First published in 1999, this edition of Walter the Chancellor's account of the wars of the Antiochenes against the Muslims in the early twelfth century is a vivid first-hand account of a dramatic yet less well-known period in the history of the northern Crusader states, and an important balance to the more usual focus on Jerusalem. As a highly-placed Antiochene official, Walter was able to write the most authoritative account of the principality's fortunes and internal workings, and his book also sheds light on the relationship between Latin settlement in the Levant and contemporary Western perceptions of Islam and Eastern Christianity. Here it has for the first time been translated into English (from the Latin edition of H. Hagenmeyer). It is prefaced by a substantial introduction, discussing the author and his work in the context of the history and historiography of the Latin settlement, and is followed by a selection of comparative sources. Walter the Chancellor's history will be of interest both to students of the Crusades and to a wider readership for its perspective on life in a medieval frontier society.

First published in 1999, this edition of Walter the Chancellor's account of the wars of the Antiochenes against the Muslims in the early twelfth century is a vivid first-hand account of a dramatic yet less well-known period in the history of the northern Crusader states, and an important balance to the more usual focus on Jerusalem. As a highly-placed Antiochene official, Walter was able to write the most authoritative account of the principality's fortunes and internal workings, and his book also sheds light on the relationship between Latin settlement in the Levant and contemporary Western perceptions of Islam and Eastern Christianity. Here it has for the first time been translated into English (from the Latin edition of H. Hagenmeyer). It is prefaced by a substantial introduction, discussing the author and his work in the context of the history and historiography of the Latin settlement, and is followed by a selection of comparative sources. Walter the Chancellor's history will be of interest both to students of the Crusades and to a wider readership for its perspective on life in a medieval frontier society.

The first major study of the principality of Antioch, reasserting its significance and challenging the dominance of Jerusalem in modern crusading historiography. The First Crusade wrought many changes across the medieval world, not least in Levant, where the expedition culminated in the Frankish conquest of much of Syria and Palestine. This book is the first major study of the early history of one of these Latin settlements, the principality of Antioch; it reasserts the significance of Antioch, and challenges the dominant position of the kingdom of Jerusalem in modern crusading historiography. Thomas Asbridge examines the formation of Antioch's political, military and ecclesiastical frameworks and explains how the principality survived in the hostile political environment of the Near East. He also demonstrates that Latin Antioch was shapedby the complex world of the Levant, facing a diverse range of influences and potential threats from the neighbouring forces of Byzantium and Islam. Historians of the Frankish East and of medieval Europe in the eleventh century will find this an important contribution to crusading history; it is also a significant contribution to the study of frontier societies and medieval communities. THOMAS S. ASBRIDGE is lecturer in early medieval history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.

Walter the Chancellor's vivid first-hand account of the wars between the Muslims and the principality of Antioch in the early 12th century describes a less well-known period in the history of the Crusades, and provides a useful counterpart to the usual focus on Jerusalem. It is here presented for the first time in English, along with a selection of comparative sources and an important introduction assessing the work's place in the historiography of the Crusader states, and analysing the military campaigns it details. As a highly-placed Antiochene official, Walter was able to write the most authoritative account of the principality's fortunes and internal workings, and his book also sheds light on the relationship between Latin settlement in the Levant and contemporary Western perceptions of Islam and Eastern Christianity.