Albert of Aachen’s History of the Journey to Jerusalem presents the story of the First Crusade (1095-1099) and the early history of the crusader states (1099-1119). Volume 1, The First Crusade, is a long and richly detailed account of events well known from the reports of participants, such as Fulcher of Chartres, Raymond of Aguilers and the anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum, but told from a strikingly different perspective.
Albert did not go on crusade himself, but gathered reports and anecdotes from those who did, and wove them into narrative that foregrounds the activities of Peter the Hermit, Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin of Boulogne, and their followers. His History therefore offers a counter-balance, and sometimes a corrective, to the established view. Susan B. Edgington’s English translation has been widely praised, following its first publication in the Oxford Medieval Texts series, and is here presented with a new introduction and updated notes and bibliography.