ABSTRACT
Chapter One situated Robert’s work as part of the wave of texts probably generated by Bohemond’s trip to Europe in 1106 and drawing to greater or lesser degree on the eyewitness account given by the Gesta Francorum, an anonymous text probably written by a follower of Bohemond. This chapter analyses the relationship between the two texts and argues that Robert, far from being a plagiariser, uses the GF with considerable subtlety and invention as a springboard for his own picture of the Crusade.
