Fulcher of Chartres
Fulcher of Chartres (born around
1059 in or near
Chartres) was a chronicler of the
First Crusade.
His appointment as chaplain of
Baldwin of Boulogne in
1097 suggests that he had been trained as a priest, most likely at the school in Chartres. However, he was probably not a member of the cathedral chapter, since he is not named in the listing of the
Dignitaries of the Church of Our Lady of Chartres.
The details of the
Council of Clermont in his history suggest he attended the council personally, or knew someone who did, perhaps
bishop Ivo of Chartres, who also influenced Fulcher's opinions on
Church reform and the
investiture controversy with the
Holy Roman Empire.
Fulcher was part of the entourage of Count
Stephen of Blois and
Robert of Normandy which made its way through southern
France and
Italy in
1096, crossing into the
Byzantine Empire from
Bari and arrived in
Constantinople in
1097, where they joined with the other armies of the
First Crusade. He travelled through
Asia Minor to
Marash, shortly before the army's arrival at
Antioch in 1097, where he was appointed chaplain to Baldwin of Boulogne. He followed his new lord after Baldwin split off from the main army, to
Edessa where Baldwin founded the
county of Edessa.
After the
conquest of Jerusalem in
1099 Fulcher and Baldwin travelled to the city to complete their vow of pilgrimage. When Baldwin became
king of Jerusalem in
1100, Fulcher came with him to
Jerusalem and probably continued to act as his chaplain until
1115. After 1115 he was the
canon of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre and was probably responsible for the
relics and treasures in the church. Fulcher died most likely in the spring of
1127.
At the earliest, Fulcher began his chronicle in the late autumn of 1100, or at the latest in the spring of
1101, in a version that has not survived but which was transmitted to
Europe during his lifetime. This version was completed around
1106 and was used as a source by
Guibert of Nogent, a contemporary of Fulcher in Europe.
He began his work at the urging of his travelling companions, who probably included Baldwin I. He had at least one library in Jerusalem at his disposal, from which he had access to letters and other documents of the crusade. In this library the
Historia Francorum of
Raymond of Aguilers and the
Gesta Francorum must also have been available, which served as sources for much of the specific information in Fulcher's work that he did not personally witness.
Fulcher divided his chronicle into three books. Book I described the preparations for the First Crusade in Clermont in 1095 up to the conquest of Jerusalem and the establishment of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem by
Godfrey of Bouillon. It included an enthusiastic description of
Constantinople. The second book described the deeds of Baldwin I, who succeeded Godfrey and was
king of Jerusalem from 1100 to
1118. The third and final book reported on the life of king
Baldwin II, until 1127 when there was a
plague in Jerusalem, during which Fulcher apparently died. The second and third books were written from around 1109 to 1115, and from 1118 to 1127, compiled into a second edition by Fulcher himself.
Fulcher's work was used by many other chroniclers who lived after him.
William of Tyre and
William of Malmesbury used part of the chronicle as a source. His chronicle is generally accurate, though not entirely so. It was published in the
Recueil des historiens des croisades and the
Patrologia Latina, and a critical edition of the Latin version was published by Heinrich Hagenmeyer in 1913.
*Fulcher of Chartres,
A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, 1095-1127, trans. Francis Rita Ryan, ed. Harold S. Fink, 1969.
Fulcheri Carnotensis Historia Hierosolymitana (1095-1127), ed Heinrich Hagenmeyer, Heidelberg, 1913.
