Tafurs

Last updated

The Tafurs were a group of Christian participants of the First Crusade. Zealots following strict oaths of poverty, they are said to have committed acts of cannibalism during the siege of Antioch or the siege of Ma'arra.

Contents

Background

The Tafurs took their name from a horseless Norman knight, who assumed the organization and armed leadership of peasants gathered by the preaching and spiritual leadership of Peter the Hermit, and so became known as "King Tafur". [1] "Tafur" appears to mean just "beggar" or "vagrant". [2] "King Tafur" took harsh vows of poverty, relinquished his weapons and armour and donned a sack-cloth and a scythe, urging his followers to do the same. [1]

The Tafurs typically wore no shoes and little clothing. They barely lived off roots or herbs, frequently exhibited sores and bruises throughout their bodies, and were kept separated from the rest of the Crusaders. They wielded clubs, knives, hatchets, etc., but were not allowed to have money or sophisticated weapons, in contrast to the other Christian fighters. [1] But according to their rules, they could keep anything gained through plunder. Indeed, they regarded such spoils as validation of God's favour for their poverty. Hence, their search for spoils was described as rapacious and ruthless. [2]

Alleged cannibalism

After the Crusade, the Tafurs became infamous for their disregard for danger and their reported acts of cannibalism: some sources say that they showed little hesitation in consuming the bodies of fallen enemies, as starvation befell the crusader army in Antioch. [1] In result, the Muslims are said to have significantly dreaded them, much more so than the rest of the crusaders. When the governor of Antioch appealed to the Crusaders' princes to restrain the Tafurs, the princes had to admit to having little sway over them. [1] [2] Most of the barons (with the notable exception of Bohemond of Taranto) seem to have held the Tafurs in contempt and never mention them in "official" accounts sent back to Europe. [1] They are, however, featured in chronicles written from a lower social standpoint, such as Dei gesta per Francos , and in popular epics such as the Chanson d'Antioche . [1] [2] [3]

However, while the cannibalism at the siege of Ma'arra is well-documented, the evidence for Antioch is less clear, and none of the earliest chronicles written about the Crusade hold the Tafurs responsible. They are first identified as possible culprits in the Dei gesta per Francos, a rewrite of the earlier chronicle Gesta Francorum , which did not mention them in this context. As the ardent fanatics later widely described, they appeared for the first time in the Chanson d'Antioche, composed about 80 years after the events. [4]

After analysing the many available sources, Historian Jay Rubenstein concluded that the idea that the Tafurs (who were actually unarmed helpers and hardly particularly fearsome) were specifically responsible for the cannibal acts is nothing but a myth, spread by some later chroniclers and authors out of a desire "to blame the poor for the cannibalism", thus deflecting the responsibility from the rest of the crusaders. [5] He called it "indeed remarkable that historians have continued to embrace his rather cynical solution", adding that "the Tafurs survived in the historical imagination only because they made such convenient scapegoats". [6]

The Tafurs accompanied the other crusaders to Jerusalem and participated in the siege of the city in 1099.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1098</span> Calendar year

Year 1098 (MXCVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Crusade</span> 1096–1099 Christian conquest of the Holy Land

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule. While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Albert of Aix(-la-Chapelle) or Albert of Aachen; Latin: Albericus Aquensis; fl. c. 1100) was a historian of the First Crusade and the early Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was born during the later part of the 11th century, and afterwards became canon (priest) and custos (guardian) of the church of Aachen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh, Count of Vermandois</span> French noble (1057–1101)

Hugh, called the Great was the first count of Vermandois from the House of Capet. He is known primarily for being one of the leaders of the First Crusade. His nickname Magnus is probably a bad translation into medieval Latin of an Old French nickname, le Maisné, meaning "the younger", referring to Hugh as younger brother of King Philip I of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Jerusalem (1099)</span> Christian conquest of the First Crusade

The Siege of Jerusalem marked the successful end of the First Crusade, whose objective was the recovery of the city of Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre from Islamic control. The five-week siege began on 7 June 1099 and was carried out by the Christian forces of Western Europe mobilized by Pope Urban II after the Council of Clermont in 1095. The city had been out of Christian control since the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 637 and had been held for a century first by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Egyptian Fatimids. One of the root causes of the Crusades was the hindering of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land which began in the 4th century. A number of eyewitness accounts of the battle were recorded, including in the anonymous chronicle Gesta Francorum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Antioch</span> 1097–98 invasion of Seljuk-held Antioch during the First Crusade

The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Seljuk Empire, lasted from 20 October 1097 to 3 June 1098. The second siege, of the crusader-held city by a Seljuk relieving army, lasted three weeks in June 1098, leading to the Battle of Antioch in which the crusaders defeated the relieving army led by Kerbogha. The crusaders then established the Principality of Antioch, ruled by Bohemond of Taranto.

<i>Chanson dAntioche</i>

The Chanson d'Antioche is a chanson de geste in 9000 lines of Alexandrin in stanzas called laisses, now known in a version composed about 1180 for a courtly French audience and embedded in a quasi-historical cycle of epic poems inspired by the events of 1097–99, the climax of the First Crusade: the conquest of Antioch and of Jerusalem and the origins of the Crusader states. The Chanson was later reworked and incorporated in an extended Crusade cycle, of the 14th century, which was far more fabulous and embroidered, more distinctly romance than epic.

The Gesta Francorum, or Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum, is a Latin chronicle of the First Crusade by an anonymous author connected with Bohemond of Taranto.

Dei gesta per Francos is a narrative of the First Crusade by Guibert of Nogent written between 1107 and 1108. Traditionally it has not been well received by scholars, but recent translators and editors have shown it to contain important original material. Dei gesta was a radical departure for the type of literary work for Guibert who had previously worked on theological tracts. He decided to undertake a history of the crusade, he says, after he read an anonymous eyewitness account called Gesta Francorum. In the eyes of Guibert this work was rough and simple and "frequently left the reader stunned with its insipid vacuity". Guibert felt a much higher standard of grammar and diction was needed. He also inserted anti-Jewish rhetoric into the account of the First Crusade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maarat al-Numan</span> City in northwestern Syria

Maarat al-Numan, also known as al-Ma'arra, is a city in northwestern Syria, 33 km (21 mi) south of Idlib and 57 km (35 mi) north of Hama, with a population of about 58,008 before the Civil War. In 2017, it was estimated to have a population of 80,000, including several displaced by fighting in neighbouring towns. It is located on the highway between Aleppo and Hama and near the Dead Cities of Bara and Serjilla.

The Crusade cycle is an Old French literary cycle of chansons de geste concerning the First Crusade and its aftermath.

Peter Tudebode was a Poitevin priest who was part of the First Crusade as part of the army of Raymond of Saint-Gilles. He wrote an account of the crusade, Historia de Hierosolymitano itinere, including an eye-witness account of the siege of Antioch of 1097–1098. The work is included in Patrologia Latina, Volume 155, pp. 758–823. The work appears in Recueil des historiens des croisades (RHC), with a translation and Præfatio by French historian Jean Besly (1572–1644).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Ma'arra</span> Battle of the First Crusade

The siege of Ma'arra occurred in late 1098 in the city of Ma'arrat Nu'man, in what is modern-day Syria, during the First Crusade. It is infamous for the claims of widespread cannibalism committed by the Crusaders.

William the Carpenter, viscount of Melun, was a French nobleman who participated in the Reconquista in Spain and on the First Crusade. He was notorious for defecting from the army both in Spain and on the crusade, but he was also known for his strength in battle, whence he earned his nickname "the Carpenter." He returned to the Holy Land after the crusade, and nothing further is known of his life or death.

Gouffier of Lastours was a knight from Lastours in the Limousin in France, who participated in the First Crusade. He was lord of the Château de Lastours, near Nexon, Haute-Vienne.

The Historia belli sacri, also called the Historia de via Hierosolymis or Historia peregrinorum, is a chronicle of the First Crusade and the early years of the Crusader states written by an anonymous monk of the Abbey of Montecassino. It covers the years 1095–1131 and must have been mostly compiled around 1130. It is sometimes called the "Monte Cassino Chronicle" for simplicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March from Antioch to Jerusalem during the First Crusade</span>

The First Crusade march down the Mediterranean coast, from recently taken Antioch to Jerusalem, started on 13 January 1099. During the march the Crusaders encountered little resistance, as local rulers preferred to make peace with them and furnish them with supplies rather than fight, with a notable exception of the aborted siege of Arqa. On 7 June, the Crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuks by the Fatimids only the year before.

Raymond Pilet (1075–1120), the only child of Bernard I Pilet of Narbonne and his wife, whose name is unknown. Seigneur of Alès. Bernard was the son of Raymond II, Viscount of Narbone from 1066 to 1067. The name “pilet” refers to a fur that the nobility wore over their cuirass and coats-of-arms. Raymond distinguished himself as a combatant during the First Crusade.

Baldwinand Arnold(Ernoul) of Beauvais were brothers who participated in the First Crusade, although it is uncertain which army they were associated with. Their stories are recorded in the Chanson d'Antioche.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Lake of Antioch</span>

The Battle of the Lake of Antioch took place on 9 February 1098 during the First Crusade. As the Crusaders were besieging Antioch, word reached the Crusader camp that a large relief force led by Radwan, the Seljuq ruler of Aleppo, was on the way. Bohemond of Taranto gathered all remaining horses and marched in the night to ambush the Muslim army. After several successful cavalry charges, the Crusader knights routed the numerically superior Muslim army, forcing Radwan to retreat back to Aleppo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Payne, Robert (1984). The Dream and the Tomb: A History of the Crusades. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-0-8128-2945-7 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cohn, Norman (1970). The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-987840-6 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Kostick, Conor (2008). The Social Structure of the First Crusade. Brill. ISBN   978-90-04-16665-3 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Rubenstein, Jay (2008). "Cannibals and Crusaders". French Historical Studies. 31 (4): 539–541. doi:10.1215/00161071-2008-005.
  5. ↑ Rubenstein 2008, p. 530.
  6. ↑ Rubenstein 2008, p. 551.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.