1009: Adémar of Chabannes on the Destruction of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Abstract

The article analyses an account by the French chronicler Adémar of Chabannes which provides an explanation for the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1009. According to the chronicler, this destruction was instigated by Jews and Muslims from al-Andalus. The article compares his account with the reports of other Christian authors from Latin Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean and contextualises it as part of the medieval history of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the early eleventh century, this building was significantly affected by the anti-Christian religious policies of the Fāṭimid caliph al-Ḥākim. Adémar’s narrative appears to imply that he possessed basic information about the caliph’s reign.