Raoul de Caen, Radulfo Cadomensi Date of Birth About 1080 Place of Birth Caen, Normandy Date of Death Unknown; after 1118 Place of Death Unknown
Biography Ralph of Caen probably came from a prominent Norman family. He was likely educated at the cathedral school at Caen under the tutelage of Arnulf of Chocques, who was later to become patriarch of Jerusa- lem. It is not known whether he completed his studies and training for the priesthood before Arnulf’s departure for the Holy Land in 1096, but he was an ordained priest at least by 1106. That year, Bohe- mond of Taranto, prince of Antioch, toured France to recruit men for his new crusade. Ralph accompanied Bohemond as his chaplain and appears to have served Bohemond during his campaign against Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1107-8). In his work, Ralph emphasizes his close personal relationship with Bohemond, although it is possible this was a rhetorical device designed to give greater credence to his narrative. Some time before Bohemond’s death in 1111, Ralph of Caen left his service to join Bohemond’s nephew Tancred, who had succeeded him as prince of Antioch. Ralph seems to be deliberately vague regarding the circumstances surrounding this move. He remained with Tancred until the latter’s death in 1112. Throughout his narrative, Ralph high- lights his close association with both Bohemond and Tancred, and emphasizes that his information on the crusade came from them and their followers. Ralph began the Gesta Tancredi after Tancred’s death in 1112, seems to have had Arnulf of Chocques as a patron, and dedi- cated the work to him. Ralph probably completed the work shortly before Arnulf’s death in 1118. 376 ralph of caen MAIN SOURCES OF INFORMATION Primary B. Bachrach and D. Bachrach, The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen. A his- tory of the Normans on the First Crusade, Aldershot UK, 2005 (English trans. of the RHC Occ. text) Radulfo Cadomensi, Gesta Tandcredi in expeditione Hierosolymitana, RHC Occ. 3, pp. 587-716 Historia Belli Sacri, RHC Occ. 3, pp. 169-229, (the anonymous author follows Ralph’s work from pp. 215-29) Secondary Bachrach and Bachrach, The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen, pp. 1-17 J. Payen, ‘Une légende épique en gestation. Les Gesta Tancredi de Raoul de Caen’, in E. Baungartner et al. (eds), La chanson de geste et le mythe carolingien, Saint-Père-sous-Vézelay, 1982, pp. 1051-62
Works on Christian-Muslim Relations Gesta Tandcredi in expeditione Hierosolymitana, ‘The deeds of Tancred on the expedition to Jerusalem’ Date 1112-18 Original Language Latin Description Ralph of Caen began his work after the death of Tancred in 1112, writing in both verse and prose. In the RHC edition, the text takes up about 125 pages. In his preface, Ralph implies that he wrote only after the death of his lord so that he could not be accused of being bribed and told what to write. Ralph dedicated the work to Arnulf of Chocques, his former teacher and patriarch of Jerusalem. Through- out his work, he highlights the close personal relationship he had enjoyed with both Bohemond and Tancred, and stresses that he had obtained his information from these two men and also from their fol- lowers. While we cannot know how much information they actually provided for his narrative, Ralph certainly had ample opportunity to learn details of the First Crusade, both while he was in Europe and in the Holy Land; Bohemond’s tour of France in 1106 was accom- panied by the circulation of an early narrative of the First Crusade, the anonymous Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum, and