Eyewitnessing in Accounts of the First Crusade: the Gesta Francorum and Other Contemporary Narratives 1

Historians have been arguing for generations about the reliability of the accounts of the First Crusade. Up till now, most of these arguments focused on examining whether the authors of these accounts were eyewitnesses to the crusade, and what alternative sources of information they relied upon. Susan Edgington has concluded her recent article on Albert of Aachen's Historia by suggesting what she defines as "a new set of questions" for historians. Edgington argues that aside from examining the authors' sources of information, historians should devote more attention to understanding the authors' literary purposes. ²