The Latin Visions of Calabre and Ida and the Origins of the Initial Branches of the Old French Crusade Cycle

Abstract

The initial branches of the Old French Crusade Cycle were written in the second half of the twelfth century. They were composed with the theme of God's agency in the affairs of the First Crusade as a primary organizing factor through the dreams and prophecy of the principal women: Elioxe (Naissance), Beatrice (Chevalier au Cygne), Ida and Calabre (Enfances Godefroi). Calabre, mother of Kerbogha, the Amir of Mosul, is in the Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum, the earliest eye-witness account of the siege of Antioch. In the Beatae Idae Vita a vision of Ida, Godfrey of Bouillon's mother, is recorded concerning the importance of her sons in conquering Jerusalem. The writer perceived the principal theme of the narrative and knew the Latin text of Calabre's dream and the Latin life of Ida and her dream. He saw exactly how these two dreams fit the historical reality of this crusade. Transposing Calabre's vision from a specific situation at Aleppo involving her son to a more general prophecy long before the First Crusade itself, the writer set up how God became the efficient cause of the movement designed to recover the Holy Sepulchre and the land that gave birth to Christianity. Then in Ida's dream, also years before the event, he saw God's preparation of the lineage of knights that would carry out God's will.