1098: The Anonymous Crusading Account of the Gesta Francorum Describes the Muslim Mother of Kürbuġa as Counsellor, Scholar, and Prophetess

Abstract

The article deals with a fictitious conversation in the Gesta Francorum, which is remarkable in the context of the work because of its language and content. The anonymous chronicler has a mother address words of warning to her son, the Seljuk commander Kürbuġa: he is said to be threatened with a crushing defeat by the crusaders, who are under the protection of God. Although the passage is of little value for historians wishing to reconstruct the events of the crusade, its analysis reveals a Christian historiographer describing the Muslim 'enemy' from an external perspective, but in a rather differentiated manner. In the dialogue with the 'unbelieving' Kürbuġa, the ruler's mother is presented as a wise counsellor who is credited with prophetic and astrological knowledge of the future as well as with an understanding of Christian biblical exegesis.