Letter from the King of Jerusalem to King Louis VII, 12 January 1165

Bibliographic Information

Medieval Title:

N/A

Author:

Amalric, King of Jerusalem

Composition:

1165, Latin

Textual Information

Brief Summary:

King Amalric writes to King Louis VII to inform him that the Christians are being oppressed in Jerusalem and to ask for aid against the Turks who threaten them. Amalric recounts the efforts against Shirkuh in Egypt, claiming their successes were derived from the True Cross. Amalric explains that through God’s intervention their enemy fled, but explains that the army, in its arrogance, continued to pursue and all  of the men were either killed or taken prisoner.

Relics Appearing in Text:

True Cross

Manuscripts, Editions, and Translations

Manuscripts:

N/A

List of Editions of the Medieval Text: 

Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France. Volume 16, no. 243. Edited by Martin Bouquet et al., 79. Paris, 1878.

Available online: https://archive.org/details/RecueilDesHistoriensDesGaulesEtDe16_201405

List of Translations of the Medieval Text: 

“Amalric, King of Jerusalem, to Louis VII, King of France, 12 January, 1165. Antioch.” In Letters from the East: Crusaders, Pilgrims and Settlers in the 12th-13th Centuries. Translated by Malcolm Barber and Keith Bate, 62. Burlington: Ashgate, 2010.