Between Text and Reality
The usages of Jerusalem in the Carmina Burana and their connection to perceptions upon contemporary practices
Virginia Brendel 10399666 30-06-2017 Thesis Research Master History Guy Geltner Table of contents
List of abbreviations 1
Introduction 2 Historiography 3 The Carmina Burana 8 Method and Structure 11
1. Jerusalem in crusading poems 13 On those who have been signed with the cross 16 Saladin's reconquest of Jerusalem 19 Connections between the heavenly and the earthly city 24
2. Textual metaphors? 30 Babylon 30 Zion 33 The End of Time 36 Other references to Jerusalem 41
3. Living closer to God 43 Crusades 44 Church reform 48 Development of cities, urbanization 51 Apocalypse 55
Conclusion 58
Bibliography 62 Sources 62 Secondary works 63 List of abbreviations
CB FKB Carmina Burana, Latin translation by Carl Fischer, Middle High German translation by Hugo Kuhn and critical notes by Günter Bernt (Zürich and Munich 1974). CBM Carmina Burana, translated by Tariq Marshall, critical edition, 3rd edition (Los Angeles 2013). CBV Carmina Burana, translated by Benedikt Konrad Vollmann, critical edition (Frankfurt am Main 1987). KJ21 21st Century King James Version of the Bible.
1 Introduction
The Carmina Burana is one of the most extraordinary manuscripts from the Middle Ages. This thirteenth-century codex contains a collection of over two-hundred songs, ranging from subjects like love and money to corruption within the Church and crusading. As Peter Godman points out, a lot of research has already been done on this codex.1 However, many aspects still remain untouched, one of which is the ways in which Jerusalem is being imagined within the Carmina Burana: How was it described? In which ways was the place being invoked? This is particularly interesting because Jerusalem has such an important place within Christianity. It is the city where several important moments in the life of Christ took place, amongst which the Last Supper, his crucifixion and his resurrection. Every year a stream of pilgrims would come to see his grave, and it still continues to this day. However, most people never undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and one can therefore wonder how important Jerusalem was outside the Church. The destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009 by al-Hākim was only noted by two contemporary chroniclers, Rofuldus Glaber and Ademar of Chabannes.2 However, ninety years later a large group of armored pilgrims conquered the city, freeing it from the hands of the Saracens, marking the end of what would later be called the First Crusade. Jerusalem, it seems, had undergone a change in the way it was perceived. In fact, Jerusalem never even had a set definition as it could mean more than just the city. For example, it could stand for the Church and the human soul.3 As Suzanne Yeager notes, Jerusalem was 'like a palimpsest ready for inscription'.4 Every individual author could therefore mold it for his own uses. The meaning derived through this sculpting may in turn tell us something about the author and how he understood his world. This leads to the central question of this thesis: What can the different usages of Jerusalem in the Carmina Burana tell us about the ways contemporaries perceived their world? The Carmina Burana contains a whole range of songs with direct or indirect references to the Holy City. The fact that these songs are not liturgical, come from different
1 Peter Godman, 'Rethinking the Carmina Burana (I): The Medieval Context and Modern Reception of the Codex Buranus', Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 45:2 (2015) 245-266. 2 John France, 'The Destruction of Jerusalem and the First Crusade', Journal of Ecclesiastical History 47:1 (1996) 1-17, there 3. 3 Bianca Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem. Representations of the Holy City in Christian Art of the First Millennium (Freiburg 1987) 72. 4 Suzanne Yeager, Jerusalem in Medieval Narrative (Cambridge 2008) 1.
2 places within Western Europe and have been composed for different purposes during the eleventh until the beginning of the thirteenth century, makes them very suitable for gaining some new insights on the diverse usages of Jerusalem within texts. Songs, like other medieval texts, offer us a glimpse into the medieval world. They tell us about love, drinking, gambling, but also about celebrations or sad events. Not only can it give us a better understanding of social practices, but also how at least the author thought about it. The poems in the Carmina Burana too tell us something about the contemporary world. Therefore, rather than only focusing on how Jerusalem figures within these texts, I will explore what these poems are about and how Jerusalem then is featured to convey a message not necessarily centered on the Holy City. In what ways was Jerusalem mentioned and why? What can it tell us about the importance of the real city and how do contemporary events have influence on the diverse usage of Jerusalem as a topos? I will also look at different approaches amongst historians towards the significance of the city and touch upon the discussions about the crusades and the Apocalypse.
Historiography
If we take a look at the research that has already been done on the ways Jerusalem was imagined in Western Europe throughout the Middle Ages by for example the clergy and pilgrims, we can distinguish a few notable things. First, most attention for this subject seems to come from art historians. For instance, Bianca Kühnel's From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem sets out to give an overview of the representations of Jerusalem within Christian art.5 Here she looks mainly at the distinction between Jerusalem as an earthly city and as a heavenly one, which St. Augustine introduced in De Civitate Dei. The former is the city which we can all visit and where the Biblical events have taken place. The latter symbolizes the perfect city made by God which will descend from heaven at the End of Time.6 According to Kühnel these two cities were so important that contemporary Jerusalem was almost completely ignored by the church fathers.7 Even within the Carmina Burana the Biblical and exegetical city take precedence over the contemporary one. There also seems to be less emphasis on the architectural aspects of the city, than in the art Kühnel has observed.
5 Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem. 6 Ibidem, 55-59. 7 Ibidem, 78.
3 Of the more recent studies a significant part still focuses on the visual aspects of the imagined Jerusalem, as two edited volumes published in 2012 show: Jerusalem as Narrative Space. Erzählraum Jerusalem and Imagining Jerusalem in the Medieval West.8 While the former also has a few articles about Jerusalem within text, the latter solely concerns visual sources. By focusing on textual sources my thesis will thus form a contribution to the research on the imagined Jerusalem. One article in these volumes by Kühnel is worth noting. Here she recalls the fact that there were several places in Europe where representations of Jerusalem have been built. These places would have the function of 'bridges to the loca sancta' of Jerusalem.9 People could visit Jerusalem in their minds without physically going there by visiting one of these places. Jerusalem could therefore also be experienced elsewhere. The development of spiritual pilgrimages to replicas of Jerusalem or the Holy Sepulchre is also mentioned by Guy Stroumsa. He connects this with other phenomena: the Crusades and the advent of Passion Plays.10 In his view the Crusades had spurred a renewed interest in the earthly city which led to an increased construction of churches made to resemble the Holy Sepulchre. These churches could become spiritual replacements for the real one in Jerusalem. According to Strousma this development together with the fact that Passion Plays began to be enacted in churches throughout Western Europe, led to an increase in spiritual pilgrimage. Believers could see and imagine the Passion of Christ even when they were not in Jerusalem. Especially after the Fall of Jerusalem in 1187 this caused the earthly Jerusalem to become less important, while the image of the heavenly one would become prominent, says Stroumsa.11 Jerusalem, in a manner of speaking, could be everywhere. Even a monastery could be seen as a 'Jerusalem in anticipation', as Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) said of his abbey.12 Cities also could be imagined as being Jerusalem, like in the cases of Rome, Aachen, Paris, Orléans, Pepuza and Tymion.13 London too has been described by William Fitz Stephen in ways which remind us of heavenly Jerusalem.14 This significant shift
8 Annette Hoffmann and Gerhard Wolf ed., Jerusalem as Narrative Space. Erzählraum Jerusalem (Leiden 2012); Lucy Donkin and Hanna Vorholt ed., Imagining Jerusalem in the Medieval West (New York 2012). 9 Bianca Kühnel, 'Jerusalem between Narrative and Iconic' in: Annette Hoffmann and Gerhard Wolf ed., Jerusalem as Narrative Space. Erzählraum Jerusalem (Leiden 2012) 105-123, there 122. 10 Guy Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems' in: Lee Levine ed., Jerusalem. It's Sanctity and Centrality to Judaism, Christianity and Islam (New York 1999) 349-370. 11 Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 351, 352, 357 and 364. 12 Ibidem, 361; Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 135. 13 Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 352-353; Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 116-118; Alexei Lidov, 'A Byzantine Jerusalem' in: Annette Hoffmann and Gerhard Wolf, Jerusalem as Narrative Space. Erzählraum Jerusalem (Leiden 2012) 63-103, there 82. 14 Britt Rothauser, '”A reuer … brighter ƥen bo ƥ e the sunne and mone”: The Use of Water in the Medieval Considereation of Urban Space' in: Albrecht Classen ed., Urban Space in the Middle Ages and the Early
4 can perhaps also be traced in the Carmina Burana where one song, CB 52, may provide a connection between Solignac, its monastery and Jerusalem. If so, perhaps even a small village could be a place where one could experience the heavenly city. Even though the Crusades have been mentioned by Stroumsa, the impact of these events on the image of Jerusalem was far greater. Not only did it result in the building of replicas, but, as Colin Morris argues, it also led to an increase in pilgrims to the Holy Land and to a heightened interest in the city.15 This also meant that the goal of these pilgrimages, the Holy Sepulchre, would become a symbol for the whole of Jerusalem.16 Things that happened within the Holy Land would lead to greater reactions from the West. This too can be seen in the Carmina Burana, for instance, in the case of the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin. As my thesis will show, the event evoked different reactions in three poems. In CB 47 the listener is spurred to go and fight for Jerusalem, to regain the earthly city from those infidels. Only in CB 50, however, is Saladin explicitly mentioned. Here the author does not want the people to win it back with weapons. The fact that Saladin won was because God had let him. The cause was the bad behavior of the Christians, who have sinned too much to deserve this city. Instead of fighting, the listener is urged to do penance and to reconcile with God. Apocalyptic elements have also played a part in the image formation of Jerusalem and the Crusades. Amongst historians there has been some discussion about the importance of apocalyptic thoughts during the eleventh century and the extent to which people, the clergy as well as laity, all over Western Europe thought that the End of Time was drawing near and what they did in recognition thereof. While at first Carl Erdmann suggested that Jerusalem was only a secondary aspect of Urban's appeal for the First Crusade, other historians like Hans Eberhard Mayer, Jonathan Riley Smith and Marcus Bull have argued that nevertheless Jerusalem was constantly on everyones mind.17 However, John France argues that the silence surrounding the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre shows that contemporaries were more concerned with their own local community.18 Bernard McGinn also points out that the First Crusade might not have been the result of apocalypticism even though it might have played a role amongst the motives of the crusaders. As McGinn underscores, 'After all, Jerusalem was
Modern Age (Berlin 2009) 245-272, there 245-257. 15 Colin Morris, The Sepulchre of Christ and the Medieval West. From the Beginning to 1600 (Oxford 2005) 180-184 and 201. 16 Morris, The Sepulchre of Christ, 182; Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 351. 17 France, 'The Destruction of Jerusalem and the First Crusade', 2. 18 Ibidem, 13.
5 the apocalyptic city par excellence'.19 Even though it might not have been the motive behind the movement, according to McGinn the First Crusade 'was a notable stimulus to the revival of apocalyptic themes'.20 Changes in the political situation of the city thereafter could lead to suggestions of the coming of the End, an idea which can be seen in CB 47 where the Fall of Jerusalem is compared to a second crucifixion of Christ. The studies mentioned so far share common ground with my own research. However, none of them are purely based on secular texts, which is the focus of this thesis. Two earlier studies have examined the image of Jerusalem through secular texts. The first case is a book by Alexandre Winkler in which he looks at crusade literature and how the meaning of Jerusalem changes throughout it.21 However, even though he remarks that Jerusalem can have different meanings, he mainly focuses on the role the city played as a crusading stronghold within the literature. His study is thus a linguistic one with almost no connection to historical events. This thesis will fill this gap by providing both a literary analysis of the texts and making a link between the texts and social reality. Another problem of Winkler's study is that he focuses solely on literature about the crusades directed to Jerusalem, thus ignoring military expeditions to other places like the Baltic region that could also be called crusades. Especially if we take into account the remark by Norman Housley that these expeditions, even though they were not directed to the earthly Jerusalem, still had heavenly city as a goal, as the participants would gain entrance to it.22 However, for Winkler the city remains a physical, earthly one embedded within a text from which he does not depart. Another study is one by the briefly mentioned Yeager.23 Despite the fact that her focus has been on the fourteenth century whereas mine will be on the eleventh to early thirteenth century, her book is a real inspiration since the way she has approached her research is close to my own design. Like Winkler's, her book is completely focused on Jerusalem within narrative, like the Middle English romans The Siege of Jerusalem; Richard, Coer de Lyon; and The Book of Sir John Mandeville. However, whereas Winkler stayed within the text, Yeager also steps outside them to take a look at the social reality. Hence, she answers not only to the question of how Jerusalem was portrayed, but also how this in turn can be related to 19 Bernard McGinn, Visions of the End. Apocalyptic Traditions of the Middle Ages (New York 1979) 88. 20 McGinn, Visions of the End, 89. 21 Alexandre Winkler, Le tropisme de Jérusalem dans la prose et la poésie (XIIe – XIVe siècle). Essai sur la littérature des croisades (Paris 2006). 22 Norman Housley, 'Crusades against Christians: Their origins and early development, c. 1000-1216' in: P.W. Edbury ed., Crusade and Settlement: Papers read at the first conference of the SSCLE (Cardiff, 1985) 17-36, there 20. 23 Yeager, Jerusalem in Medieval Narrative.
6 external realities. It leads to her conclusion that ongoing wars between France and England found their reflection in portrayals of the English king as the true heir of Jerusalem. The reason for the loss of Jerusalem was accorded to the French king, whose behavior was so wicked that God had decided it was better for the city to fall into the hands of the Saracens. According to Yeager, Jerusalem here plays the role of separating good from evil. Through it the English people were marked as a chosen group, thus creating a form of proto-national sentiment.24 Even though these kinds of references are absent in the Carmina Burana, I am certain that social reality has had an impact in how the songs were written and the subjects that were chosen. The few songs that I have mentioned so far promise as much since they are most likely a reaction to what has happened within the Holy Land. In this thesis social reality is used to refer to the interaction between historical events like the crusades and how people thought about it. Another interesting research has been done by Philippe Buc who states that attitudes towards Jerusalem and thoughts about the End of Time had a deep impact on the way violence was used and interpreted. He shows how conflicts like the American Civil War (1861-1865) and even the Iraq War (2003-2011) cannot be fully understood if one leaves Christian exegesis out of the picture. More than that, he even states that medieval Christian thought has influenced later violence.25 According to Buc the End of Time plays an important part in this, as its coming was signaled by 'Events' which were 'way stations toward the apocalyptic war to end all wars'.26 Important events like the First Crusade could be seen as apocalyptic moments by contemporaries. According to Buc the thought of war to end war that rises from this, can be found throughout modern history and is a thought that can be traced back to medieval exegesis. Jerusalem played a role in this violence. Not only the actual earthly city where the Last Judgment would take place, but also the cities that were imagined as Jerusalem, states Buc. 'Precisely because cities were Jerusalems, one fought hard, and one executed justice harshly, to make them pure.'27 Some poems from the Carmina Burana too, contain clear connection between Jerusalem and violence, especially the crusading poems, but also some poems regarding the state of the Church like CB 34. However, even when violence is not mentioned, there is some
24 Ibidem, 164-166 and 171. 25 Philippe Buc, Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror. Christianity, Violence, and the West (Philadelphia 2015) vii, 40-44, 54 and 63. 26 Buc, Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror, 279. 27 Ibidem, 292.
7 urgency present to change the way things were going. The Church should be like Jerusalem and therefore it should be pure, which in fact it was not according to the authors. Even though there is not always an urge for violence, we can see some sort of link to Buc's statement on imagined Jerusalems mentioned above. It seems surprising to me that although Jerusalem had an important role in the End of Time, Buc does not really dive into this aspect. Something I will take a closer look at in the third chapter.
The Carmina Burana
The Carmina Burana is a manuscript containing, as the name suggests, a collection of poems, songs and a few short plays. Even though the manuscript itself has not been mentioned in any kind of medieval document – which makes its dating more difficult – researchers have been able to date its composition to the first half of the thirteenth century, around 1230, based on codicological evidence.28 The songs within the manuscript originate from the eleventh to the early thirteenth century, with a majority from the twelfth century. Despite the fact that the codex does not seem to have been well-known during the Middle Ages, the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of the Holy Roman Empire was a first step toward making the manuscript known to a wider public. Due to the German secularization, during which the possessions of ecclesiastical estates were inventoried, the codex was found in 1803 in the abbey of Benediktbeuern, after which it was brought to the court library in Munich, nowadays the Bavarian State Library. When Carl Orff stumbled upon a Latin edition of the Carmina Burana and decided to set a few of the songs to music, the stage was set for accessing a wide audience.29 Despite the fact that some songs are well-known today, the origins, goals, audience and composition of the manuscript itself are still shrouded in mystery. Even though researchers agree that it was not written at the abbey of Benediktbeuern, the question of where it was composed and for what purpose is still heavily debated, with the discussion focusing on two places in particular both in Austria: Seckau and Neustift in Tirol .30 In a recent article, Godman states that the manuscript has been written in Neustift.31 However, he barely mentions the discussion, nor does he explain his choice for Neustift. Instead, he sets out to
28 CBV, 900. 29 Ibidem, 904-905. 30 Ibidem, 900. 31 Godman, 'Rethinking the Carmina Burana (I)', 246.
8 give a picture of the conditions there which led to the production of the Carmina Burana. Although part of his analysis is not specific to Neustift, his argumentation still remains of interest as it opens up to new ideas about why the codex was produced.32 He rejects the earlier thesis that the manuscript was commissioned by a rich lord, and instead puts forward the possibility that it was intended for the monks themselves.33 This would mean that the monks did not take their religious vows very seriously as most of the texts, according to Godman, do not fit 'into the pattern of piety laid down by the Rule' of St. Augustine.34 It also shows us that poems could travel over long distances from France to the southern border of the German- speaking parts of Europe. Even a song such as CB 47, which has probably been composed near Limoges, found its way into the Carmina Burana. This does not mean that traveling groups of musicians brought these songs to the abbey where the monks heard them and wrote them down. A close inspection of the manuscript reveals that the codex has been formed by the copying of other song collections. Benedikt Konrad Vollmann backs this by referring to the fact that one of the songs has been written down twice as CB 85 and CB 159.35 Even though the Carmina Burana is a unique collection of songs which can tell us much about medieval culture, according to Albrecht Classen most of the songs have remained unstudied so far.36 The number of complete translations and critical editions of the whole manuscript too are few. The first of the critical editions of the complete Carmina Burana was published in 1930 under the editorship of Alfons Hilka and Otto Schumann.37 This edition did not yet contain a translation of the, mostly, Latin songs. However, corrections had been made to the original text and gaps had been filled, thus presenting a collection of songs as they might have been written by their composers. Even though Hilka and Schumann have noted the differences between their amended text and the Carmina Burana, the later edition by Vollmann is more practical for my thesis.38 This diplomatic edition shows only the text as it is written within the Carmina Burana with a few minor corrections of missing letters. By setting it beside the edition of Hilka and Schumann one may discover significant changes over time, including the way Jerusalem is described.
32 Ibidem, 249-254. 33 Ibidem, 249 en 252. 34 Ibidem, 248. 35 CBV, 902. 36 Albrecht Classen, 'The Carmina Burana: A Mirror of Latin and Vernacular Literary Traditions from a Cultural-Historical Perspective: Transgression is the Name of the Game', Neophilologus 94 (2010) 477-497, there 478. 37 Carmina Burana, critical edition by Alfons Hilka and Otto Schumann (Heidelberg 1930). 38 CBV.
9 Since the first critical edition by Hilka and Schumann many paleographers have studied the different hands at work in the codex, as well as its illuminations and ornaments. The musical aspects have also been examined as all the songs have been written with a certain rhythm conforming to certain types of songs. Some of them also have neumes written for musical accompaniment.39 Even though this is intriguing, as it tells us something about how music was composed, the rhythm and tones themselves do not tell us much about how these composers perceived their world. The number of studies about the content of the songs has, however, been surprisingly small. It is notable that Winkler, whose book is about crusade literature, never even mentions the Carmina Burana even though it contains no less than eight songs concerning the crusades to Jerusalem.40 This absence together with the general lack of much historical research on these songs, may be explained partly by the fact that scholars have often called these songs vagabond songs.41 For this reason the songs within the manuscript are associated with wandering folk who go from place to place to make a living by performing music with subjects like love, drinking and gambling. This reputation, however false it might be, has found its way into the songs and themes which have been studied, leading to the fact that 'drinking, gambling and sexuality have been noted many times' by scholars, despite the fact that a significant part of the songs have other topics.42 Classen tries to break away from this stigma by arguing that the Carmina Burana has been studied for far too long as a collection of special songs written by students, scholars and minstrels.43 He also points out that most of the songs have never been the subject of study and that there has been more research done on specific songs or their ensemble than on groups of songs or at themes preceding throughout the manuscript. He then goes on to analyze a selection of songs about courtly love. The problem with earlier studies, according to Classen, is that they have seen these as simple songs about love. Classen, on the other hand, makes it clear that these texts are not what they seem to be. At first sight the songs tell us about courtly love, but in fact the composer may have only used the form. The woman mentioned in the
39 CB FKB 861; Bernard Bischoff, Carmina Burana. Einführung zur Faksimile-Ausgabe der Benediktbeurer Liederhandschrift (Munich 1970) 10-11. 40 Winkler, Le tropisme de Jérusalem; for the songs concerning Jerusalem see CB 46 to CB 53. 41 See for example Eberhard Brost, Carmina Burana: Lieder der Vaganten. Lateinisch und Deutsch nach Ludwig Laistner (Heidelberg 1954) and W. van Elden, Carmina Burana: kleine bloemlezing uit de middeleeuwse vagantenpoëzie ('s-Gravenhage 1967). 42 Albrecht Classen, 'The Carmina Burana: A Mirror', 477-478. 43 Ibidem, 476.
10 song is actually only there for the sexual need of the man.44 The songs about drinking and gambling too, as Classen points out, are not just merry songs. They also contain a deeper message in which the author reflects upon cultural aspects of his society.45 Classen himself does not delve deeper into these reflections, although he urges that more research should be done on this topic to uncover not only more about medieval culture, but also how contemporaries perceived it.46 This thesis will be a response to Classen's call for more research to themes within the Carmina Burana, as I set out to uncover the usages of Jerusalem in several of the songs. It might not only tell us more about how the city was perceived but it will also give us a better insight to what occupied the minds of these people, how they reacted to historical events and how this was conveyed in their description of the city or by the usage of Jerusalem as a metaphor. In this way, I will also try to contribute to the small amount of research done on the diversity of textual images and usages of Jerusalem. I expect to find not only Jerusalem as the earthly and heavenly city, as Church and as human soul47, but also that each usage will be unique and embedded with different meanings depending on the message the author wanted to convey, as CB 47 and CB 50 have illustrated.
Method and structure
The questions of how and why the imagined Jerusalem was used within the Carmina Burana will be answered by close-reading several songs. This selection has been made based on whether there were clear references to Jerusalem. This does not mean that all usages of Jerusalem will be discussed here, but rather the more explicit ones, although a few indirect references will also be examined. Because the few translations of the Carmina Burana are mostly of the amended manuscript and are not always true to the Latin original, the selected songs have been translated anew to get translations as close as possible to the original texts. This way I have avoided researching translations which are in fact interpretations by others and thus could have been adjusted. It has in fact turned out that the translation by Vollmann
44 Ibidem, 483 and 486. 45 Ibidem, 490. 46 Ibidem, 491-493. 47 Kühnel and Ariane Westphälinger note that Jerusalem, viewed morally, is the human soul. Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 72; Ariane Westphälinger, 'Real-Geographische Gegenwart und Vergangenheit' in: Annette Hoffmann and Gerhard Wolf, Jerusalem as Narrative Space. Erzählraum Jerusalem (Leiden 2012) 127-137, there 129.
11 stay close to the Latin original. The songs have then been analyzed on a literary level. What are they about? How is Jerusalem described? Which meaning does it have; a city, a metaphor or anything else? What is the purpose of Jerusalem in the text? The date of composition and the authors, if they are known, have also been explored as they give us a background for the social realities these poems might be reacting to. In the first two chapters I will conduct a close-reading of the poems. I will demonstrate the different ways Jerusalem is mentioned, both as a city or as a metaphor. In fact, as we shall see, 'Jerusalem' as a name is hardly mentioned at all. Instead, the authors refer to it by using synonyms or descriptions. By scanning the texts for the exact words used and by analyzing the different contexts, I will show the diverse applications of 'Jerusalem'. The first chapter contains the poems that are about crusading. Since they form a demarcated whole even in the manuscript itself, they will be treated apart from the other poems. These other poems will be categorized in the second chapter in three themes closely connected to the usage of or reference to Jerusalem: Babylon, Zion and the Apocalypse with a last category reserved for other usages. Throughout these two chapters it will become clear that even though there were general views of Jerusalem as the city of David, the place of Christ's grave and the stage of the Last Judgment, the usage of Jerusalem in these poems was very diverse as the authors were not bound by Biblical texts but adapted the usage of Jerusalem to their own needs, like warning their audience. In the third chapter I explore these needs further. How did contemporary events and developments shape the world of the authors? What did they think about the crusades and church reformation? I will also try to take into account the landscape the authors were living in: the urbanization of Western Europe. All these things not only influenced the authors but also shaped the ways in which they used Jerusalem. The diversity is a reflection of their individual responses. At the same time, I will argue that even though they all refer to Jerusalem differently these references can all be linked in some way to general themes, which leads us to the question at which extent and in which ways contemporaries were thinking about the Apocalypse. The answer to this question may very well be as complex as the answer to what Jerusalem exactly means.
12 1. Jerusalem in crusading poems
The Carmina Burana is a fascinating collection of songs, most of which can be seen as a product of the Renaissance of the twelfth century, according to Günter Bernt.48 It was a century which saw developments on different fronts; from the rise of towns and the revival of Romanesque art to the beginning of Gothic and the emergence of vernacular literature.49 Since most of the poems of the manuscript were written during that century they might be seen as part of this cultural renewal. Apart from this there are several reasons why researchers have found it an intriguing manuscript. First, because of the sheer number of works that it contains, namely more than two-hundred poems. A second point is the geographical range from where these songs originate. It contains not only songs from the German-speaking, but also from the French-speaking region, and some songs might even come from present-day Spain and England. The manuscript thus gives us a broader picture of the song and poem culture in Western Europe in this period. A third point would be that whereas most medieval manuscripts containing songs for liturgical use, this is not the case with those in the Carmina Burana. The topics are ostensibly secular: love, drinking, gambling, fortune and money. There are also poems dealing with religion, but these are for a great part seemingly satirical. As Bernhard Bischoff states, the Carmina Burana as a whole presents a cross section of the Latin lyric poetry of the late eleventh to early thirteenth century.50 These centuries saw an increase in people traveling between Western Europe and the Holy Land. Jerusalem was at the center of attention during the crusading campaigns and pilgrims went back and forth to visit it. All these people brought information with them as they traveled back to Europe, leading to an increase in texts about Jerusalem.51 To research all these texts would be too much for this thesis, which is why I have confined the amount of works to the poems of the Carmina Burana. If the manuscript indeed is representative of medieval poetry as stated by Bischoff, then the different definitions of Jerusalem found here and its usages, too, should give us a broad impression of what Jerusalem meant and how this meaning changed depending on circumstances. In other words: the authors could bend the meaning of Jerusalem to their own needs. In the first two chapters I will show many examples of how they did this.
48 CB FKB, 856-857. 49 Charles Haskins, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century (Cambridge 1927) viii. 50 Bischoff, Carmina Burana. Einführung, 5. 51 Sylvia Schein, Gateway to the Heavenly City. Crusader Jerusalem and the Catholic West (1099-1187) (Aldershot 2005) 189.
13 This chapter will focus on a particular section of poems about the crusades. Jerusalem, as a city, was a very important focus in this movement. However, as we will analyze the poems by close-reading and by comparing them to other documents we shall see that it was not only the earthly city that mattered, nor did it have it the same importance for everyone. Before I go on with a literary analysis I will first give some more background about the manuscript, most notably the authors of the poems and its audience. According to Bischoff, we have to keep in mind the specific kind of people who wrote these poems and the public they were writing for.52 Even though most of them could not be traced back to a specific author, those whose name we do know were clerics, theologians, teachers and people who belonged to or had ties with noble society. The collection includes authors such as the Archpoet, Otto von Botenlauben, Peter of Blois, Phillip the Chancellor, Walter of Châtillon and Walther von der Vogelweide, all of whom are recognized contributors to medieval poetry.53 The songs whose authors are unknown were also written by people who were well versed in Latin, or in the case of the Middle High German ones, who had enjoyed a privileged formal education, well before the rise of urban universities in Western Europe.54 Instead, one could enjoy an education at a monastic school or even better a cathedral school where the educational level was a bit higher.55 According to Schumann, some of these songs may very well have been written by students, either for fun or even as an exercise demanded by their teachers.56 We see here that, although the songs in the Carmina Burana have been called a collection of goliard and vagabond songs, we must not assume that these were written by simple or even secular men. Instead, the authors belonged to a privileged group of those who had enjoyed an education and some of them even belonged to nobility. The songs they wrote were presumably intended for their peers and for others within their social circle, which according to Bernt consisted of clerics and scholars who had mastered the Latin language. This led to his conclusion that the songs were written for an international public as these clerics where everywhere and the songs seem to have spread across the continent.57 However, Bernt does not account for the possibility that these songs might have been intended for local or regional clerics and were only afterwards circulated to 52 Bischoff, Carmina Burana. Einführung, 23-5. 53 See for a full list: CBM, 415-420. 54 Around 1300 the number of urban universities was still very small, perhaps twenty, see: Joseph Lynch and Phillip Adamo, The Medieval Church. A Brief History (New York 2014) 267. 55 Lynch and Adamo, The Medieval Church, 268-269 and 270-273. 56 Schumann, Carmina Burana. II. Band. Kommentar. I. Einleitung (Die Handschrift der Carmina Burana) by Alfons Hilka and Otto Schumann second edition (Heidelberg 1961) 84*-85*. 57 CB FKB, 861.
14 other parts of Western Europe. After all, as Bernt claims, Latin songs could be heard not only amongst scholars, but also at courts and in cloisters and abbeys. Even the common, uneducated, people could have played the Latin songs, especially if they had an appealing melody and were suitable for dance.58 Furthermore, merchants brought Latin songs with them on their journeys as an archeological find in Bergen has shown. There, two wooden sticks were found inscribed with parts of two specific poems also occurring in the Carmina Burana: CB 71 and 88.59 Dissemination or origins could be even wider. According to Lars Boje Mortensen, Latin songs also likely had vernacular versions.60 This could be supported by the fact that even though the official calls for a crusade have all been written in Latin, when the messengers spread the word of the crusade it would be a translation to the vernacular of the original Latin papal letter, according to Jonathan Riley-Smith.61 That a vernacular version of the Latin songs and poems, while still keeping the rhyme, rhythm and general meaning of the text, is possible, can be seen in translations of Carl Fischer.62 In his German translation of the Carmina Burana he has made an enormous effort to keep the rhyme as well as the rhythm and the meaning. This leaves at least one question open: Why have the High Middle German poems not been translated to Latin in the manuscript? Or have all texts been copied in their original language? Although we cannot answer this question, it might help me in making some more general conclusions later on. A final observation before we move on to the crusading songs. Jürgen Leonhardt remarks that most of the medieval Latin poems are not to be understood as a direct reflection of social reality.63 Whether 'most' might be an exaggeration remains debatable. However, Classen has also argued that the poems regarding love in the Carmina Burana do not show real practices as much as they mock concepts of courtly love.64 In the same way Leonhardt suggests that we can only understand these poems 'if we recognize them as witty allusions to both spiritual and worldly literature'.65 However, the collection may still be relevant to
58 Ibidem. 59 Ibidem. 60 Lars Boje Mortensen, 'The Study of Medieval Latin Literature' in: Hans-Werner Goetz and Jörg Jarnut ed., Mediävistik im 21. Jahrhundert. Stand und Perspektiven der internationalen und interdisziplinären Mittelalterforschung (Munich 2003) 135-147, there 137-138. 61 Jonathan Riley-Smith, What were the Crusades? (London 1977) 41. 62 CB FKB. 63 Jürgen Leonhardt, Story of a World Language. Latin, translated by Kenneth Kronenberg (London 2013) 179. 64 Albrecht Classen, 'The Carmina Burana: A Mirror', 478-485. 65 Leonhardt, Story of a World Language, 179.
15 historians in different ways. Even though it can be difficult to distinguish between literary convention and thoughts generally accepted by a large group of people during a certain period, it would be wrong to assume that these poems do not reflect upon reality. For instance, the fact that things were mocked tells us something about how the authors thought about them. It leaves open the possibility that praise is not meant as such, but it could be sarcasm. Stephen Rigby and Alastair Minnis reflect upon this connection between imaginative literature and social reality. They argue that even though a text might be about an imagined world or event, the content was still 'to some extent determined by contemporary social structures, institutions, conventions, and behaviour'.66 In turn the texts would even participate in these social structures and influence them, state Rigby and Minnis. The poems of the Carmina Burana, like other kinds of texts, then also would have such a connection to social reality. To uncover this I will first take a closer look at the poems themselves to uncover the subtle differences in their usage of 'Jerusalem' which will then be connected to the social reality they are alluding to. I will argue here that although the poems may all refer to the city Jerusalem, they all imagine it differently. It will show us that although there were authorities who propagated a certain view on Jerusalem, not everyone followed these views. There was enough space for contemporaries to diverge. Some of these crusading poems will show us that even though they are based on official documents, the authors imposed their own thoughts upon them. The usages of Jerusalem in these poems may therefore give us some insight into individual perceptions of the city.
On those who have been signed with the cross
The last poems at the end of the collection's first section – 'moral and satirical songs' – are announced by a simple header: 'on those signed with the cross', announcing songs about what we now call crusaders.67 Thus, it may come as no surprise that we find most of the allusions to Jerusalem in this section of the Carmina Burana. These songs are all written in the twelfth century, by unknown authors. Some of them have only been found it this manuscript so far. For instance, CB 48 posits the holy city at its center even though Jerusalem is only mentioned at the very end. The poem begins by informing us that the grave of the crucified one has been
66 Stephen Rigby and Alastair Minnis ed., Historians on Chaucer. The 'General Prologue' to the Canterbury Tales (Oxford 2014) v-vi. 67 'De cruce signatis' in: CBV, 124.
16 defiled by the Saracen. This clearly refers to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where Christ was laid after he had died on the cross. The Saracen mentioned can be Saladin, thus pointing to the recapture of Jerusalem in 1187 and its consequences. However, according to both Vollmann and Marshall, 'Saracen' here means not Saladin but the Seljuks, who reigned over Jerusalem until the crusaders conquered the city in 1099.68 Neither the author nor the date of production are known to us, but if we take the song which has been inserted at the end we might get a hint. These other lines in Middle High German have been written by Otto von Botenlauben (1177- ca. 1245) somewhere after the conquest of Saladin, making it more possible that he is 'the Saracen'. Especially since Bruce Beatie argues that the author of CB 48 was inspired by this German song by reusing its melody.69 This estimation of the date of composition and who the 'Saracen' might have been is important for the third chapter when I will try to link the poems to social reality. The song then moves on to say that it was Christ who ceded his burial place himself to the Saracens. This is amplified in the last few lines where it says that Christ wanted to lose Jerusalem. 'He wanted to lose Jerusalem so that we, through this meritorious deed [of winning the city back] could wash our sins away. For if he wanted to destroy the enemy and to free the land, he could have done it without us, since nothing can withstand him.'70 Here Jerusalem is presented as the earthly city. The only characteristic we are given is the defiled grave of Christ. The text also relates to his crucifixion by referring to his cross and to his resurrection: 'Exurrexit'. The image conveyed is not of a contemporary Jerusalem, but of the city during Jesus' last moments on earth. Going to Jerusalem is also presented as a way for remitting one's sins, especially in the context of taking up the cross as crusader who are described as 'those who have been signed with the sign of the cross'.71 According to Vollman this is not a call for a crusade, as the people are presented as already having taken the cross.72 Instead, this song should be read as a call to depart with a different mindset. The crusaders should not think that they will win because God will help them. They should rather be aware that they have to fight with all their might to achieve their goal. The message is clear: God does not need help, he could have done it all by
68 Ibidem, 987; CBM, 375. 69 Bruce Beatie, 'Carmina Burana 48-48a: a case of “irregular contrafacture”, MNL 80:4 (1965) 470-478, there 477-478. 70 'Hierusalem uoluit perdere, ut hoc opere sic possemus culpas diluere. Nam si uellet hostes destruere, absque nobis, et terram soluete posset propere, cum sibi nil possit resistere' in: CBV, 138. 71 'quos signauerit signo crucis' in: Ibidem, 138. 72 Ibidem, 986-987.
17 himself. The reason he is doing nothing is so that the people can prove themselves worthy of his salvation by achieving victory themselves. This line of thought about the Fall of Jerusalem is not unique to this poem. Bernard of Clairvaux has said something very similar when he explained that God allowed earthly Jerusalem to be attacked frequently 'in order that you [Jerusalem] might be an occasion both of virtue and salvation for brave men'.73 Even though the Jerusalem mentioned here is clearly an earthly one, there are hints for the heavenly city too. Each strophe is ended by 'May God rise'.74 This line can refer to different things. First, after the report of the defilement of the grave, this can be read as an exhortation to God to rise against the Saracens. The line also is connected to the references to the grave of Christ, from where he, son of God, has risen at the first resurrection. In CB 50 Christ is actually described as God, born as man. Thus, 'May God rise' could also refer to Christ's resurrection. The last strophe, however, begins with the fact that 'he' has already risen and that 'he willed the loss of Jerusalem'.75 When the phrase is invoked for the last time, it seems that it can neither mean that God should rise to fight, nor that it is a reference to the first resurrection. It is, rather, the second coming of Christ at the Last Judgment that is meant here. Even though there is no direct reference to the heavenly city, depending on the listener, this song can be interpreted as a call to fight for Jerusalem as a way to do penance and to gain entrance to heaven; or, if Christ is coming again, to be welcomed into heavenly Jerusalem. It is, however, not clear for which occasion this song has been composed. As mentioned, Beatie has pointed out that the short Middle High German song of Otto von Botenlaube which has been placed at the end of CB 48 is the original song for the musical notations given at CB 48. The melody of Von Botenlaube's song was reused for the 'crusading song'.76 This would mean that CB 48 has been composed somewhere after the Fall of Jerusalem. However, it is possible that it is an adaptation of an earlier version of the poem, which could explain why Saladin is not named. On the other hand, the Church is presented as having lost the cross, which points to the capture of the cross by Saladin at the Battle of Hattin in 118777, making it more likely that this song was composed as a reaction to the actions of Saladin and of the crusaders who have gone to the Holy Land so far.
73 Giles Constable, 'Jerusalem and the sign of the cross' in: Lee Levine ed., Jerusalem. Its Sanctity and Centrality to Judaism, Christianity and Islam (New York 1999) 371-381, there 374-375. 74 'Exurgat Deus' in: CBV, 136 and 138. 75 'Exurrexit', 'Hierusalem voluit perdere' in: Ibidem, 138. 76 Beatie, 'Carmina Burana 48-48a', 475-478. 77 Christopher Tyermann, God's War. A New History of the Crusades (London 2006) 371.
18 Saladin's reconquest of Jerusalem
We now have one possible reference to the reconquest of Jerusalem by Saladin. This event, however, is also reflected upon in two other songs, which both deal with it quite differently. In CB 47 the loss of the city is presented as a second crucifixion of Christ who had been wounded anew. His cross is destroyed and his grave is demolished by a foreign people. Jerusalem is described as a once bustling city, which now stands empty. The bride Zion is wailing over the loss of her wedding gifts: the cross and the grave of Christ. According to Vollmann-Profe Zion refers to the Church as bride of Christ in the entire Carmina Burana. However, Zion could also refer to Jerusalem, whether earthly or heavenly or even be a synonym for Solomon's Temple78. Its exact meaning seems to be as elusive as 'Jerusalem', although both seem to be connected. According to Kühnel, early Church fathers such as Hilary, bishop of Poitiers (315-367), and St. Augustine made a link between Zion and heavenly Jerusalem and between heavenly Jerusalem and the Church. However, she suggests that there might be a difference between Zion and Jerusalem. The former applying to the earthly, present Church and the latter to the future, eternal one.79 In CB 47 it remains unclear what the exact meaning of Zion is. It can both be read as the heavenly city, which is described by John as the bride of the lamb, Christ, and as a reference to the Church if we follow the equation between Jerusalem and the Church.80 Both interpretations can be retained, since the Church had lost two of its important possessions and the heavenly city too, if we think of it as being the image of the earthly city, no longer has them as the cross had vanished and the grave had been destroyed. Even though it is not mentioned as a possibility, it might also be possible that Zion is a personification of the city Jerusalem: The city that was once filled with people now sits alone and is crying. The other lines in the first strophe support all of these three views. The second crucifixion of Christ could be a preview of the coming of the heavenly city. Ananias, who was slain, refers to the Church as he was a disciple of Jesus. Lastly the mentioned horn of David refers to psalm 132 which says that God has chosen Zion for his dwelling and where he would make a horn for David, who would then become king. Thus, Zion is David's city. The loss of Jerusalem in CB 47 is in contrast to CB 48 not presented as a punishment
78 Vollmann-Profe, 'Verzeichnis der Eigennamen' in: CBV, 1299-1354, there 1354. 79 Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 77-78. 80 Relevations, 21:2 and 21:9 in: KJ21.
19 of God, although a different cause is given: Moses has gotten tired. According to Marshall this is a reference to the fight between Joshua and the Amalekites.81 Moses ensured the victory of Joshua by standing atop a hill with the staff of God raised in his hands. Every time his hands sank the Amalekites took the overhand, but when they were raised again, with the help of Aron and Hur, Joshua and his men won. This incident is compared to the taking of Jerusalem by Saladin. However, now Moses is getting tired and nobody seems to be supporting his hands, which is why those who have been marked with the sign of faith should come and help. Baldric of Dol's version of Pope Urban II's call for a crusade in 1095 also contains this parallel between Moses versus the Amalekites and the crusaders against the Saracens. The pope speaks to the crowd and then turns to the bishops, saying: 'It is our duty to pray, yours to fight against the Amalekites. With Moses, we shall extend unwearied hands in prayer to heaven, while you go forth and brandish the sword, like dauntless warriors, against Amalek.'82 Here it is the Church who is fulfilling the role of Moses. It cannot be said whether the author of CB 47 knew the work of Baldric or not. Recent research, however, has established that the Historia Ierosolimitana of Baldric of Dol has had a greater impact than thought before.83 It is possible that CB 47 draws on this work and incorporates an indirect critique of the Church, whose power has waned so that the Saracens could take over Jerusalem. If so, it shows us some creativity of the author in reusing or referring to other texts while at the same time changing the exact meaning and perhaps even criticizing or mocking the Church. Those who have been marked with the sign of faith must come to the aid of a somewhat helpless God or Church. According to Vollmann this sign of faith can refer to both the cross that the crusaders wore on their clothes and the cross with which one is signed on the head when baptized.84 However, considering the context, it is more plausible that all Christians should fight than only those who have already taken the cross. They are urged to abandon Babylon and to fight for the celestial realm. The celestial realm could mean both Heaven and heavenly Jerusalem, since Babylon is often depicted as the opposite of Jerusalem and we also have the first line of the song, which sounds very apocalyptic, the second crucifixion of Christ.85 The opposition between Jerusalem and Babylon can also be seen in the
81 CBM, 374. 82 Baldric of Dol, 'account of Urban II's Call for a Crusade' from Historia Hierosolymitana, translated by A.C. Krey in: S.J. Allen and Emilie Amt ed., The Crusades. A Reader (North York and Plymouth 2003) 42-45, there 45. 83 Steven Biddlecomble ed., The Historia Ierosolimitana of Baldric of Bourgueil (Woodbridge 2014) xi-ci. 84 CBV, 985. 85 'Domini crux altera, noua Christa uulnera!' in: Ibidem, 230.
20 Book of Revelation, where first the downfall of Babylon, symbolizing evil, is depicted, which then stands in contrast to heavenly Jerusalem descending from Heaven.86 According to St. Augustine, those who inhabited Babylon only had earthly desires and therefore are no true followers of Christ.87 Following CB 47, to become a citizen of heavenly Jerusalem one has to abandon this worldly mindset and fight for the earthly city. The heavenly city is used as a motivation to battle the Saracens. CB 50, which also laments the deeds of Saladin, surprisingly enough does not mention the Fall of Jerusalem (September 1187) even once, although the song does tell us about the capture of Acre (July 1187) and the successful defense of Tyre (July 1187).88 In fact, not only does the author neglect the capture of Jerusalem, but he neither refers to the city even though it had already been captured by the time this song, dated to 1188, was written.89 Richard Doney tries to explain the silence by pointing out that the song is quite similar to Pope Gregory VIII's Audita Tremendi. In this letter, Gregory tells about the devastated condition of the Holy Land and that all Christians should do penance to appease God.90 These same elements can also be read in CB 50. Like the song, the papal letter also does not mention the Fall of Jerusalem, states Doney.91 However, in the letter Jerusalem is actually mentioned and allusions to the fall of the city are being made, whereas the names of the other captured cities, like Acre, remain unknown. The Battle of Hattin is also being referred to through the capture of the king and the Knights Templar and the loss of the cross. It seems as if the author of the poem did not care about Jerusalem. It might very well be that not everyone saw the city as an important place. However, it is also possible that the reconquest of Jerusalem was too painful a subject to write about. But even though it is not mentioned in particular the author was certainly not unmoved by the events. Whereas CB 47 bewailed the Fall of Jerusalem, here it is the desolation of the whole land which is being lamented. This land, Judea and in particular Galilee, is now completely occupied. This particular poem is very different from the other crusade poems, as it gives us a description of the events that reminds us of a historical account. The year 1187 is given, after which the forces of the enemy are described and how the king, of Jerusalem, and the Templar Knights rose against them even though they were outnumbered one to three. Acre was
86 Revelation, 18, 21 and 22 in: KJ21. 87 Guy Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 359. 88 Tyerman, God's War, 372. 89 Schumann and Hilka, Carmina Burana, II. Band, 110; CBV, 991; CB FKB, critical notes, 896. 90 Richard Doney, 'A Source for One of the Carmina Burana', Speculum 27:2 (1952) 191-196, there 191-192. 91 Doney, 'A Source', 192-194.
21 captured without a fight. Tyre was saved by a man whom even Saladin feared. The land is described as a land which Christ deemed worthy of his love, through which he walked on his bare feet, and where he was born from a virgin and placed in a crib. It was also where he walked across the sea with dry feet, fed many with only five breads and the place where the river Jordan receded for him. The Holy Land is thus described entirely as a biblical place, where Christ was born, lived, performed his miracles and in the end it was where he was nailed onto the cross. These passages emphasize not only the loss for Christianity but also how bad Saladin was, as the description of the land begins with 'This worst brigand [Saladin], devastator of the land'.92 A few lines later the poem speaks of the land as famous, truly good and the only one worthy of a crown of flowers. It is the land to which God had given so many gifts and which is now girded by an impious belt. It is not clear what the floral crown means. Neither Hilka and Schumann nor Vollmann comment on it. It might serve as a contrast to Christ's crown of thorns which he bore at his crucifixion, the only event which indirectly points to Jerusalem where it took place. This land which has been lost, must now be won back. However, whereas CB 47 and CB 48 state very clearly that the Christians should fight, here the solution is different: the people must convert and repent.93 The Holy Land has been devastated because the Christians have done wrong. This sentiment seems familiar to the one earlier mentioned in CB 48 except that here the Christians are not urged to fight, but rather to weep, to repent and to give gifts to God so that he might answer their prayers.94 If Gregory VIII's Audita Tremenda really was the model for CB 50, the song itself clearly breaks away from the papal letter at this point. For Gregory makes very clear that the people should not only repent and better their lives, but that the land should by reconquered through a crusade, a sentiment completely absent from CB 50.95 This absence can perhaps be connected to a more general restraint towards the soldiers of Christ which can be read in several songs. CB 49, which warns about the End of Time, tells its listeners to take the cross so that they may be saved. The author then exhorts that the blessed soldiers of Christ, who have already been signed with the cross, should flee from the glory of this world. This suggest that although the soldiers have taken the cross, they have not
92 'Latro ille pessimus, terre deuastator' in: CBV, 148. 93 'Conuertamur igitur et peniteamus, mala' in: Ibidem, 150. 94 'Conuertamur igitur et peniteamus, mala', que conmisimus, fletu deleamus atque Deo munera digne offeramus, ut placatus lacrimis donet, quod rogamus!' in: Ibidem. 95 Pope Gregory VII, Audita Tremendi (1187), translated by W. Robson in: S.J. Allen and Emilie Amt ed., The Crusades. A Reader (North York and Plymouth 2003) 163-166, there 165.
22 left behind their earthly desires. This can also be read in Audita Tremenda:
The crusaders are not to march clothed in sumptuous habits, with dogs, birds, or other such object, which only display luxury and ostentation; but they are to have what is necessary, are to be clothed simply, and are rather to resemble men who are performing a penance, than such as are in search of a vain glory96
In CB 46 too, the crusaders are mocked. On the one hand, they are described as bearing blessed swords and leaning on the firm protection of the cross. On the other hand, they happily perform atrocities against the heathens.97 They are forced to abandon the worldly pleasures, rather than out of their own volition. Jerusalem is described as the place where one can find the market where one can purchase life. The clever merchant will be there. However, he should not hasten so, but first see after his wife and children, to make sure they have all things necessary. If not, the author is not sure what the man will gain.98 The author seems to have no positive view on crusaders. He could be referring to actual practices of people hurrying to Jerusalem with no regard for their families. The crusader is described here as someone who rushed to Jerusalem not out of piety, but rather as a merchant who has found nice goods and wants to buy them. Jerusalem is not a city that must be saved, but a marketplace. The once-glorious grave of Christ is now assailed by dogs.99 Dogs, here, can refer to the heathens, but given the placement of the line after the strophes in which the crusaders are ridiculed, it could mean the crusaders as well. However, who are 'we' who shall not give the shrine to the dogs? Are they the crusaders, or are the true Christians meant, those who are not like merchants? Like CB 50, CB 46 too reacts to a call for a crusade. This time it is epistle 363 of Bernard of Clairvaux to which it seems to respond. In this letter, Bernard asks the Christians: 'Will you give what is holy to the dogs, and cast your pearls before swine?'100 The song gives a clear answer to that, by saying that 'we' will not. Likewise, the letter too compares the
96 Gregory VII, Audita Tremendi, 166. 97 'Beati sunt mucrones, quos portant Christi milites suffulti crucis tegmine, sub cuius gaudent robore. Quorum felix atrocitas constringit te, gentilitas.' in: CBV, 128. 98 'Forum est Ierosolimis in campo libertatis, quod rex regum instituit. Mercator prudens aderit qui uitam uelit emere, festinet illuc currere! Non tamen ita properet, quin conuigi prouiderat de rebus necessariis una cum paruis liberis. Quod quidem nisi faciat, ignoro, quid proficiat' in: Ibidem. 99 'Sepulchrum gloriosum prophetis declaratum inpugnatur a canibus.' in: Ibidem, 128 and 130. 100 Bernard of Clairvaux, Epistle 363, translated by J.H. Robinson in: S.J. Allen and Emilie Amt ed., The Crusades. A Reader (North York and Plymouth 2003) 134-138, there 136.
23 crusaders to merchants. Bernard shows the audience some great bargains, and those who are prudent merchants will recognize them. However, these bought wares themselves are not worth much. It is the devout heart of the ones who possesses them that make these 'worth no less than the kingdom of God'.101 Even though the song here recalls the letter of Bernard, it rather seems to mock the soldiers of Christ who are running to Jerusalem to buy life, especially when one reads the final strophes of the song. Here, the house of God is described as a place where everyone will be welcome. The first will be the last and the last the first and they will all receive the same. It does not matter when one becomes a good Christian. Thus, running in haste to the market does not seem very appropriate or pious. This is yet another reaction to the situation in the Holy Land. It suggests that the connection these authors felt to the city were all different, ranging from fighting to take the city back to repenting before God. CB 46 even seems to be a critique on the crusaders. Jerusalem, therefore, seems not to evoke the same emotions and reactions in everyone.
Connections between the heavenly and the earthly city
We have already seen a few references to heavenly Jerusalem and the End of Time and in this section I will uncover a few more while trying to link them to medieval thoughts on the connection between the heavenly and the earthly city. The poem just discussed, CB 46, begins with several strophes, whose content has been taken from the Book of Revelation. It tells us about the downfall of Babylon and how John saw her sitting on a beast.102 It then goes on to mention a 'prince of princes' who will subject the people.103 This is a clear reference to a leader of leaders and king of kings mentioned in Revelation and who can also be interpreted as the Last Emperor.104 The first part of the song serves as a backdrop to the fighting of the soldiers of Christ. Babylon is presented as the counter image of Jerusalem. Where Revelation ends with the vision of heavenly Jerusalem, the song ends with a vision of the house of God, where all Christians will dwell. Given that the content of the song is heavily based on Revelation, the intended message too seems to be the same: The End of Time is nearby. In the poem we can read that the Last Emperor is heading the crusaders towards Jerusalem to subject
101 Clairvaux, Epistle 363, 137. 102 'Iohannes super bestiam sedere uidit feminam ornatam, ut est meretrix, in forma Babylonis' in: CBV, 126; Revelation, 14:8 and 17:3-5 in: KJ21. 103 'Princeps uocatur principum' in: Ibdem, 126. 104 Ibidem, 981; Revelation, 19:16 in: KJ21.
24 the heathens. The market where the merchants can buy life itself, is also organized by the king of kings. The fact that people are encouraged to hurry thither now does not seem very strange at all, since the End is near and those who have not lived without sin must hurry to make amends. The house of God, then, is heavenly Jerusalem. The city is not pictured as an impressive city made of precious stones, surrounded by a great wall as in Revelation.105 It is rather a big house where there are numerous dwellings. These smaller buildings will not be destroyed, making it an eternal city. The people who live there will not oppose one another. However, it is not a place where everyone is equal, as the author mentions the lesser and the greater people, and the poor and the rich. Heavenly Jerusalem is thus a city like any other, except that the houses will not be destroyed and that everyone will live together peacefully. This perfectly fits the name 'Pacis Visio', image of peace, by which Jerusalem also was called during the Middle Ages and which is also used once in the poem.106 The only song in the Carmina Burana which has Jerusalem as its main subject is CB 52, a celebratory song written, according to Marshall, around 1130 for the anniversary of the crusader conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.107 Other versions of this song have been found in Limoges, France, and have been dated to the twelfth century.108 It is remarkable how this song has somehow bridged a distance of over one-thousand kilometers before it was ultimately copied into the Carmina Burana. It shows us how far literary works could spread, even those that seem to have been intended for a local audience like this song. For even though the theme of the song is quite general, the song starts by explaining the origin of the village name Solignac after which the author ridicules a monk, Serracus, for having unmanned himself. He is the only one who may not partake in the festivities. The author even damns him as one who is possessed by the Devil and who should go to Hell.109 The meaning of this passage has so far remained unclear.110 It cannot be said who this monk is, although it is most likely that he was someone from Solignac and that the author and his public knew him or that this line had some other well-known meaning, otherwise the inclusion would make no sense. Of particular
105 Revelation, 21:12-21 in: KJ21. 106 CBV, 126. 107 CBM, 59. 108 Carmina Burana. I. Band: Text. I. Die moralisch-satirischen Dichtungen, critical edition by Alfons Hilka and Otto Schumann (Heidelberg 1930) 105. 109 'Nomen a sollempnibus trahit Sollempniacum; sollempnis exigitur omnes preter monachum, qui sibi uirilia resecauit, Sarracum. Illum hinc accipimus tanquam demoniacum; ipse solus lugeat reus aput Eacum!' in: CBV, 154. 110 See for a discussion: Schumann and Hilka, Carmina Burana, II. Band, 113-114.
25 interest is the first line: 'Nomen a sollempnibus trahit Sollempniacum': Solignac derives its name from feasts.111 This not only sets the stage for the celebration, but if we look closer at the words used we can see a connection between Jerusalem and Solignac. One of the names for Jerusalem, not used in the song, is Hierosolyma. Solyma, sollemnis and Sollemniacus do have some resemblance and it is possible that the author tried to appeal to it, thus fashioning Solignac as a place where Jerusalem could be experienced. If that is the case, then we are seeing here that not only big cities could be imagined as a Jerusalem, but even small villages. In fact, it could mean that Jerusalem could be experienced anywhere in a spiritual sense. In the same spirit we could place the development from physical to spiritual pilgrimage. As Kühnel and Stroumsa have noted there are several places and churches in Western Europe that have been built as an image of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre.112 According to Stroumsa this led to a decrease of interest in the actual city of Jerusalem, especially after the Fall of Jerusalem in 1187, as the crusades themselves had actually renewed the interest. Heavenly Jerusalem would be seen apart from the earthly city and could therefore be transposed to other placed outside earthly Jerusalem. The enactment of passion plays too, meant that the Jerusalem of Christ could be experienced elsewhere by watching such performances.113 The Carmina Burana, too, contains several of them.114 How then does Solignac fit into this process of transposing Jerusalem elsewhere, as CB 52 was written before the Fall of Jerusalem? Even though spiritual pilgrimage had really taken off after 1187, it would be wrong to assume that it might not have existed earlier. Bernard of Clairvaux already had compared the abbey of Cluny to heavenly Jerusalem.115 And well before the First Crusade, Constantinople was already regarded as the Second Jerusalem by pilgrims, as the city had many relics, even of Christ.116 According to Colin Morris there also were quite a few churches in Western Europe built after the Holy Sepulchre. A pilgrimage to some of these churches could be rewarded in the same way as a pilgrimage to the real Holy Sepulchre.117 If the Holy Sepulchre could be imagined elsewhere, then we are not that far from traveling to Jerusalem in our minds. Besides this link between Solignac and Jerusalem, CB 52 also has different names for
111 CBV, 154. 112 Kühnel, 'Jerusalem between Narrative and Iconic', 113-121; Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 353 and 357. 113 Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 351, 352, 357 and 364. 114 See CB 227, 228, 13*, 15*, 16*, and 26*. 115 Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 360-361. 116 Lidov, 'A Byzantine Jerusalem', 63 and 66-71. 117 Morris, The Sepulchre of Christ, 153-165.
26 the earthly city, which is not only called Jerusalem, but also David's city, thus referring to its Old Testament past. The city is called the most noble, remarkable and the greatest. It was the city in which Christ was pleased, where the Holy Spirit thundered above the apostles. Each year fire comes to this place, which probably refers to the Miracle of the Holy Fire on the eve of Orthodox Easter within the Holy Sepulchre.118 The song goes on by saying that the city is even hallowed by heaven and beloved by divine beings. Although the song clearly talks about an earthly city, this Jerusalem is almost heavenly. This becomes clearer in some lines, which have been lost in the Carmina Burana version of the song but have been preserved in the two versions of Limoges. Here the city outshines the sun and the moon and its holiness is so great that through it the city conquers all other realms.119 This shows some similarity with Revelation where heavenly Jerusalem does not need the sun nor the moon for it is illuminated by the glory of God.120 However, the Jerusalem from the song is clearly an earthly one, even if it has heavenly characteristics, as the passage is immediately followed by the phrase that the Jebusite Araunah had not chosen this spot as his threshing site in vain.121 The site referred to is the place on Mount Moriah that David purchased to place an altar to God. The song brings together the Jerusalem from the Old Testament – Araunah's threshing site, the city of David, tabernacle of the law, temple of the Ark of the Covenant –, the New Testament – the city that Christ loved and where he was crucified – and the present Jerusalem where the Holy Fire still burns and which is a safe haven for poor and unfortunate souls. However, the version in the Carmina Burana no longer refers to the crucifixion. Nor does it say that the city is loved throughout time, thronged and honored by kings and people. The line 'non timebis aliquod, dum in ea manseris'122, you will not be afraid of anything, whilst you dwell in the city, has also been removed, and the same goes for the last strophe containing the comparison with the sun and the moon. Thus, the city has lost some of its splendor and holiness. The general message has nonetheless stayed the same: the great Christian city of Jerusalem has been conquered on this day. That the earthly city had heavenly qualities was, according to Ariane Westphälinger, quite normal. From Augustine's De civitate Dei she derives not only that Jerusalem could
118 See for reference: Melanie Holcomb and Barbara Drake Boehm, 'Experiencing sacred Art in Jerusalem' in: Barbara Drake Boehm and Melanie Holcomb ed., Jerusalem 1000-1400. Every People under Heaven (New Haven and London 2016) 113-128, there 121. 119 Tanta lucis claritate superatur sol et luna, tanta vicit sanctitate omnes urbes hec urbs una' in: CB FKB, 150. 120 Revelation, 21:23 in: KJ21. 121 'non elegit frustra locum Gebuseus Areuna' in: CB FKB, 150. 122 CB FKB, 150.
27 have several meanings at the same time, but also that 'der “mittelalterliche” Mensch eine mehr oder weniger bewusste Gedankenverbindung zwischen dem irdischen Jerusalem und dessen Pendant als Himmelsstadt herstellte'.123 In other words, the earthly and heavenly city were connected in the minds of the people, thus giving earthly Jerusalem a heavenly shimmer and elevating it from the earth. How Westphälinger arrived at such broad assumptions, connecting Augustine to 'the medieval man' remains unclear. She only goes on to explain how pilgrims experienced Jerusalem as well as a contemporary city as a Biblical one, giving only one example of a connection between the heavenly and earthly city in a pilgrimage account. However, even though the medieval man seems an overstatement – problematic too, for who is 'the medieval man'? – it can be said that other clerics did share Augustine's thought. One of them was Bernard of Clairvaux who viewed his abbey as a path to heavenly Jerusalem and the abbey itself perhaps even as a New Jerusalem. CB 52 is most likely written by a monk, someone who both knew Serracus and could write Latin. Not only does his earthly Jerusalem has heavenly qualities, but he also links Solignac to this city. Here he does not point to the abbey but to the whole celebrating village, though it has to be noted that even today Solignac is a very small village. Connecting places with Jerusalem had already been done before the crusades. As early as the fourth century Rome was presented as a 'Nova Hierusalem' and Constantinople also was a second Jerusalem.124 Charlemagne too, as a new king David, fashioned his city Aachen as a new Jerusalem.125 Throughout Europe churches have been built that resemble the Holy Sepulchre, like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Cambridge built c. 1130 and the Busdorfstift in Paderborn built in the eleventh century.126 What would make CB 52 extraordinary is that here it is not a religious building or a city, but a small village which is subtly connected to Jerusalem. The characteristics of Solignac are not even mentioned, except for its festive character and the strange monk. It shows us that even small, unknown villages could be, in the eyes of its dwellers, seen as being connected to Jerusalem. The real city of Jerusalem, as the song shows, nevertheless retained its importance. Solignac was no substitute for it. All these crusader songs, even though they talk about Jerusalem as a real city, do not
123 Westphälinger, 'Real-Geographische Gegenwart und Vergangenheit', 131. 124 Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 352; Lidov, 'A Byzantine Jerusalem', 63. 125 Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 116-118. 126 Robert Ousterhout, 'The Memory of Jerusalem' in: Annette Hoffmann and Gerhard Wolf, Jerusalem as Narrative Space. Erzählraum Jerusalem (Leiden 2012) 139-154, there 153-154; Kühnel, 'Jerusalem between Narrative and Iconic', 116.
28 give us the sense of a lively, inhabited city. Jerusalem is described as the background of Biblical events and as the site of Christ's grave. No other buildings are mentioned, nor any characteristics of the grave or other holy sites. Nor are there any citizens. It is not contemporary Jerusalem that matters, but the Biblical one. In these songs the city is regarded as a vessel for the cross and the grave of Christ. In CB 46 heavenly Jerusalem has more the feeling of a city full of houses and occupants than earthly Jerusalem in CB 52. There the city is only described by its Biblical aspects and as great, noble and remarkable, but it remains rather devoid of inhabitants. In CB 50, as already stated, Jerusalem is even missing. Even though the crucifixion is mentioned, it is not Jerusalem where it had taken place, but the Holy Land. The earthly city itself does not seem to have been very important in the eyes of these authors. This does seem to contradict Stroumsa's claim that the crusades have led to a heightened interest in the city of Jerusalem.127 This may be true on a more general level, but here in these crusading songs, Jerusalem is not the central theme. Or when it is, as in the case of CB 52, it does not give any characteristics of a real city. The author may never have seen Jerusalem as the description gives no impression of what the city looked like. However, some pilgrims, like Theodoric who traveled in the twelfth century, have also written nothing about the population of Jerusalem. Nor about its buildings, institutions or city administration. The only things Theodoric does give information about are the holy sites.128 This might be an extreme case, but it does show us that we have to distinguish between the contemporary city and the Biblical places. For even though these sites exist within the city, at least some contemporaries seem to have experienced or remembered these as two different things. What really mattered for these pilgrims were the holy sites and not the city itself. This would mean that even from a crusading or pilgrimage perspective, where Jerusalem was the physical goal, the people in fact traveled to an imagined place. It was not the contemporary city itself that they wanted to see but the commemorative spots and what they represented. We have seen this in the poems discussed here, as they give us no impression of the city apart from its Biblical past and its role in obtaining heavenly Jerusalem. This is also what the poems have in common even though the authors imagined Jerusalem differently and within distinct contexts; from celebration and encouragement to lamentation. In the third chapter I will explore into more depth the connection between the poems and social reality and how
127 Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 357. 128 Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, 'Three Perspectives on Jerusalem: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Pilgrims in the Twelfth Century' in: Lee Levine ed., Jerusalem. It's Sanctity and Centrality to Judaism, Christianity and Islam (New York 1999) 326-346, there 342-346.
29 despite their diversity all these poems might respond to the same kind of anxiety: the salvation of the soul at the End of Time.
2. Textual metaphors?
The first chapter has been solely about the crusading section of the Carmina Burana. We have seen how Jerusalem was described and what the city may have meant to contemporaries. Jerusalem in these poems was the city, earthly as well as heavenly. In this chapter, we will move on to the other poems of the manuscript. These poems do not necessarily refer to the city when they use 'Jerusalem', nor do they all share the same subject. To keep matters clear during the analysis of this diverse group of poems, I have split this chapter into four categories. The first three are those themes that often occur in these poems and are mentioned together with Jerusalem: Babylon, Zion and the Apocalypse. The last category contains the few other references that have no clear connection to these themes. They are nonetheless of interest as they give us a different perspective and will show that even though the different usages of Jerusalem make use of certain themes, there are also exceptions. Like in the preceding chapter, here too I will argue that the usage of Jerusalem was very diverse. There are, however, also recurring themes. So even if the usages vary they are still connected to each other. This chapter will explore both the diversity and the similarity in the usages of Jerusalem throughout the poems. While I will mainly focus on the poems not yet discussed, those of the preceding chapter will also be reevaluated whenever they seem to refer to one or more of the themes here, suggesting that although they form a distinct group of poems about crusaders, their usage of Jerusalem too can be sorted in the same categories. This is important as it could indicate that there were recurring thoughts amongst the authors which in turn might point out to a sentiment on a larger scale, as the third chapter will suggest.
Babylon
Babylon had close links to Jerusalem. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II captured the city in 597 BC and destroyed it, leading to the period of the Babylonian captivity during which the people of Jerusalem were captives in Babylon.129 This event is well described in the
129 D.J. Wiseman, 'Babylonia 605-539 BC' in: John Boardman, I.E.S. Edwards et al., The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume III. Part II. The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and other States of the Near East, from
30 Old Testament and may have been a source for the distinction between the cities. For Augustine Jerusalem was the heavenly city of eternal peace while Babylon was the opposite: the earthly city of temporal peace and of confusion, a contrast which is also used in the Carmina Burana as I will illustrate.130 Just like Jerusalem Babylon too will have an important role in the Apocalypse. According to Adso of Montier-en-Der (920-992) it was in Babylon that the Antichrist would be born, and who would then go to Jerusalem to assume power.131 His city of birth, however, will not fare well at the End of Time. In Revelation Babylon is fashioned as a woman who sits on a beast and is presented as the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.132 The city, however, has fallen and is now filled with foul and evil things. This stands in contrast to heavenly Jerusalem which is pure and which only the faithful believers may enter. In CB 46 we have seen that the author refers to this opposition between these two cities in Revelation. However, the song also contains a reference to Psalm 137 in the verse:
According to the prophet's testimony, you are the wretched daughter of Babylon, blessed be he who smites your young children on the rock. For your earlier crimes, Chaldean Metropolis, you must pay the penalty now.133
This is almost identical to the end of Psalm 137, where the lines form a reaction by the Jews to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Edomites. Now Babylon has to pay the price and we see in CB 46 that the city has fallen and is depicted as a whore. However, this does not mean that the real Babylon had to be destroyed. According to Marshall it rather refers to the false religion it stands for.134 Nevertheless, an indirect connection between Babylon and Jerusalem remains. It has to be noted that the first part of the same psalm can be read at the beginning of CB 4. This poem deplores the unfortunate state of the Church, for it has become filled with hypocrisy, fraud and falsehood. Zion no longer sings joyous songs, as she has hung her
the Eight to the Sixth Centuries B.C., second edition (Cambridge 2003) 229-250, there 233-234. 130 Schein, Gateway, 59. 131 Brett Edward Whalen, Dominion of God. Christendom and Apocalypse in the Middle Ages (Cambridge 2009) 13, 118 and 123; Adso of Montier-en-Der, Letter on the Origin and Life of the Antichrist, translated by Bernard McGinn in: Apocalyptic Spirituality. Treatises and Letters of Lactantius, Adso of Montier-en-Der, Joachim of Fiore, the Franciscan Spirituals, Savonarola (Mahwah 1979) 89-96, there 91. 132 Revelation, 17:1-5 and 18:2-3 in: KJ21. 133 'Porpheta teste misera tu Babylonis filia; beatus est, qui paruulos petre collidit tuos. Prisci das penas sceleris, Chaldea nunc metropolis' in: CBV, 124 and 126. 134 CBM, 371.
31 instruments, just like the Jews had done, on the willows of Babylon.135 The reason for the tearful tones of Zion is the deplorable state of the Church, just like the Jews did not want to sing about Zion because Jerusalem had been destroyed. Through the reference to the psalm we can see here a connection between Jerusalem, Zion and the Church. This link can also be seen in CB 34. Here, Zion is crying over the state of the Church. A Church which is implicitly compared to the Temple of Solomon where the king of Babylon has put his throne in its midst, where all could see it.136 According to Vollmann, the king of Babylon refers both to the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and to the coming of the Antichrist. He refers to the Ludus de Antichristo where it says: 'Interim ypocrite conducunt Antichristum in templum domini, ponentes ibi tronum suum'.137 In CB 34 the temple clearly is the Church, implying that the King of Babylon must be the pope. The author tries to make clear how far the Church itself has strayed from God. In CB 46 the contrast between the two cities is also emphasized by the different names used. Not only is Jerusalem mentioned as 'pacis visio', but it is immediately juxtaposed with 'confusionis civitas' which is a synonym for Babylon.138 Whereas Jerusalem is an image of peace, Babylon is the opposite: a city of confusion, where there is no peace. Instead, it has tricked its inhabitants into worshiping false gods and to turn their backs to the works of God. In a way, Babylon could be seen as a city of the Devil just as heavenly Jerusalem is God's city. In CB 47 too, Babylon is briefly mentioned, as the people who have been signed with the cross should abandon this city and fight for the celestial realm.139 Again it stands in contrast to Jerusalem. One has to abandon the bad city to enter the good one. In other words: the Christians have to become good followers of Christ and have to abandon their bad behavior and earthly desires. Babylon is thus used to emphasize the bad ways most Christians are following, which stands in contrast to how they should be living. A far subtler reference to Babylon can be seen in CB 8, a poem written around 1170 by Walter of Châtillon (ca. 1135-1179?). In it Walter laments the fact that the heads of the Church have strayed from the true faith. Faith has become something that one can trade or sell. Bishops run after money and break their vows of celibacy. 'The bride of Christ becomes a
135 'Amaris stupens casibus uox exultationis organa in salicibus suspendit Babylonis, captiua est confusionis, inuoluta doloribus Syon cantica leta sonis permutauit flebilibus' in: CBV, 16. 136 'quod spelunca uispillonum facta est Ecclesia, quod in templum Salemonis uenit rex Babylonis et excelsum sibi tronum posuit in medio' in: Ibidem, 82 and 84. 137 Ibidem, 961. 138 Ibidem, 126 and 981. 139 'derelicta Babylone pugna pro celesti regione' in: Ibidem, 134.
32 purchasable good and the noble woman a miserable whore.'140 The bride of Christ in this passage is the Church, although it could also refer to heavenly Jerusalem which is presented as Christ's bride in Revelation.141 The noble woman points back to the bride and has become a whore. This resembles the picture of Babylon in Revelation as it is personified as a woman who was once great, but after her fall had become a whore. It seems as if this is another opposition between heavenly Jerusalem and Babylon. It could perhaps be interpreted as a sign of the coming of the End of Days, depicting the heads of the Church therefore as followers of the Antichrist. Neither Schumann, nor Marshall, nor Vollmann have commented on this comparison of the Church to a whore. However, as already briefly mentioned, there is a link between Babylon and the Antichrist in the Ludus de Antichristo. We will see later on that a few other poems in the Carmina Burana allude to the End of Time.
Zion
Perhaps even more complex in its meaning than 'Jerusalem' is 'Zion'. As we have already seen, both are connected. To get a fuller understanding of 'Jerusalem' we have to briefly explore Zion. Whereas geographically Jerusalem always refers to the same city, Zion, also Mount Zion, does not always refer to the same place. In the Old Testament, Mount Zion is mentioned as the Jebusite fortress conquered by David and where he subsequently built his city known as David's city, Jerusalem. By the time king Solomon had built the First Temple, Zion became the name to designate the hill on which it was built, now known as the Temple Mount. It is probably in this sense that it has been used in CB 123. There, the priests of Christ are compared to hills, because they are situated on the peak of Zion, which is clearly meant as a mountain here. The author, Walter of Châtillon, thus creates a link between the Temple and the Church, and also between Jerusalem and the Church and eventually Rome. This poem will be discussed further below. The last geographical shift of Mount Zion took place in the first century AD. The city had been destroyed twice, which led to the question where the ancient palace of king David had been built. The Western Hill was thought to be the place and was thereafter called Mount Zion. Zion could thus refer to David's city, his palace and to the Temple of Solomon. In a broader sense Zion points to the whole of Jerusalem, especially in an
140 'sponsa Christi fit mercalis, generosa generalis' in: Ibidem, 28. 141 Revelation, 21:2 and 21:9 in: KJ21.
33 eschatological context, and can even mean the whole of Israel.142 In Revelation 14 and The epistle to the Hebrews 12 we see that there is a connection between Mount Zion and heavenly Jerusalem as they are named together.143 However, they are not the same, nor is it clear what Mount Zion is or what its relation is to heavenly Jerusalem. It does illustrate that we should keep in mind that 'Zion' could be a reference to heavenly Jerusalem. However, as Gisela Vollmann-Profe notes, in the Carmina Burana Zion mostly does refer to the Church.144 We have already seen this in CB 47, but there it could also mean Jerusalem, both earthly and heavenly. However, as Kühnel notes, Jerusalem too could signify the Church, especially heavenly Jerusalem. This can be seen in Augustine's De civitate Dei where 'Ecclesia and Jerusalem appear as frequent synonyms to civitas'.145 Kühnel suggests that there might also be an overall tendency to distinguish between Zion and Jerusalem. The former being the contemporary Church and the latter the future one.146 Yet even Kühnel is not entirely sure about the relation between Zion and Jerusalem, and what Zion actually means. Her overview of the changing ways Jerusalem was thought about is not always clear. At times, she specifically talks about earthly or heavenly Jerusalem only to switch back to Jerusalem. It seems as if there is no clearly defined border between the different definitions. Even though I have marked out several separate meanings of Jerusalem and Zion, the earlier explanation of CB 47 has shown that several of these definitions could be fitted into the same song, and this goes for other songs too. As such it confirms Yeager's statement that 'Jerusalem' is a palimpsest. This might be compared to Westphälinger's research on the perception of pilgrims and how they saw the city. She comes to the conclusion that they all tried to reconcile the city they saw with how it was described in the Bible. In the eyes of these contemporary pilgrims there was no clear-cut difference between the city they were walking through and the one which Jesus saw. Even though they might have noted the differences, Jerusalem was more than just the city they saw. It was also the one Jesus laid his eyes upon, and the earthly counterpart of the city made by God. It seems that for contemporaries Jerusalem had no single meaning, just like we too could be reminded of different things while seeing the same space. The fact that Jesus had died for humanity in Jerusalem and that that was the place where one could visit his
142 Bargil Pixner, Paths of the Messiah and Sites of the Early Church from Galilee to Jerusalem (Giessen 1991) 320-322; Menashe Harel, This is Jerusalem (Jerusalem 1970) 194-195. 143 KJ21. 144 Gisela Vollmann-Profe, 'Verzeichnis der Eigennamen', 1354. 145 Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 77. 146 Ibidem, 78.
34 empty grave, seems to have been the most important aspects of the city for Western European pilgrims.147 Could the Jerusalem contemporaries saw be described as a lieu de mémoire? It is always dangerous to use modern concepts to describe old phenomena. However, lieu de mémoire does seem fitting in the sense that Jerusalem was, as Kühnel describes, seen as the navel of the world.148 It was the historical heart of Christian faith. This can also be seen in the way in which heavenly Jerusalem or simply Jerusalem was not only a city, but could also signify the Church and even the human soul. Jerusalem had become a symbol for good Christian faith that transcended the actual city itself. Counter to this tradition of the city as sacred and profane runs another view of the city as civitas perfida, for Jerusalem was also the morally lost place whose Jewish inhabitants had condemned Jesus to death.149 Jerusalem was therefore not only a sacred city, but also a place to be despised, says Schein. According to her, these two opposing views often formed a vague and hazy mixture in the prevalent image of the city. This does not seem to correspond at all with the findings presented here. The poems in the Carmina Burana describe Jerusalem solely as a sacred city. Even though the death and suffering of Christ is noted several times, this is not combined with any form of hatred against the Jews of Jerusalem or with mentions of the city as morally depraved. Zion is mentioned in eleven works within the manuscript. The first poem, CB 4, has already been discussed above. As we have seen, Zion refers to the true Church as opposed to the befouled one in the poem. CB 34 and 41 similarly use 'Zion' to refer to a body of true faith counter to the corrupted Church, although the exact meaning remains unclear. In CB 8 the imperative 'flete, Syon filiae! – weep, daughters of Zion – is, according to Marshall, a reference to Luke 23:28.150 There it says how Jesus passes some women while he is bearing his cross. They are weeping and he tells them: 'Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children'.151 However, in CB 8 Walter of Châtillon wants them to weep, because the current heads of the Church are not following Christ anymore, like these daughters have. Again, Zion is used to point out the faults of the Church, while connecting it to Jerusalem. It is only in CB 53 that Zion is linked to the Church in a joyful manner. This poem recounts the ending of the schism, through the Treaty of Venice, between
147 Westphälinger, 'Real-geographische Gegenwart und Vergangenheit', 137. 148 Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 96 and 98-99. 149 Schein, Gateway, 2. 150 CBM, 351. 151 'filiae Hierusalem nolite flere super me sed super vos ipsas flete et super filios vestros' in: Ibidem, 351.
35 the papacy, its allies, and Frederick I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The author is overjoyed by this event and says that the people of Zion should rejoice now and that the chaste daughter Zion should hold itself to these new pleasures. Meant here are the Church and its believers. If we take Jerusalem as the meaning for Zion, we can see again that Zion and Jerusalem were connected to the Church. However, Jerusalem and Zion can be two different things. So far, we have only established that there is a connection between them. If we look at CB 51 it becomes clear that, at least in this poem, they are not substitutes for each other. The poem is about the Fall of Man and how the people still wander in exile, having to pleasure in their stay on earth, since it is brief. The refrain contains a bitter lamentation: 'Woe and alas! Moses and Aaron, King David and Solomon, Jerusalem and Gihon, the world weeps and Zion.'152 Jerusalem and Zion are mentioned as two separate things. The refrain consists of pairs, Moses and his brother Aaron, King David and his successor Solomon, Jerusalem the sacred city of the Fallen Man and Gihon a river in Eden. Jerusalem is also the city built by David, while Gihon is the place where Solomon was crowned.153 In the last line, then, Zion forms a pair with the world. It seems that they stand in some contrast to each other like the other pairs. If so, then it could be that Zion is some abstract reference to the godly realm as opposed to the world inhabited by men. Its purpose here is to emphasize the suffering of men since Adam and Eva ate from the apple and were cast out of their original home.
The End of Time
The Last Judgment is closely associated with Jerusalem, for it is in this city, at the Mount of Olives, where Christ will come again. This seems to have led to a belief that Jerusalem had to be in Christian hands to pave the way for his coming, which in turn can be connected to the legend of the Last Emperor. This legend has several forms but the same gist: A king of kings would subdue all faithless people and conquer Jerusalem, after which he will lay down his crown so that Christ can come and take over his rule. Several well-known rulers have been fitted into this role. One of them is emperor Charlemagne, described as the Last Emperor in the eleventh century by Ademar of Chabannes. By then Charlemagne had already been dead
152 'Prohdolor! Moyses et Aaron, rex Dauid et Salemon, Hierusalem et Geon, mundus plorat et Syon' in: CBV, 152 and 154. 153 CBM, 378.
36 for two centuries. However, according to legend the emperor's body, found in 1000 under the rule of emperor Otto, was still in perfect condition, sitting on a throne with a golden scepter and sword in his hands as if he was ready to battle against the Saracens.154 According to Daniel Callahan, Charlemagne is depicted here as the Last Emperor.155 The Song of Roland too shows Charlemagne as such a valiant knight. Although the battle at Roncevaux Pass had taken place in 778, when Charlemagne was still young and not yet emperor, he is depicted here as an old man with white flowing hair and a long white beard, and the Basques have been replaced by Saracens, so that Charlemagne seems to be fulfilling the role of the Last Emperor.156 Whether this image of Charlemagne as the Last Emperor was widely spread or not, we do not see it as such in the Carmina Burana, except in a notable passage in CB 50. The Knights Templar are described as drawing 'gilt swords' when they attack the Saracens.157 The author himself was most certainly not present at the battle and may not have known anything about the swords the knights used. This leaves us with a question about the significance of this seemingly puzzling detail. It is highly unlikely that they fought with such precious swords. It can also be questioned whether they had such weapons at all. However, even if they did, medieval swords would have only a gilt hilt, for gold is a soft material and would not last long on the blade. To this can be added that the climate in the Holy Land was hotter than in Europe and a metal hilt might have slipped more easily in the hands than one wrapped with leather. It is therefore very unlikely that the Knights Templar fought with gilt swords. Contemporary readers may have deduced from this detail that the poem was not an attempt to depict the battle realistically, thus reading it not as a true account of the event but as a partly imagined one. Has the author perhaps depicted the knights are followers of the Last Emperor Charlemagne who was waiting in his grave, ready to fight the Saracens with his golden sword? The Battle at Hattin could then be seen as a sign of the imminent coming of the End of Time. However, although the author is clearly devastated by the victory and deeds of the Saracens there is no clear ending of the world in his poem. Nor does he say that Christians should fight back. Instead, the listeners must weep, pray and better their lives so that God will
154 Daniel Callahan, 'al-Hākim, Charlemagne, and the destruction of the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in the writings of Ademar of Chabannes' in: Matthew Gabriele and Jace Stuckey ed., The legend of Charlemagne in the Middle Ages. Power, faith and crusade (New York 2008) 41-57, there 47. 155 Callahan, 'al-Hākim, Charlemagne, and the destruction of the church', 48. 156 La Chanson de Roland, Oxford version, edited by Ian Short in: Joseph Duggan ed., La Chanson de Roland. The Song of Roland. The French Corpus (Turnhout 2005) book 1, part 1, pages 14 and 17-19. 157 'enses deauratos' in: CBV, 146.
37 listen once again. Perhaps the author not believe that the Last Judgment is near or he thinks that peaceful conversion starting amongst his listeners is more pleasing to God and morally better than fighting. We also have to keep in mind that this poem alludes to Bernard of Clairvaux's Epistle 363. This allusion could be witty as well as serious. It seems that this poem raises quite a few questions. However, if we were to look at the poem without reading too much into it, then it seems that the author's main concern is the salvation of Christian souls. The account of Saladin and the Christian losses in the Holy Land might be nothing more than a good example that demonstrates how far Christians have strayed from the right path, so that God had now forsaken His people. The other songs are a bit clearer. As noted above, CB 48 says that Christ has risen and that the Christians too now must stand up to reconquer Jerusalem to wash away their sins. Jerusalem is presented as a gift with which people can obtain their place in heaven. CB 49 too alludes to the Coming of the End, as we have seen. The Kingdom of God is coming, which here refers to Christ's rule on earth and the coming of heavenly Jerusalem.158 The author talks about the Judge, the Day of Judgment, and the tribunal of Christ, which all indicate that Christ's second coming is near. Only those who bear the cross, the soldiers of Christ, will be saved and be His temple. The temple is here a metaphor for heavenly Jerusalem to which I will come back later. Earthly Jerusalem is not mentioned, so it might very well be that those who partake in other frontiers might also be blessed, but even then Jerusalem is still implicated. In CB 46 and 47 the End of Time is subtly alluded to by talking about the prince of princes, the king of kings and the leader of leaders. All these terms point to the Last Emperor. Although the authors leave open who this emperor may be, according to Vollmann in CB 46 it is possibly Conrad III of the Holy Roman Empire. He bases this on the fact that in the Ludus de Antichristo this role is strongly assigned to Conrad.159 However, the poem has been dated to somewhere before the Second Crusade in 1149 and the Ludus was written later around 1165. It can therefore not be concluded that Conrad was already given the role around 1149.160 It is nevertheless clear that the Last Emperor had already come and that he would lead the crusaders.
158 Schein, Gateway, 119 and 122-123. 159 CBV, 981. 160 Ibidem, 978 and 981.
38 Four other poems, not concerning the crusades, also refer to the Last Judgment. The first is CB 34, written by Phillip the Chancellor (1160/80-1236). This poem laments the state of the Church by using metaphors comparing it to Jerusalem: Zion and the Temple of Solomon. At the very end the author exhorts that the Judge of men should come and overturn the seats of men selling doves.161 This Judge of men is Christ when he will judge all people at the Last Judgment. These lines also refer to a passage in the Gospel of John 2:14-16. In it Jesus comes to Jerusalem and sees that the temple is filled with merchants, some selling doves, whom he drove out of the temple and whose tables he overturned.162 The Church has fallen so deep that Christ has to save it, like he did with the temple in Jerusalem. Church and temple are compared to each other, except that Christ as the judge makes the situation worse this time. The next poem, CB 123 written by Walter of Châtillon, has a very similar theme to CB 34. Here too the author shows concern for the behavior of the priests. However, he is also disconcerted by the fact that the laity, princes and kings have been marked with the stigma of infamy. They form the valley as opposed to the hills, which are the clerics. They are hills because they are situated on the peak of Zion where they serve as a mirror of the world. As already mentioned Zion here is both Mount Zion and a reference to Jerusalem, making a connection between this sacred city and Rome. Though this link might seem good, this is not the case here. First, Walter states that he is worried that the world is rushing to its end.163 Moreover, he ends with an appeal to God that the year of jubilation with which this era will end may come quickly. He then goes on that he wishes to die so that he will not see the Antichrist as his harbingers are already standing on the Mount of Anointing. This mountain, also known as the Mount of Olives, is the place where Christ ascended into heaven. It was also believed to be the place where the Last Emperor would lay down his crown and scepter after which the Antichrist would appear.164 Since the priests are compared to hills it seems that the harbingers of the Antichrist on the Mount of Olives are the clerics. The mountain itself, then, is the very seat of the Church in Rome. We can compare this poem to Walter's CB 8, discussed above. Both poems lament about the behavior of the clerics and hint towards the End of Time. Although in CB 8 this happens not very explicitly, it is the case in CB 123.
161 'ueni, iudex gentium, kathedras uendentium columbras euertere!' in: Ibidem, 84. 162 KJ21. 163 'Uersa est in luctum cythara Waltheri (…) sed quia considerat, quod finis accelerat inprouisus orbi' in: CBV, 442. 164 Adso, Letter on the Origin and Life of the Antichrist, 93.
39 The third poem is CB 237 also known as CB 9*.165 This poem too, tells about the deplorable state of the Church. According to Bernt it was written around the middle of the thirteenth century.166 The author, Marner (ca. 1210-1270), about whom almost nothing is known, is especially discontent with the monastic orders. While these first flourished, the new mendicant orders are despised by Marner, for they listen only to money. They are the reason why the world is hastening towards its decline. The Antichrist has dispatched his harbingers, who are fighting against the warriors of Christ. This miles Christi reminds us strongly of the crusaders who were also called by that name.167 Is Jerusalem implied here, this time meaning the Church and are the warriors the clerics? Or are the crusaders meant, or perhaps the true and faithful Christians? The first interpretation is somewhat unlikely since Marner says that the spiritual fathers have turned their faces away from the decay so the Antichrist would have no reason to deter them. The soldiers are rather the crusaders, those true Christians, who were fighting desperately for Jerusalem while the Saracen forces seemed to grow stronger. These Saracens then would be the harbingers of the Antichrist to whom he has given many weapons of war. In the thirteenth century we see the failures of the crusades to reconquer Jerusalem and although the sixth campaign (1228-1229) did win the city back, it was only through a diplomatic treaty between Frederick II and al-Kamil.168 Marner might be alluding to one of these unsuccessful crusades. By linking this to the End of Time, the Antichrist and the new monastic orders, it seems that he is blaming the Church and these monks for the failure of the crusades, as they opened the gate for the Antichrist. Though it has to be said that this is not the main message of the poem, which is more about the corrupt monks of the new orders who have strayed far from the true faith. Finally, the poem CB 43, like the three discussed above, also talks about the state of the Church. The tone, however, is different. Whereas the authors of CB 34, 123 and 9* were quite harsh on the church fathers, whom they blamed for the moral depravity of the Church, the unknown author of CB 43 depicts them as foolish and helpless. Because of this the world is decaying, since evil forces are not hindered. The author makes use of the Parable of the ten virgins to illustrate what is going on.169 The Parable tells how ten virgins are waiting for the bridegroom, who was expected during the night, while carrying lamps. However, only five of
165 The poems with an * are believed to be later additions to the manuscript. See: Bischoff, Carmina Burana. Einführung, 15-16. 166 CB FKB, 969. 167 Tyerman, God's War, 72-73. 168 Ibidem, 749-752. 169 Matthew, 25:1-14 in: KJ21.
40 them have brought oil while the other had only taken their lamps. In the end only those who had oil could keep their lamps burning and were taken away by the bridegroom. The bridegroom is Christ who will take those who were well prepared with him at the Last Judgment. The text is thus a warning that we should at all times be prepared for the End. Rome, the central seat of the Church, is compared to one of the foolish virgins, having a lamp with no oil and no way to purchase it. Therefore, it will not be saved. 'The good lord of the city on high will hear it not, when outside the voice of the hapless cries aloud for aid.'170 Vollmann has translated superne civitatis with 'himmlischen Stadt'.171 This city is heavenly Jerusalem. The people will not enter it, for they have been foolish and have forgotten to prepare themselves for the Coming of the End. Heavenly Jerusalem, in this case, seems to be heaven. The way the crusading songs too, portray the crusaders as fighting for heavenly Jerusalem also seems to indicate that heaven and the heavenly city could be the same. Although all these songs all deal with the Last Judgment, they form a very small number within the entire manuscript. The way they approach the subject of the End and why they bring it up also varies greatly. These authors either really believe that the End was near or it was a literary device, for example to describe their discontent. It seems to me that it is rather the latter which is the case. In the crusading poems the allusions to Christ as Judge and the Last Emperor can be seen as motivations for the Christians to go to the Holy Land and fight. In the other non-crusading poems, we see that they all evolve around the same theme: the depravity of the Church. The link with the End of Time here functions as a metaphor to clarify just how much worse the situation actually is. It is impossible to completely rule out the possibility that the authors did think that the End might be near, but in these poems it can also perfectly be read otherwise whilst still making sense.
Other references to Jerusalem
We have now uncovered quite a number of different usages and appearances of Jerusalem in the Carmina Burana. There are, however, still a few left to discover that do not fall into the categories above. One of them appears in CB 193, a dialogue between water and wine. The storyteller begins the poem by telling his audience that water and wine should never be mixed together. He then goes on to tell what will happen if someone still does. Water and wine start
170 'pietas nec audit superne ciuitatis, foris dum inclamitat uox clamitatis' in: CBV, 118. 171 Ibidem, 118-119.
41 to argue about their qualities and who is the better one. Water then states that he is indispensable. For it is he who transports the pilgrims who seek salvation 'ad templi palatia', which means Jerusalem.172 Wine then retorts that water not only welcomes ships, but also makes the journey very dangerous and hard. This particular part of the poem, however, is absent in the Carmina Burana where the poem stops just before it. Through the research of other manuscripts, it has been concluded that the original poem must have been much longer. These few lines tell us that pilgrims went to Jerusalem by sea. The journey was not a very safe one, as the sea would swell. But in the end the pilgrims would arrive at Jerusalem, to the palace of the temple. This was the place where they could seek salvation. It is not clear whether the palace refers to the whole of Jerusalem or to a specific building. Either way, the city is presented as a holy place and worth the perils of the journey. A very brief reference to the crusades can be found in CB 211a. It contains the first few lines of the Palästinalied, a song written at the time of the Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) by Walther von der Vogelweide (ca. 1170-1230). The reader follows a pilgrim who travels to the Holy Land. The excerpt in the Carmina Burana only contains the first verse, which characterizes the Holy Land as the place where God, in his human form, laid his footprints. The land is also described as beautiful and much honored. Although the rest of the song is missing, the piece is nevertheless interesting for its placement directly behind CB 211. For in this poem faith is ridiculed. The stomach is presented as a new god, whose temple is the kitchen. The phrase 'cuius templum est coquina' can be traced back to the Book of Ezekiel where Ezekiel describes a temple whose adjacent city is not named, but is most likely Jerusalem.173 The kitchens in this temple were the places where the ministers would prepare the offerings and sacrifices. CB 211 could be a parody of this, as here the God feasts on the food and drinks from the temple that is the kitchen. If so, the author seems to be mocking Christianity. This poem seems quite the opposite of Walther's song. The fact that the song tells us about the Holy Land and that it was placed together with CB 211, suggests that there has to be a link between the two. It is very likely that CB 211 does make fun of those going to Jerusalem. However, the poem can also be seen as a piece to be sung or recited at a feast. The last poem I will review here is CB 8. We have seen this piece several times now, as it refers to Zion and Babylon; but here a third metaphor will be discussed. It contains a
172 CB FKB, 578-579; CBM, 235. 173 Catherine Delano-Smith, 'The exegetical Jerusalem: Ezekiel Chapters 40-48' in: Lucy Donkin and Hanna Vorholt ed., Imagining Jerusalem in the Medieval West (Oxford 2012) 41-75, there 49-50.
42 short warning to the heads of the Church and those who follow them. Walter of Châtillon states that these men sell altars and the Eucharist and warns his listeners that those who are only ambitious and service idols will not be unified with the temple of the Holy Spirit. We can compare this specific line to one of the images of heavenly Jerusalem that it was a city built from living stones. These stones were the souls of the faithful Christians, who together build the heavenly city. However, these heads of the Church will no longer be part of its glory. We have seen quite a variety of references to Jerusalem. I have categorized them in order to demonstrate that there is some coherence among them. The authors of the poems made use of already existing themes surrounding Jerusalem. However, the different ways it was incorporated within the poems and the subtle changes each author made, has shown us that even though they made use of a framework, the authors made use of their freedom to form it to their needs. Thus, the diversity displayed here is not merely a collection of different if individual usages, but rather it shows a conscious interplay between popular and individual usages of and references to Jerusalem. All these single examples have shown us individuality as well as themes through which they are connected to each other. In the same way I will show in the next chapter that these diverse usages are also connected to social reality. The authors use the poems to tell the reader something about the world around them and incorporate the references to Jerusalem to imbibe their public with a message; whether it was a lamentation on the state of the Church or an incitement to go on a crusade. However, as I will argue, the references discussed here may also give us a hint of the general attitude in Western Europe towards the earthly and the heavenly Jerusalem and the role it would play at the End of Time.
3. Living closer to God
Diversity challenges the meaning of 'Jerusalem' in the Carmina Burana. In the few poems discussed here, we have seen a multitude of usages and a flexibility with which it can be interpreted in the same sentence. The importance of giving such a detailed overview of this richness lies in the link between historical documents, in this case poems, and historical events. What happened during their lifetimes left an impression on contemporaries and what they thought about their times was in turn reflected in their works, whether on purpose or unknowingly. By connecting this diversity in the usages and meanings of Jerusalem to these
43 events, we might get a better view of the different ways people perceived their world. By linking language and historical events, I hope to arrive at a more detailed image of the authors', their audiences' and perhaps more general concerns and thoughts about the End of Time, an event which frequently turns up when analyzing 'Jerusalem'. This in turn might tell us something about their motivations for going on a crusade and for imagining their cities as Jerusalem for example. It would be presumptuous to say that all these points will be treated here. The relatively small amount of texts consists of poems written by people who have studied theology. It is therefore not representative for the whole of Western European people. Explaining historical events would thus go too far. However, an attempt will be made to give an insight into how these people reacted to and dealt with their social reality. Seeing poetry about Jerusalem from this perspective will enhance our view on history, making it more than just a fascinating story of events, but filled with breathing and living people with whom we can empathize. The poems selected in this thesis mainly deal with two kinds of subjects. The first, as is evident from the first chapter, is the crusades. The second topic concerns discontent with the Church, more specifically the way its leaders comported themselves. Therefore, the events surrounding the Holy Land and what happened within the Church will be examined, together with a few other developments that may be referred to in the poems. Although they will be treated in turn, I will argue that these individual topics are all connected to one another through allusions to the End of Time.
Crusades
The First Crusade and the subsequent Fall of Jerusalem in 1099 marked the beginning of an era of Western European dominance in the Holy Land. Even though there still is considerable debate whether Urban II had the liberation of Jerusalem as his prime target, the conquest of the city by a crusader army was celebrated as a joyful event for Christendom. Even monks in far-off Solignac, who most likely never had seen the Holy Land, were in high spirits as one of them wrote a celebratory song to commemorate the victory several decades after the feat, as we have seen in the first chapter in CB 52. The event was something not to be forgotten and the text was even disseminated and incorporated into the Carmina Burana. Although by then the song must have evoked different emotions than when it was composed. For the city had
44 already fallen into the hands of the Saracens through the conquest of Saladin and several attempts to win it back had not had the wished outcome. However, if the Carmina Burana was compiled between 1229 and 1244 the inclusion of CB 52 could be seen as a conscious decision and not just the copying of a ready set of poems. For during that time Jerusalem was once more under Christian control, thanks to a treaty between the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II and the Ayyubid sultan al-Kamil at the end of the Sixth Crusade (1228-1229). Whereas CB 52 celebrates the conquest, CB 46 has been described as a song written to recruit crusaders.174 Although its exact date of composition is unknown it is most probably written sometime before the end of the Second Crusade (1147-1149). As I have argued in the first chapter, this poem can be read as a critical reaction, for it seems to mock those that rush heedlessly to Jerusalem. They left their families behind in poverty and had no true Christian intentions in their quest. It is not clear what the author is reacting to: the way crusaders are recruited, their motivations, or actions already taking place in the Holy Land. Either way, he seems to imply that the way they were behaving was wrong, although the act of crusading itself is not criticized. There is a longstanding debate on the nature of crusading. The question about the role of Jerusalem therein plays an important role. Although the number of crusading songs in the Carmina Burana is relatively small, they might shed a new light on the discussion. Giles Constable has given an overview of the different views on crusades. He distinguishes four schools: traditionalism, pluralism, spiritualism and generalism.175 The first group comprises those historians who state that only the movements that were directed towards the Holy Land can be called crusades. The second group also includes the expeditions that went elsewhere as long as they were authorized by the Pope. Religious enthusiasm is the main factor for spiritualists. For them only the First Crusade and the crusade led by Peter the Hermit (1196) can be called crusades as its participants showed true religious motivations. The last group, generalists, have the broadest view of all. They identify the crusades as any holy war, a fight in defense of Christendom against the enemies who threatened it. The physical city of Jerusalem only plays an important role in the view of the traditionalists. As Constable argues, it would be wrong to assume that only one of these groups is
174 CBV, 978. 175 Giles Constable, 'The Historiography of the Crusades' in: Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh ed., The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World (Washington 2001) 1-22, there 12- 14.
45 right.176 Crusading was never a clearly defined enterprise and its character changed constantly. While at first earthly Jerusalem might have been the goal it was not the only front where Christians fought against the enemies of Christendom. However, according to Cecilia Gaposchkin 'Jerusalem – because it was the first, because it was where Christ had lived and died, and because it was the center of the Earth – retained a special character, a goal apart'.177 When Pope Eugene III (r. 1145-1153) made the call for the Second Crusade, he envisioned the expedition as bigger than just directed to Jerusalem. According to Brett Edward Whalen, Eugene III saw it as a battle on all Christian frontiers, 'extending the same privileges and remission of sins granted to Jerusalem-bound warriors to those who were fighting in Iberia and against “the Slavs and pagan peoples living in the north”'.178 If this extension really can be read as a sign that Eugene considered the other frontiers as important as the Holy Land stands open to debate. However, Constable has stated that even contemporaries regarded these expeditions as part of the Second Crusade.179 Notable here is the fact that none of the poems in the Carmina Burana make any kind of reference to the struggles in Iberia or Livonia. Either the composer of the manuscript was not interested in collecting these poems and thus left them aside, or the number of poems written about these other 'crusades' was much smaller, making it less likely for one of them to end up in the codex. Jerusalem thus seems to have held a very special place in the expeditions against the pagans. The events that seem to have evoked the biggest amount of reaction are the Battle of Hattin and the Fall of Jerusalem. My reading of CB 47, 48 and 50 has shown that although these events were seen as very tragic, the reactions were all different. The author of CB 48 incites his audience with fervor that they should take up their arms and fight, seeing this as an opportunity for Christians to be remitted from their sins by winning back the city themselves. CB 47 also urges the people to fight, but here it is presented as a battle to obtain entrance to the heavenly city. In contrast, CB 50 argues that the people should pray and better their lives, asking for forgiveness. It is not clear what accounts for these significant differences. In CB 50 Jerusalem is not even mentioned. Furthermore, this poem also was based on Audita Tremendi, as mentioned already. But even though the poem took its inspiration from another text, it has a
176 Constable, 'The Historiography of the Crusades', 10-22. 177 Cecilia Gaposchkin, 'The Place of Jerusalem in Western Crusading Rites of Departure (1095-1300)', The Catholic Historical Review 99:1 (2013) 1-28, there 3. 178 Whalen, Dominion, 72. 179 Giles Constable, 'The Second Crusade as seen by Contemporaries', Traditio 9 (1953) 213-279.
46 different message. Whereas the pope argued that the Christian people should fight, the author of CB 50 did not. Although we have seen that each author had his own description of Jerusalem, there is also a similarity. They all describe the city as the place where Biblical history took place. The city is linked to King David and most notably to Christ, as the place where his grave lies. This was a significant shift from the earlier attitude towards Jerusalem. During the early Middle Ages the city was, according to Sylvia Schein, interpreted as 'the City of Jews', the city that had slain its prophets and been burned down, first by the Babylonians and then by the Romans.180 This rather negative view of Jerusalem then made way for a more positive one. The city was the place where the grave could be visited and it had also become 'a gate on the believer's road to the celestial city, to one's personal salvation', states Schein.181 According to her, heavenly Jerusalem was the most important of the two. However, the fate of the celestial city was intertwined with the earthly one. Reconquering the city and keeping it in Christian hands was important to ensure the safety of the heavenly one as well. 182 According to Schein, Peter the Venerable and Baldric of Dol even stated that if earthly Jerusalem would fall into Muslim hands the heavenly city could no longer be reached by crusaders or pilgrims.183 Although she cannot explain this shift, she does suggest that pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the Fall of Jerusalem in 1099 might have had an important part in the development of this new view. Pilgrimage, indeed, has had a great influence on the image of Jerusalem, as Morris demonstrates. The number of pilgrims had increased after the First Crusade and those who returned brought back accounts of the city and little objects. It was above all the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that enjoyed most of the attention. According to Morris it was not Jerusalem that was the goal of the journey but the Holy Sepulchre, or more specific the grave of Christ.184 We can see this in the poems as Jerusalem itself is not mentioned but the authors instead refer to the grave. It is perhaps astonishing that even though many pilgrims traveled to Jerusalem only one poem, CB 193, very briefly refers to this practice. Most certain is that none of the crusading poems in the Carmina Burana portray Jerusalem as the foul city where the killing of prophets took place. Nor is it even called a Jewish city. Instead, they refer to its
180 Schein, Gateway, 114. 181 Ibidem, 114. 182 Ibidem, 119. 183 Ibidem, 132. 184 Morris, The Sepulchre of Christ, 178.
47 Biblical past as the city of David and Christ. It might be, as some thought that the End of Time was approaching, that Jerusalem was reinterpreted as the city of their salvation as to offer some hope to Christians. The fact that the poems offer the city as a way to enter the heavenly city, might support this view. However, more evidence would be needed to make a stronger argument. It would seem that a crusade was on the one hand an expedition directed towards the grave of Christ, as the traditionalists partly claim. On the other hand it also may have had a very spiritual element, as the crusaders went not only to liberate a physical place but also to attain redemption of their souls, which could be seen as an aspect of religious enthusiasm. However, if expeditions directed towards Spain and the Baltic region were also considered part of the crusades, while Jerusalem retained its special character as a goal apart, then the pluralist view would also hold true. Nonetheless, these other crusades may have had a different status as compared to the ones directed towards Jerusalem. The overarching element of all these expeditions could be the thought that they were needed to secure salvation of the soul. It would be interesting to see how other crusading poems describe the enterprise.
Church reform
While Western European Christians went to the Holy Land to fight, the Church itself, that had sent them, was in strife. There was of course a connection between the crusades and changes in the Church, however, the poems do not mention these two together.185 From the eleventh century onwards the papacy was not only struggling with the Eastern Orthodox Church, but also with changes in their own forces, according to Whalen.186 During the twelfth century there were no less than eleven anti-popes, leading to unrest and disunity in the Church and across Western Europe. A great cause for the relatively great number of anti-popes were the struggles between the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and the popes. The most well- known is the investiture controversy, which began as a power struggle between Pope Gregory VII and emperor Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire. The Gregorian Reform had brought a new movement to the Church as they tried to wrestle the power of investiture back from the ruling secular power who appointed their own bishops. Some even sold church offices, also
185 For the connection see: Lynch and Adamo, The Medieval Church, 171-186; John Thomson, The Western Church in the Middle Ages (New York 1998) 105-109; Whalen, Dominion, 42-71. 186 Whalen, Dominion of God, 72-99.
48 known as simony. In 1075 it was declared that only the pope could appoint bishops or move them to another see. Henry IV, however, still continued to appoint bishops, leading to a longstanding conflict with the pope and to the appointment of Anti-Pope Clement III in 1080. Contemporaries, like Rupert of Deutz (c. 1070-1129) described the events with a clear apocalyptic imagery. Although, according to McGinn, Rupert did not believe that the End of the world was immediate, he does portray a hastening of the process.187 In the Carmina Burana we have seen some poems concerning the state of the Church. It is lamented that the fathers no longer follow Christ; that they have strayed from the right path. The main reason for this is money. The authors bewail that priests sell their offices to those who have money instead of giving it to the worthy. Some even dared to ask money for their services, despite the fact that these should be given freely since they are a gift from God. Donald Logan relates how sacraments conferred by a simoniacal bishop could be viewed as invalid by Humbert of Moyenmoutier (1000-1061). Logan claims that it is very fortunate that in the end the view of Peter Damian, who proclaimed that the validity of the sacraments was not influenced by simony of the office, prevailed. For otherwise there could have been a great crisis amongst believers about the salvation of their souls.188 Even though this crisis may have been averted, the poems discussed in the previous chapter show us that some contemporaries had great concerns regarding the state of the church. Even though the Gregorian Reform tried to bring an end to the selling of offices, the poems suggest that despite the fact that the practice was formally forbidden it still went on during the twelfth century. Around 1170 Walter of Châtillon clearly complains in CB 8 how through gold or money the future bishop can get into his office.189 Faith had become merchandise. The old bishops act as though they were young men, indulging in sexual pleasure. Walter warns that they are not worshiping God but idols, in this case money and wealth, and therefore they will not enter heavenly Jerusalem.190 The reference to the celestial city is used as a warning to everyone, but also shows the seriousness of the transgressions. CB 4 too complains about simony. Here it is not fully the fault of the Church, but of the whole world that has been befouled with the crime of perfidy. This in turn has wrecked the Church, making Zion cry. Likewise, Walter of Châtillon and Philip the Chancellor also have incorporated this theme of a crying Zion in their poems regarding the state of the Church.
187 McGinn, Visions of the End, 96. 188 Donald Logan, A History of the Church in the Middle Ages (London and New York 2002) 110. 189 'auro vel pecunia cuncta facit peruia pontifex futurus' in: CBV, 30. 190 'quem sic ambit ambitus ydolorum seruitus templo sancti Spiritus non compaginatur' in: Ibidem, 28.
49 Phillip even goes as far as to compare the Church to a robbers' den and the pope to the Antichrist, making the poem rather apocalyptic. CB 41, also written by Walter of Châtillon, is in this sense perhaps the most striking poem of the Carmina Burana. Not only because of its length, but rather for its impressive language against the Church which is pictured as a grievous pestilence devouring all. The imagery used gives a very lively picture of a Church falling into a great abyss. Avarice is the great crime of the clerics. Franco, the papal camerlengo between 1174 and 1179, is the biggest felon amongst them. He was the go-between for those who wanted anything from the Pope himself and he abused his position by taking great amounts of gifts. The Pope himself, Alexander III, is a pious man. However, Walter remarks that even he is not a true servant of God as he is impeded by men like Franco. Again, Zion is invoked as Walter states he writes for Zion's sake. By selling offices the cardinals are crucifying Christ in a new way. The Church seems irredeemably lost. Noticeable are the various references to Greek mythology. However, this must be seen as part of a general trend to use Greek and Roman mythology even in Christian texts. The reason for this lies in the fact that to learn Latin old Roman texts were used. This way the non-Christian mythology was incorporated into the language used by clerics.191 CB 40 is not only reacting against avarice and simony, but also against the custom of giving the papacy gifts in exchange for favors. Richard William Southern states that even though the papacy tried to reform the Church, in the end they were rulers like any other. This included the bestowing of special favors to those subjects that had proven loyal. Southern then describes how abbeys gained benefits by offering money. Monks and other clergymen would go to great lengths to make sure that they would get what they wanted and this often meant giving money to the corrupt heads.192 Although this practice was, according to Southern, very normal for rulers, it was also frowned upon. Philip, Walter and several anonymous writers of the poems discussed here, can be seen as being in favor of the Gregorian reform. The usage of Jerusalem and the Apocalypse is mainly to warn their readers and to stress the serious state of affairs, as argued in the previous chapter. It would be wrong to assume that everyone always thought that all was bad with the Church. Though the twelfth century saw another schism like the conflict between the papacy
191 For more information on this subject see: Peter Dronke, The Medieval Poet and his World (Rome 1984) 105- 111. 192 Richard William Southern, Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (Harmondsworth 1970) 113- 115.
50 and emperor Henry IV, this time with emperor Frederick I (r. 1155-1190), the author of CB 53 was very happy and elated when in 1177 the schism was ended by the Treaty of Venice. The anti-pope whom Frederick I had appointed was abandoned and the emperor formally acknowledged Pope Alexander III. The author of the poem was delighted by this, so much so that he even proclaims that the people of Zion should rejoice.193 With this he may mean the Christian believers or those already admitted to the heavenly city, or both. In this case again, the reference to Jerusalem is used to emphasize how the author felt. This does not mean that the use of the city should be seen merely as a literary device. The diversity of its usage and the ways it was referred to suggests that Jerusalem had a very important place in Christianity. By close-reading the poems of the Carmina Burana we have also seen that Jerusalem could be a metaphor for different things. It was a way for medieval writers to be creative in their writing as they could inscribe Jerusalem with the meaning they wanted. However, the very similar references to Zion when talking about the Church seem to suggest that there might have been some trends. It has also shown us that although the passages could be seen as a literal reflection on how the author saw his world, the references to Jerusalem, Zion or the Apocalypse also have a clear literary goal. A feat that those historians who are discussing whether the Apocalypse was constantly on everyone's mind tend to forget. The question should therefore not only be if it was on their mind, but also in which way. The authors of the poems discussed here seem to connect the End of Time in particular with the inability of the Church to counteract the avarice of priests. It gives us the picture of a Church not only fighting pagans abroad, but also struggling with internal problems, both of which could be described by referring to Jerusalem and the End of Time.
Development of cities, urbanization
We have seen that Zion could mean heavenly Jerusalem, which in turn could refer to the Church. Kühnel has explored this link more in depth. She has argued how especially Church Fathers have used 'heavenly Jerusalem' to describe the perfect state of the future Church at the End of Time.194 The heavenly city, however, has also been used to describe several cities, as already mentioned. According to Hartmut Kugler, medieval cities were not only compared to Jerusalem textually, but their actual architecture and community too might have been
193 'Nunc Syon letetur gens' in: CBV, 160. 194 Kühnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, 74-78.
51 influenced by the ways the heavenly city was envisioned and vice versa. The most intriguing point of his research is how he then connects the views of the heavenly city as Ecclesia to the earthly city as a reflection of the heavenly one.195 Buc adds to this that 'the Church made explicitly every town into a Jerusalem' when they established the urban feast of Corpus Christi in 1264.196 However, according to Mirin Rubin it would take another half a century before the feast had become widely celebrated.197 It is questionable whether the authors of the poems discussed here had celebrated this feast of even knew of it, especially since a part of the poems were written in the first half of the twelfth century and even afterwards the feast seems not to have been celebrated everywhere. However, Buc does not clarify how the celebration made towns into Jerusalem. He suggests instead that this was part of the re- spiritualization of Jerusalem after the defeats in the Holy Land, like Hattin (1187), when the earthly city 'was translated, as in the seventh century, to Western ecclesiastical institutions'.198 The feast of the Corpus Christi would then be part of this renewal. In fact, as I will suggest, it might be possible that people already envisioned their towns as Jerusalem in the twelfth century; well before 1264. When we talk about the Church, we think about the Vatican, the Pope, the cardinals and bishops, in short: the Church as an institution. However, this is not the only way of thinking about it. According to Kugler, the Church for medieval people could also mean the whole community of Christians.199 If we take a look at one of the views of the heavenly city as a place still in construction, built from living stones which are the faithful Christians, the equation between New Jerusalem and Ecclesia suddenly takes on a different light. This image is what might have inspired the authors of CB 8 and 49, as they warn their listeners that they will not be fitted into the temple of the lord if they do not correct their behavior. So even though the city is built by God, he cannot complete it if he has no faithful souls who can serve as its living stones. If we look back at the thought in CB 48 that the Christians should not rely on God for winning Jerusalem back, but do it themselves, it seems that there was a sentiment amongst Christians in the twelfth century in Western Europe to rely less on the power of the Lord and to be more active to prove oneself worthy of His love. Earthly Jerusalem, starting from St. Augustine, was seen as a gateway to heavenly
195 Harmut Kugler, Die Vorstellung der Stadt in der Literatur des deutschen Mittelalters (München 1986) 79- 141. 196 Buc, Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror, 291-292. 197 Mirin Rubin, Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture (Cambridge 1991) 181-182. 198 Buc, Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror, 291. 199 Kugler, Die Vorstellung der Stadt, 96-100.
52 Jerusalem.200 This is, according to Schein, one of the reasons why pilgrims and crusaders went there, as they hoped to attain the heavenly city by visiting the earthly one.201 Could it be that by fashioning their own city after the heavenly city, like the Jerusalem they saw was a mirror- image of the one to come, they sought to come closer to it? Although Kugler strongly demonstrates a connection between Church, city, the community of citizens and heavenly Jerusalem, I would argue that the theme of living stones is indeed used in CB 8 and 49. However, in these poems it is solely referring to the heavenly city and not to any other city. This particular view of heavenly Jerusalem as built from living stones is not the only one we have encountered. In CB 46 the city was imagined like a normal earthly city, except that there would be no strife and the houses would not be demolished, but stand forever. The term Visio Pacis mentioned in CB 46 fits this description. Heavenly Jerusalem was the perfect version of earthly Jerusalem, or any other city built or imagined in the fashion of Jerusalem. It is striking to see how these descriptions, which according to Kugler are linked to the tradition of laudatio urbis, are also mentioned in poems concerning the crusades and dissatisfaction with the Church.202 Even though the connection seems not to have been laid so far, it seems to me that comparing cities with heavenly Jerusalem might be another sign of some degree of occupation of the medieval people with the End of Time. It seems to me that these comparisons were made to feel closer to God. Kugler shows that the citizens were compared to living stones.203 Thus, they were building their own city in the same way as they might build the heavenly city if they were worthy. The city could have been seen as a sort of preparation for heavenly Jerusalem, just like a cloister could be such a gateway in the eyes of Bernard of Clairvaux. Citizens may have believed that to live in a city meant being a step closer to admittance to God's city. If so, it would mean that the Apocalypse was on everyone's mind, as the number of cities and their population grew. Although it is very unlikely to be the only reason for the scale of urbanization. Kugler suggests that:
Im historischen Umfeld dieses großen Schubes von Stadtgründungen dürfte es den Zeitgenossen, wenn sie sich über die Beschaffenheit des Idealortes im Himmel Gedanken machten, zunehmend plausibel geworden sein, daß auch das Jenseits
200 Westphälinger, 'Real-Geographische Gegenwart', 131. 201 Ibidem; Schein, Gateway, 118-125. 202 For more information on this tradition see: Kugler, Die Vorstellung der Stadt, 112-121. 203 Kugler, Die Vorstellung der Stadt, 96-101 and 118-119.
53 stadtbauliche Konturen haben könne.204
The author of CB 46 would agree, as the description of the heavenly city comprised of mansions has shown. If the author of CB 52 really compared Solignac to Jerusalem, as I have argued in the first chapter, then it would mean that this was not limited to cities. However, we have to keep in mind that the author of the poems was most likely a monk and that Solignac was a very small village. In other words, in the eyes of the author Solignac and its abbey might have been one and the same. If that is the case, then he could have shared the view of Bernard of Clairvaux that abbeys were pathways to heavenly Jerusalem. To recall, Schein states that earthly Jerusalem was seen as a gateway to the heavenly one. However, as she also states, some sought other ways. As an example she mentions St Meginwerd, who built a church in Paderborn which was modeled upon the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 'in order to be granted “Heavenly Jerusalem”'.205 Thus cities built or imagined as Jerusalem perhaps could function as a gateway too. Stroumsa argues that earthly Jerusalem and reproductions of the earthly city complemented one another: 'The way to heavenly Jerusalem does not pass as much through earthly Jerusalem as it does through the multiple Jerusalems disseminated throughout Western Europe.'206 Moreover, Stroumsa has also stated that earthly Jerusalem had become more important after the Fall of Jerusalem in 1099, a statement which should be reconsidered now. According to Schein this might be true only at first sight. She argues that the importance of the earthly city was part of the search for the heavenly one.207 Unfortunately, the Carmina Burana, aside from CB 52, offers us no other poems about any city through which this theory of cities as gateways to Jerusalem could be tested. Still, we have seen a few examples of usages of heavenly or earthly Jerusalem which could have been influenced by changes in the urban landscape of Western Europe as the authors may have lived in cities imagined as Jerusalem. These have shown us the diverse applicability of Jerusalem and the place it had in the lives of contemporaries. More research could be done on this subject. A way to gather more insight could be by examining city descriptions to see whether comparisons were made between the concerning city and heavenly Jerusalem or that the city was described in a way familiar to how the heavenly city was imagined. City plans could also be checked for similarities with medieval Jerusalem.
204 Ibidem, 88. 205 Schein, Gateway, 114. 206 Stroumsa, 'Mystical Jerusalems', 352. 207 Schein, Gateway, 116-123 and 192.
54 Likewise, churches and important objects too could be examined on likeness to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and depictions of Jerusalem.
Apocalypse
The Apocalypse has come up several times throughout the chapters. Even though only a small fraction of the poems is directly referring to the End of Time, the subjects they are treating all have a link to this final event. Therefore, I will try to give some new insights into the importance of the Apocalypse during the late eleventh to the early thirteenth century among writers and the Christian population of Western Europe at large. If we take another look at the Crusading songs of the Carmina Burana, we can note that they all have some kind of reference to the End of Time, either by referring to the heavenly city or the Last Judgment. It seems that in their minds these authors connect the earthly city of Jerusalem to the End of Time. This is not very surprising since it had been defined as the place where the Last Emperor would abdicate and where the Antichrist would come to power, as has already been noted. This seems to support McGinn's notion that apocalyptic thoughts were stimulated by the crusades. The twelfth and thirteenth century would bring a rise in works about the Last Judgment, the Last Emperor and the Antichrist. However, these poems make clear that the theme can also be found in other literary contexts. It suggests that the population thought that the End was near and that people went to Jerusalem to help usher in the Second Coming of Christ. However, in my opinion we have to distinguish between what apocalyptic thinkers like Adso and Joachim of Fiore believed, what prominent leaders of the Church thought and the common people as a whole. Whalen argues that the heads of the Church were not of the same mind as Joachim of Fiore. Although Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) referred to Fiore's papers, by using several passages, the exact meaning of it seems to have been altered, according to Whalen. He even suggests that prominent priests quite possibly never fully understood the implications of Fiore's work.208 So even if the works were widely spread and used, it does not necessarily mean that the readers interpreted it the way Fiore had intended. This makes it possible to suggest that these apocalyptic references in the crusading songs may be understood as a literary device to exhort the listeners to improve their Christian
208 Whalen, Dominion, 136-137.
55 behavior by going to Jerusalem. However, if these references were really intended to motivate people, as they seem to be, then it only would have worked if the audience really believed that the End was near. This does not mean that everyone was constantly thinking about it or even living in fear of it. Some may have been skeptic in the same way as contemporaries could be skeptical about the authenticity of relics.209 This can partly be compared to the way Christians nowadays try to life their lives in the most faithful way so that they will not go to Hell but enter Heaven. They also believe that Christ will come again for the Last Judgment, but this should be seen as part of their faith. It is hard to say if people around the time of the First Crusade really thought that the End was near. Amongst historians the discussion seems to be centered on the turn of the millennium. Were the people frightened around the year 1000 because the End of Time was nigh? According to Richard Landes the debate has two main parties. The first one consists of the historians who claim that people were indeed afraid, while the historians of the other group argue that the people at large never even thought about it. Those denying apocalyptic fears have been dominant for the last decades, which has gradually led to an unrealistic view of the Middle Ages as historians tried to force their interpretations on the sources even if it was obvious that they should be interpreted otherwise, argues Landes. He himself is of the opinion that contemporaries really thought that the End might be near although he says that more research should be done in how this influenced social practices.210 Whalen too seems to take the middle ground, suggesting that the people were thinking about the End of Time, but leaving open how this influenced their lives and whether they also were afraid.211 For medieval people, however, heavenly Jerusalem may have stood for Heaven. At least that is the idea one gets more and more after reading the research done by Kühnel and after analyzing the poems of the Carmina Burana. CB 47 states very clearly that the soldiers of Christ should abandon Babylon and fight for the heavenly city.212 While CB 46 gives a description of heavenly Jerusalem, already analyzed in the first chapter, whose placement at the end and the way it is presented, seems to suggest that it is the place where all good Christians will end up in. Thus, the heavenly city and Heaven are not entirely different things. Could it even be that the heavenly city was imagined as already existing above, that it was in
209 Morris, The Sepulchre of Christ, 148. 210 Richard Landes, 'The Fear of an Apocalyptic Year 1000: Augustinian Historiography, Medieval and Modern', Speculum 75:1 (2000) 97-145, there 97-101 and 141-145. 211 Whalen, Dominion, 21-22 and 55. 212 'Derelicta Babylone pugna pro celesti regione' in: CBV, 134.
56 fact Heaven, but would only descend and be shown to the living, faithful Christians at the End of Time? At least Schein seems to think so. For she calls heavenly Jerusalem among other things 'the city of Paradise' although she does not elaborate.213 Kugler, however, has clear examples of German poetry which shows how paradise was first envisioned as a garden, but then during the eleventh and twelfth century slowly began to look more and more like a city modeled after heavenly Jerusalem.214 According to Kugler, this has to do with the growing number of cities during that period, as I have elaborated above. Even though Whalen makes it clear that it was highly possible that the Christians of Western Europe were constantly thinking about the Apocalypse, he nevertheless seems to hesitate in clearly stating that people were afraid or really believed it to be true. Instead, he mildly suggests that there was a heightened interest in the End of Time.215 This may very well be the best answer one can give in the debate surrounding the importance of the Last Judgment in the lives of eleventh- to thirteenth-century Christians. The use of the theme in the crusading poems here suggests that it could work as an incentive to go to Jerusalem. However, the poems here are in Latin, rendering it questionable whether they were intended for lay audiences, or limited to nobles, scholars and clergy. Further, as I have argued in the previous chapter, the Apocalypse could also be used as an argument to point out evil. Several authors had used it to make clear that the Church was in a serious decline and had strayed far from the right path set out by Christ. They do not necessarily say that the End had come in the literal sense. Moreover, the number of poems stating that the time of the Last Judgment had come or alluding to it, is very small when compared to the whole of the Carmina Burana. If everyone really had lived in constant fear, one would expect far more passages concerning it. Instead, the love, drinking and gambling songs do not suggest any such fear or worry. However, this can also be seen as a way in which they tried to forget their worries.
213 Schein, Gateway, 2. 214 Kugler, Die Vorstellung der Stadt, 84-85. 215 Whalen, Dominion, 21.
57 Conclusion
In this thesis I have set out to examine the Carmina Burana's usage of 'Jerusalem' and what this might tell us about the ways contemporaries thought about social reality. What did the poems reflect upon and what were the roles of Jerusalem in the texts? On the one hand this thesis tried to uncover the textual reality. How did the authors portray reality? What part did references to Jerusalem play here? This, in turn, was linked to events like the Crusades, Church reforms and urbanization, giving us a view on the connection between the poems and social reality. Although not intended from the start, the research eventually steered towards the question of the importance of the Apocalypse in the lives of contemporaries. Given the fact that the poems discussed here were a relatively small selection from just one manuscript, any final answer to that question would be based on an unrepresentative amount of evidence. However, the poems of the Carmina Burana cover a diverse range of subjects and can as such be seen as a representative overview of medieval poems. The number of references to Jerusalem within poetic literature then seems relatively small as less than ten percent of the poems of the manuscript contain them. It is nevertheless still a selection of poems and as such a larger amount of poems from different manuscripts, countries and centuries would have to be examined for more conclusive answers. However, even though the poems may be few, we nevertheless have seen different meanings, usages of and references to 'Jerusalem'. From a crusading perspective, the city of Jerusalem was the goal of the crusaders. The city is described in several ways reminding the readers mostly of its Biblical past as David's city and the place where Christ died, resurrected and where he would come again at the End of Time. As such it was also connected to apocalypticism. It was the place where the Last Emperor would lay down his power, where subsequently the Antichrist would come, followed by Christ at the Last Judgment when heavenly Jerusalem, a city made by God, would descend from heaven unto the earthly city. Some crusading poems make allusions to this time, warning their readers of the End. The listeners should better their lives and be true Christians. Therefore, they must go to Jerusalem and fight for the heavenly city. Although the authors refer to the End of Time, it is hard to say if they really believed it to be near. As I have argued the references could very well have been used as a literary device to motivate their readers. However, in that case someone still had to believe in the immediacy of the event and to be worried about it for the motivation to work.
58 Nevertheless, Jerusalem was an important place in these poems. Although it seems that it was not so much the city itself that mattered, but the grave of Christ. The descriptions of the city remain quite abstract. We do not get any geographical sense nor a picture of a lively city. This would be in accordance with the view that the earthly city was a gateway to heavenly Jerusalem. A thought that according to Schein was current not only amongst scholars but also the population of Western Europe at large. Beside the sense of Jerusalem as a city, whether earthly or heavenly, the city could also have other meanings. The second chapter explored connections between Jerusalem, Babylon, Zion and the Apocalypse. Here, again, the poems showed a diversity in the meaning of 'Jerusalem'. In several cases the same sentence could be interpreted in different ways, showing us the flexibility with which references to Jerusalem could be used. It also displayed the individuality of the authors, who, because Jerusalem had no clearly defined meaning, could fit it to their own needs. This did not mean that there were no certain trends. We have seen close association with Babylon and Zion, both of which are also connected to the Apocalypse. We have also seen that Jerusalem was mainly identified with Christ and the Last Judgment. However, it had a different significance to each author. There is of course a difference between what the author himself thought on the subject and the discourse he was creating. In such a way it is difficult to say whether they really believed that the End was near, or that it was just a way of encouraging their audience to better their lives. However, after combining the textual information of the poems with what we know about contemporary events, developments and reactions thereon, it turns out that these poems not only concentrate on two particular subjects – the crusades and church reform – but that the Apocalypse was a recurring theme therein. During the crusading period, there was a particular thought that earthly Jerusalem was a gateway to the heavenly city. To fight for the city or to go there on pilgrimage would ensure not only the entry of the participants to God's city, but keeping it in Christian hands also kept this path open. It was a disaster when Jerusalem had fallen into the hands of Saladin. This gateway to the heavenly city was now closed. As I have argued, there were places all over Western Europe that were either built in the likeness of Jerusalem or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or were imagined after it. These places might have functioned as a way to feel closer to the earthly and the heavenly city and might have been regarded as pathways to the heavenly city too. However, earthly Jerusalem itself would retain its important position for it was the actual place where the events of the Apocalypse
59 would take place and where the heavenly city would descend. Thus, when the authors of CB 47, 48 and 50 reacted on the reconquest of Jerusalem by Saladin and used references to the Apocalypse, it might have been more than just a literary ploy: they could have been concerned about the salvation of their souls at the Last Judgment. This concern about their salvation or the salvation of Christendom at large may also have played a role in the poems which lament the state of the Church. The church fathers are not following Christ. Instead, the authors see avarice, greed and sexual lust. The Church had fallen and so, perhaps, also would the world, as the author of CB 34 compared the pope to a follower of the Antichrist. On the one hand this shows concern about the condition of the Church, which no longer gives proper guidance to its people, but I believe that it also shows us true worry that the End is approaching with no one to hold the evildoings of the Antichrist and his followers at bay. If we now look at the thesis from a more general perspective a few things can be concluded. First of all, I have demonstrated that Jerusalem had no defined meaning and that its usage therefore displays individual thoughts and emotions. However, it has also become clear that even though no single usage is fully identical to another, they are all connected to one another through their direct or more often indirect references to the Apocalypse. It is hard to say which emotions they had regarding these final events, if they feared it or not. However, given the connections I have shown between the poems, social reality and the recurring theme of the Apocalypse, it seems plausible to say that they were thinking about the coming End. Some might even have been worried about it. This leads to my conclusion that although the application of Jerusalem in the Carmina Burana is diverse, it always seems to refer to some degree to the Apocalypse and that therefore Jerusalem was seen foremost as the place where the culmination of history would take place. However, the variety in usages and meanings suggests that although this may have been the general picture, the ways individuals imagined or thought about it appears to have been very diverse. This thesis has suggested that the lives of contemporaries in the twelfth century was influenced by the thought that the End of Time might be near. How they thought about it most likely varied from person to person, but the way Jerusalem is referred to in the poems of the Carmina Burana and how they link to social reality suggests that thoughts about the End of Time were part of their lives. Judging by the poems, there did not have to be a connection between the Apocalypse and violence that Buc talks about. Nor did everyone share the view
60 that losses in the Holy Land had to be avenged by fighting back. More research would be needed to get a better picture, but it seems to me that by focusing on usages of Jerusalem in poems too instead of more exegetical texts, we might get an even better understanding of contemporaries' understandings which, according to Buc, 'should be part of any reconstruction' of history.216
216 Buc, Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror, 295.
61 Bibliography
Sources
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62 Secondary works
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