ABSTRACT
John of Garland’s De triumphis Ecclesiae is a lengthy Latin epic in verse, containing detailed contemporary coverage of the Albigensian and Seventh Crusades and their aftermaths, and of the Mongol invasions of 1241.1 The Third Crusade is included as an underlying cause of current Christian disunity. There is no reference to the Fourth, and fleeting mention only of the First, Fifth and Barons’ Crusades. The finalization of the text can be reliably dated to 1252. John’s planned literary testament, this was arguably the last medieval Latin epic, and in the event a hastilyassembled apologia for the failed Seventh Crusade, urging a probable audience of academics to new efforts of crusading zeal. Modern scholars have largely ignored it for eighty years, with the notable exception of the late Professor Dr. Paul Gerhard
1 All references are to page and line numbers from: Johannes de Garlandia, De triumphis ecclesiae libri octo, a Latin poem of the thirteenth century from the unique manuscript in the British Museum, ed. Joseph Wright (London, 1856) [hereafter cited as DTE], also available on-line at https://www.archive. org/details/johannisdegarlan00johnuoft.
