingship and nobility to fashion new, highly selective and flexible images of French history that exploited the unknown future of crusading to negotiate a space into which the self-fashioning of French kingship could insinuate itself. By the middle of the twelfth century, these negotiated images were being widely disseminated to a popular audience through various channels, thus contributing to the rise of the ‘crusading king’ as an idea ruler-type from the early thirteenth century onwards.Less
Scholars of medieval power structures, feudal relations, monarchy, and ritual performance have long recognized that the early twelfth century was ground zero in the cultural, social, and political transformation of France from a weak and fragmented kingdom to one centralized under the leadership of a purposeful ruler. This book considers the role played by the crusaders in the development of the French monarchy. While the First Crusade was launched in 1095 ,the first French monarch did not join the movement until 1146, when Louis VII led the ill-fated Second Crusade. The failure of the French kings to join the crusading movement created a ‘crisis of crusading’ that the French royal court confronted in a variety of media, including texts, artwork, architecture, and rituals. The book finds that in a short span of time, members of the court fused the emerging crusade ideas with ancient notions of sacral kingship and nobility to fashion new, highly selective and flexible images of French history that exploited the unknown future of crusading to negotiate a space into which the self-fashioning of French kingship could insinuate itself. By the middle of the twelfth century, these negotiated images were being widely disseminated to a popular audience through various channels, thus contributing to the rise of the ‘crusading king’ as an idea ruler-type from the early thirteenth century onwards.
