CRUSADER REPRESENTATIONS IN THE HAGUE AND MATTHEW PARIS’ MAP OF PALESTINE FROM CHRONICA MAJORA I. Department of History of Art University of York To the medieval Christian, pilgrimaging to Jerusalem to witness the sacred sites associated with the Christ’s passion was more often a desire than a reality. Traveling long distances was dangerous and timely, and depending on the situation in the holy city it could prove increasingly difficult. Pilgrimaging was more common in the 11th century as a result of the First Crusade, as Jerusalem went from being relatively unapproachable to a Christian city within reach.1 During this Crusader reign, lasting from 1099 to 1187, Jerusalem was popularly depicted in intricate, round maps, with the most important holy sites labeled.2 One such map, The Hague3 map, originating from the 12th century, provides a prime example of how Jerusalem would be viewed by those unable to reach the holy city themselves. The circle in many ways was representative of perfection in the medieval world. Circles formulated the universe—as planets were spherical and revolved around the Earth4. Jerusalem is presented as a city lying within a circular wall in The Hague (Figure 1.), with evenly spaced golden circles spread across within and outside of the walls. Additionally, the Crusader maps resemble the T-O world maps, in which the world is drawn as a circle (Figure 2.) .5 Jerusalem, then, having been set in “the midst of the nations,” with “the countries round about her,” 6 becomes representative of the medieval world center, and an eventual universal, heavenly center. The splendor of these Crusader maps, representing the city of Jerusalem, also stems from the great achievements of the Crusaders from the Christian perspective. The large image below the city of Jerusalem in The Hague presents an account of a miraculous Crusader victory in the 1 Milka Levy-Rubin, “From Eusebius to the Crusader Maps: The Origin of the Holy Land Maps,” in Visual Constructs of Jerusalem Bianca Kühnel, Galit Noga-Banai and Hanna Vorholt, eds. (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014), 253. 2 Ibid., 254-255. 3 While in this essay it’s important to note that The Hague is one leaf out of a book containing illuminations, I will be focusing only on the map itself. 4 Bianca Kuehnel, “Geography and Geometry of Jerusalem,” in City of the Great King: Jerusalem from David to the Present (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1996) 298-299. 5 Ibid., 317. 6 Ezekiel 5:5 DRB. Figure 1. The Hague, late 12th century, MS 76 F 5, fol. 1r, Royal Library. Figure 2. St Gallen, c. 800, Cod. Sang. 240, p. 189, Stiftsbibibliothek, Chelles- sur-Marne. Compare the circular shape and the T- division to the map of Jerusalem in The Hague. battle for the holy city. The pride of contemporary achievements increases the glory of Jerusalem, and once the city is lost a change becomes present within the maps. As posited by Bianca Kuehnel, Jerusalem maps “made in the thirteenth century, after the loss of the city, are comparatively more schematic and generalized from a geographical point of view”.7 Fol. iv r in 7 Kuehnel, “Geography and Geometry,” 319. It should be noted that some sources cite The Hague as being drawn up after the loss of the city (see Hans Brandhorst, “The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek.) However, as this would have been very close to the time period of the Crusader reign, I will still differentiate it from post-Crusader maps in this essay. Matthew Paris’ itinerary from Chronica Majora I illustrates the city of Jerusalem as a small square with a large bay below, adjoined to the city of Acre, which is visible on the adjacent page (Figure 3.).8 Jerusalem is not the center of attention in Paris’ representation, and there are fewer sites marked within the walls of the holy city. Indeed, Acre seems to draw the most attention— the Crusader capital at this time. This itinerary, from the 1250s, is much busier outside the walls than within. Figure 3. Matthew Paris OSB, Chronica maiora I, St. Albans 1252, MS 26, fol. iii v to iv r, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College. 8 Additionally, I will be looking at Paris’ Palestine map from the first volume of the Chronica Majora. In the following pages I intend to discuss more specifically how Jerusalem is presented in each map, and the influence that the Crusades had upon them. At the core of each map is the ability to spiritually travel to Jerusalem, but the process of going about the imagined pilgrimage is different. Paris’ map places stress on the journey to Jerusalem, while The Hague focuses on the sacred sites that will be available to the pilgrim after his journey. I believe that each artist’s purpose relates in some way to the Crusader situation at the time of the maps’ creation. The stress on the miraculous incident in The Hague map, and on the city of Acre in Paris’ map further invokes a deep- rooted fascination with the Crusades. The Hague and the Palestine maps reflect Jerusalem in a historical, contemporary, and apocalyptic context. The Palestine map contains textual references to legends surrounding Noah’s Ark, as may have been related to Paris when Armenians visited him in 1252.9 Both maps contain an image representing the Temple of the Lord, a location attributed with various rich histories from the old and new testaments.10 Additionally, the Holy Sepulchre, which houses the Tomb of Christ, is marked on each map. Crusader histories are textually scribed within Paris’ map,11 and the image of Acre along with The Hague’s Crusader miracle illustrate how the Christian legacy continued into the Middle Ages, and was placed alongside biblical histories. The apocalyptic references contained in the maps reflect the unearthly future of Jerusalem. Heavenly Jerusalem is revealed through the “perfect geometrical shapes”12 depicting the holy city’s gates in each map. The circular gates of The Hague reflect the heavenly city as depicted in such images as the Valenciennes (Figure 4.) and Bamburg Apocalypse (Figure 5.) manuscripts, 9 Richard Vaughan, Matthew Paris (London: Cambridge University Press, 1958) 238,244. 10 Hanna Vorholt, “The Jewish Temple and the Dome of the Rock” (lecture, Campus West: Alcuin College, York, England, October 30, 2018). 11 Laura Whatley, “Experiencing the Holy Land and Crusade in Matthew Paris’s Maps of Palestine,” in Visual Constructs of Jerusalem Bianca Kühnel, Galit Noga-Banai and Hanna Vorholt, eds. (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014), 300. 12 Kuehnel, “Geography and Geometry,” 298. while the Palestine map correlates more directly with the geometry present within the Book of Revelations. Figure 4. Valenciennes, ?Liege, early 9th century, MS 99, fol. 38r, Bibliothèque Municipale. Compare the circular walls presented here to those The Hague map. Figure 5. Bamberg Apocalypse, Reichenau, ca. 1010, Msc. Bibl. 140, fol. 55r, Staatsbibliothek. Compare the circular walls presented here to those The Hague map. In the Palestine depiction of Jerusalem, the heavenly city is made visible through the square walls. It is written in Revelations that “the city lieth in a foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth,”13 thus the four perfect sides meet at right angles, creating a heavenly center. Other representations of the Heavenly Jerusalem depict the city as a square as well, such as the Beatus of Liebana Commentary (Figure 6.). While initially The Hague and Palestine maps seem to take an oppositional stance on the geometry of the city, it is revealed that the message is ultimately the same, and “the interchangeability of circle and square as two equally perfect geometrical shapes”14 exists. This decision to present Jerusalem as timeless resonates in part with the Crusader goal of capturing, or recapturing, the city. The city was desired for its association with Christ and heaven, as “from the time of the first Crusade, and even more so after the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, control of the holy city was often considered tantamount to gaining access to heaven”. 15 This yearning for Jerusalem stemmed from a desire for eternity, and so the desire of a successful crusade resonates within the maps. Of specific interest in The Hague and Palestine maps is the imagery directly correlating to the Crusades. It’s important to note that the depictions in each map relate indirectly to Jerusalem. The Hague manuscript details an event from the Battle of Antioch (Figure 7.), as “below the map we see two knights, inscribed “demetrius” and “sanctus georgius”, chasing away a group of six horsemen, one of whom is wounded by the lance of St George. This recalls the miraculous appearance of St George and St Demetrius at the siege of Antioch during the First 13 Revelation 21:16 DRB. 14 Kuehnel, “Geography and Geometry,” 298. 15 Daniel K. Connolly, “Imagined Pilgrimage in the Itinerary Maps of Matthew Paris,” The Art Bulletin 81, no. 4 (1999): 619. Figure 6. Heavenly Jerusalem, Second quarter of the 10th century, Beatus of Liebana Commentary to the Apocalypse, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. Compare the square walls presented here to those in Paris’ Palestine map. Figure 7. The Hague. Detail of St. George and St. Demetrius. Crusade.”16 This miracle would have been seen as a clear indication of Christ’s approval of the First Crusade, thus inspiring pride in the medieval Christian. While St. George’s appearance took place in Antioch, the ultimate goal was claiming Jerusalem, so the image corresponds to the eventual success of the Crusaders in capturing the holy city. The image takes up nearly one third of the page, indicating its importance further.