ABSTRACT
Robert brings three different but linked perspectives to his history: those of the theologian, the historiographer and the literary craftsman. This chapter examines the three approaches in turn. It concludes that his work reflects a stage in a conscious effort to develop a theology and ideology of the Crusade alongside that of other authors; that he wrote as a serious historiographer and that accusations to the contrary are unfair; and that he possesses storytelling skills of a high order which probably account for his overwhelming popularity throughout the medieval era.
