Pulford, Louis and Ambler, Sophie Therese and Kemp, Sandra (2024) Order from Chaos : Reappraising the Historia Albigensis of Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.
![[thumbnail of 2024PulfordPhD]](https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png)
Thesis_-_For_PURE_deposit.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 13 August 2029.
Download (1MB)
Abstract
This thesis offers a much-needed reappraisal of Peter of les-Vaux-de-Cernay’s Historia Albigensis, the most comprehensive but least understood source for the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229). Despite the detail provided in the Historia, and the fact that Peter wrote his account from within the crusade’s leadership circle, no study has sought to provide a forensic account of its dating, purpose, or of the quality of its author. This thesis addresses this lacuna at the heart of our understanding of the crusade through a close textual analysis of the Historia. It anchors the text in its contemporary context and sets out to reappraise four major aspects of the text – its authorship, dating, purpose, and literary character. Chapter one offers a reassessment of Peter as an author and establishes him as assured and well-educated figure with a command of the literary conventions of his age. Chapter two proposes a new date for the Historia’s undertaking and offers the first study of its purpose. In this it demonstrates that Peter began his text during a period of crisis for the crusade’s leadership and represents one aspect of a wider reaction to papal policy. Chapters three and four apply these findings to the literary character of the Historia and demonstrate how Peter used his portrayal, first of his enemy and second of his comrades, to achieve his overall purpose. The thesis establishes that the Historia should no longer be disregarded as a simple narrative of the Albigensian Crusade. Rather it should be treated as a key text to our understanding of the period and one that deserves further attention.