The Medieval Reception of the Roman Conquest of Jerusalem (70 A.D.): Examining Latin Texts and Manuscript Materials between c.600 and c.1300

In the year 70 A.D., the Roman army ended a Jewish revolt by conquering Jerusalem and destroying the Jewish Temple. This was a significant event for the origins of Christianity, since the Gospels were all written in its shadow and allude to it on several occasions. Christian authors understood it early on as God’s vengeance on the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ. The event manifested the transfer of the status as God’s chosen people from the Jews to the Christians, thus epitomizing the very foundations of this religion. It is therefore unsurprising that the conquest appears in literally thousands of medieval texts. My project – which will become my Habilitation and second book – is dedicated to providing the first comprehensive study of its medieval reception, examining texts from the post-Roman world and the early monastic exegetes (c.600) to the crusade movement and the university of Paris (c.1300).[1]

Even though the significance of this episode has long been recognized among scholars, research has largely limited itself to two areas: vernacular texts (which know a rich tradition of engaging with the event) and the reception of Flavius Josephus (the primary historiographical source on it). Numerous Latin texts that reference the episode remain thus unconsidered, notably cases found in sermon collections and biblical commentaries. These two genres survived in enormous numbers, whereas many texts are still unpublished as well as untapped in modern scholarship. Consequently, it is key to work with the manuscripts, the purpose of my three-month stay at the German Historical Institute in Paris (March–May 2024). Before turning to the results of this research, it is worth elaborating on why these are essential sources for the historian: these should find their way much more into the mainstream of the historical discipline and university teaching.

Sermon Collections and Biblical Commentaries: An Untapped Treasure for the Middle Ages

Both sermons and commentaries provide an unusually broad empirical basis for the medieval period. According to a calculation, we have roughly 140.000 sermon texts alone from the period between 1150 and 1350.[2] Sermons are such valuable sources because they were often designed for addressing audiences beyond the clerical sphere. Following David d’Avray, they were a medieval form of mass communication, fusing ideas into the minds of the laity through their continuous presence in the liturgical year.[3] Importantly, this was not only the case since the advent of the Friars in the early thirteenth century, but already the twelfth century knew an elaborate and widespread agenda of popular preaching. Outcomes of these practices are visible, for example, in the abundant crusade movement.[4] Recent research on the Carolingian era, notably by Maximilian Diesenberger and Christoph Galle, even suggests that such efforts were already unfolding in earlier centuries: the role of preaching before the Friars has thus often been underestimated.[5] This project will contribute to this neglected field by investigating the Roman conquest in sermon materials dating between c.600 and c.1300. This will elucidate the purpose and audiences of preaching in the centuries before the Friars, just as it will explore how such preaching interacted with various historical phenomena.

Biblical commentaries, which are examined for the same centuries, are another rich resource for the historian, a fact countervailing the notion that these texts were merely theological or monastic in nature. Even though it is true that these served disputation within the clerical milieu, their contents show that they were an essential device for perceiving and rationalizing phenomena in the wider world – as especially Philippe Buc has demonstrated.[6] The commentaries can help us to elucidate specific motifs and ideas which are found in a more condensed form in other sources such as the chronicles. The elaborate commentaries specifically had the objective of developing and establishing meaning.

The Organization of Knowledge: Finding the Roman Conquest in Unpublished Materials

Discourse analysis represents the project’s key methodological device. It delivers helpful analytical categories and relies on certain premises about how to deal with texts (these stand in sharp contrast to hermeneutical approaches). Discourse analysis is interested in retracing the principles according to which knowledge was developed, established, and broadcasted – hence it addresses how this informed the organization of texts. As a result, this methodology can help in unearthing where, when, and how the Roman conquest appears in medieval texts. Comprehending these principles thus permits to survey unpublished sources more effectively. For example, when consulting a sermon collection with, say, 200 folios, whereas the library catalogue does not provide much information on its contents, the question arises of where and how to find therein references to the conquest.

Having mastered understanding these organizational principles, I collected around 100 occurrences during my time in Paris, working with more than thirty codices from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries. These are mostly unpublished texts and, therefore, often entirely unconsidered in modern scholarship. The riddle’s solution lies in the fact that the event’s occurrence is not a random matter, but there are specific occasions where it is likely to be found. In the case of sermons, this concerns specific liturgical feasts such as the Tenth Sunday after Holy Trinity (which is devoted to this event), but also a number of other feasts such as Advent. In the case of commentaries, this concerns specific biblical references such as Luke 19:41, where Christ foresees the Roman conquest when approaching the city. It also pertains to several Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah 53:7, which was believed to have been fulfilled in the Roman conquest. The results generated during my time in Paris will be valuable for surveying manuscripts at other locations in future. It may also be worth keeping an eye on how the organization of knowledge is changing depending on period, milieu, and context.

The hit rate varies in comparison of sermons and commentaries. The latter yield many hits: one can safely expect to find the conquest at specific references – but the related discussions are often brief. An author quickly comments on the verse, but already moves on to the next one, while only a select number of cases receive broader attention in such works. Nevertheless, even in a few words, meaningful ideas may unfold and powerful causalities can be established. For example, I found several cases that construct a nexus between the Roman conquest and the End of Times (which was also supposed to happen in Jerusalem). The specific parameters of the conquest provide here a resource for imagining the End of Times, that is, for shaping expectations about it, critically when these ideas were presented to broad audiences via sermons. The hit rate in the sermons is lower than in the commentaries: one encounters many pieces, for example, on Advent that do not include the conquest. Generally, the subjects and ideas that one finds in sermons on a specific feast can vary largely. Yet, there are, for instance, several Advent sermons in which the conquest appears, a fact that makes it worth surveying these texts. The occurrences in the sermons are frequently accompanied by elaborate discussions: this often makes such a sermon in its entirety relevant. The bottom line is: one finds numerous hits in the commentaries, but the discussions are often short and concise; there are less hits in the sermons, but those found often unveil an original and comprehensive argument.

Surveying Medieval Manuscripts Efficiently

The approaches developed for identifying references to the conquest have wider implications for our field. They unveil pathways for harvesting unpublished sources more efficiently and for locating specific elements within them – approaches that have not been developed yet in a sufficient manner. Scholarly endeavors in the past were often focused on small portions of unpublished texts or on the preparation of editions, which often took decades until they were published. The approaches of this project may also challenge the prevailing trends in Digital Humanities, in particular in Handwritten Text Recognition, by showing that the medievalist does not necessarily need such technologies. Even more significantly, these approaches can lead to a more profound understanding of the sources, especially concerning the organization of knowledge, compared to what a software alone can deliver. Yet, my project is not opposed to digital endeavors. Supported by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage, it will produce its own open-access database, which catalogues the conquest’s occurrences, together with further useful information, for example, on the manuscripts.[7] Crucially, this database will not be a stand-alone project – as it happens way too often with such enterprises – but it intends to interlink the specific data on the Roman conquest’s occurrences with existing digital resources, such as the databases containing full texts of medieval sources or the digitized copies of manuscripts.

The Media Context: Manuscripts as Archaeological Artefacts

Another dimension of why it has been worth spending time in the archives is my interest in the media context, that is, a manuscript’s physical shape and organizational devices. This is once again informed by a discourse analytical approach, which considers it key to examine the media conditions in which texts are presented. Manuscripts are thus considered as archaeological artefacts, a notion I owe to Richard and Mary Rouse, whose groundbreaking work deserves much more attention in today’s scholarly world.[8] A manuscript is a physical remnant of the past, an artefact produced and then somehow used in a particular context. Specific interests and goals were underpinning its production, a dimension we must address anew for each case: Why did someone have an interest in penning these texts? And why precisely in this form? These questions are even more pertinent considering that a manuscript’s production was an expensive and laborious enterprise in the medieval period.

These dimensions are relevant for the commentaries and even more so for the sermons, since their manuscripts were usually not produced for preserving an author’s work in a library (as was the case with other types of medieval codices). These manuscripts commonly had a practical purpose, and precisely this is apparent when inspecting such an artefact. For instance, sermon collections often have handy sizes, since they were meant to be carried around for the purpose of serving immediately in the situation of preaching. They also include organizational devices such as tables of contents or glosses: such were intended to help a recipient to find the materials he needed when preparing a sermon.[9]

More than a Reception History: The Case Study of Martin of León

It is worth elaborating on the wider implications of the subject. Importantly, this is not a reception history; deploying the episode was not concerned with a culture of commemoration, but it served various significant purposes.[10] These involve two key dimensions: on the one hand, constructing a Christian identity and demarcating it to other groups, in particular the Jews; and on the other, using the conquest as a resource for rationalizing contemporary phenomena, notably the multiple medieval conquests of Jerusalem. A case study, which was essential for developing this project, perfectly illustrates these dimensions: Martin of León (c.1130–1203), the subject of my previous research project, penned a highly intriguing sermon on In coena Domini (Maundy Thursday).[11]

Before addressing this text, it is necessary to introduce this figure and his work. Martin ended his life as an Augustinian canon in San Isidoro in León, where Lucas of Tuy wrote twenty years later a Vita about him that established his local standing as a saint. This portrayal dominated the modern perception of this figure – until my research revised this hagiographical tradition. Martin was a Paris-trained theologian, who probably spent many years beyond León: he draws extensively on works from the Parisian milieu and shows numerous parallels in arguments and ideas with his Parisian peers. His opus, the Liber sermonum, represents an enormous compendium of preaching materials (roughly 700 folios), yet there is an architecture to it, and it pursues some clearly defined objectives. These include both crusading to the East and anti-Jewish action. The work’s prologue announces that it has the goal to preach against four groups: Jews, heretics, “philosophers” (that is, quasi-heretical scholastics), and “pagans” (that is, Muslims).[12] This is, therefore, a work of significant historical pertinence, notably in consideration of the manifold crusade endeavors at the time and their various targets.

As my article discusses, Martin’s piece on Maundy Thursday (Sermo 22) represents an elaborate reaction to the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, which crushed the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (established in 1099, the successful conclusion of the First Crusade). This event triggered the massive expedition of the Third Crusade (1187–1192), whose preaching and mobilization were at the heart of my research in the last ten years.[13] Martin’s sermon unveils many parallels with his peers – though he also disagrees on certain points. What concerns us here is that he turns to the Roman conquest of Jerusalem for rationalizing the contemporary one. We find three references to it, at different points in the sermon, all united by the fact that they remind the audience of what happened to the Jews in 70 A.D., that is, the Romans were sent by God to take vengeance for Christ’s crucifixion, thus depriving them of their status as the chosen people. In the same context, Martin repeatedly calls his listeners Jews (iudaei) – even though he is clearly speaking to a Christian audience (for example, he offers them the option of doing penance for their sins, a sacrament only available to Christians). My article concludes, therefore, that by calling them Jews, while referring multiple times to the Roman conquest, he suggests to his audience that what had happened to the Jews in 70 A.D. now happened to them.[14]

The extraordinary idea that the Christians might lose their elect status is omnipresent among the preachers of the Third Crusade (a whole chapter in my forthcoming monograph is devoted to this) – but Martin’s rhetorical form is unique. He applies this in a sermon, thus trying to entice his audience to crusading. The Roman conquest provides hereby the authoritative reference; it has the power of unfolding this threatening scenario: this suggests that the episode was familiar to the audience. This case study provides thus a powerful example of how the conquest may be deployed for addressing contemporary concerns and meaningful historical dimensions.

Some Concluding Thoughts

I hope this contribution provided a good impression of my project, which is still in its early stages. It will deliver the first broad and systematic investigation of how the Roman conquest of Jerusalem was used in the medieval period, thus addressing a major historiographical tradition as well as a key element in the history and identity of both Christendom and Judaism. The future will bring many more manuscripts to examine, both in Paris and elsewhere, likely revealing many more previously unknown references to this event. The challenge will also consist in ordering all these materials, given that my open-access database will likely end up with roughly 2.000 occurrences.[15]

The database will offer a valuable resource for future scholarship. It will not only be of interest to those working on this specific event, but also for investigating a number of broader subjects with which the conquest blends frequently. This pertains, for example, to the anti-Jewish sentiments, a tenacious tradition of the medieval period, but one which also shows a bitter relevance for our own society. There will also be the challenge of contextualizing specific cases in their historical context, thereby addressing the question of why this event was even put to use. This includes exploring its potential interplay with contemporary phenomena. As seen in the case of Martin of León, it could have served, for example, in interpreting Jerusalem’s conquest in 1187, and thus for enticing potential crusaders. Studying the reception of this event in such a large number of cases, dispersed over many centuries and vastly different contexts, will therefore deliver an important contribution to medieval scholarship.

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[1] https://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/forschung/historische-identitaetsforschung/projekte/weitere-projekte/conquest-of-jerusalem, August 29, 2024.

[2] See Jussi Hanska, Reconstructing the Mental Calendar of Medieval Preaching: A Method and Its Limits – An Analysis of Sunday Sermons, in: Carolyn A. Muessig (ed.), Preacher, Sermon and Audience in the Middle Ages, Leiden 2002, p. 293–315.

[3] David d’Avray, The Preaching of the Friars: Sermons Diffused from Paris before 1300, Oxford 1985.

[4] See, e.g., Alexander Marx, Constructing and Denying the Enemy: Cistercian Approaches to Preaching the Third Crusade (1187-1192), in: Cîteaux 70 (2019), p. 47–68; Jessalynn L. Bird, Preaching the Crusades and the Liturgical Year: The Palm Sunday Sermons, in: Essays in Medieval Studies 30 (2014), p. 11–36; Christopher M. Phillips, The Typology of the Cross and Crusade Preaching, in: Matthew E. Parker, Ben Halliburton, Anne Romine (ed.), Crusading in Art, Thought and Will, Leiden 2018, p. 166–185.

[5] Maximilian Diesenberger, Der Zorn der Richter. Friedensdiskurse in Predigten und Kapitularien in der Karolingerzeit, in: Christine Reinle, Anna-Lena Wendel (ed.), Das Recht in die eigene Hand nehmen? Rechtliche, soziale und theologische Diskurse über Selbstjustiz und Rache, Baden-Baden 2021, p. 29–42; id., Predigt und Politik im frühmittelalterlichen Bayern. Arn von Salzburg, Karl der Große und die Salzburger Sermones-Sammlung, Berlin 2016; Christoph Galle, Predigen im Karolingerreich. Die homiletischen Sammlungen von Paulus Diaconus, Lantperhtus von Mondsee, Rabanus Maurus und Haymo von Auxerre, Turnhout 2023.

[6] Philippe Buc, L’ambiguïté du Livre. Prince, pouvoir, et peuple dans les commentaires de la Bible au Moyen Âge, Paris 1994. See also Matthew Gabriele, Between Prophecy and Apocalypse. The Burden of Sacred Time and the Making of History in Early Medieval Europe, Oxford 2024; Julie Barrau, Bible, lettres et politique: l’écriture au service des hommes à l’époque de Thomas Becket, Paris 2013; Bat-Sheva Albert, Anti-Jewish Exegesis in the Carolingian Period: The Commentaries on Lamentations of Hrabanus Maurus and Pascasius Radbertus, in: Claudio Leonardi, Giovanni Orlandi (ed.), Biblical Studies in the Early Middle Ages, Florence 2005, p. 175–192; Johannes Heil, Kompilation oder Konstruktion? Die Juden in den Pauluskommentaren des 9. Jahrhunderts, Hannover 1998.

[7] https://www.oeaw.ac.at/acdh/research/dh-research-infrastructure/activities/data-management-preservation/jad, August 29, 2024.

[8] Mary A. Rouse, Richard Hunter Rouse, Authentic Witnesses: Approaches to Medieval Texts and Manuscripts, Notre Dame, Ind. 1991 (Publications in Mediaeval Studies, 17).

[9] See, e.g., Paris, BNF, lat. 14859, fol. 178r. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9066175w/f183.item, August 29, 2024.

[10] See also Jussi Hanska, Preachers as Historians. The Case of the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, in: Anuario de estudios medievales 42/1 (2012), p. 29–52; Karen M. Kletter, Politics, Prophecy and Jews: The Destruction of Jerusalem in Anglo-Norman Historiography, in: Kristine T. Utterback, Merrall Llewelyn Price (ed.), Jews in Medieval Christendom: Slay Them Not, Leiden 2013, p. 91–115; Amnon Linder, The Destruction of Jerusalem Sunday, in: Sacris erudiri 30 (1987/1988), p. 253–292; Suzanne M. Yeager, The Siege of Jerusalem and Biblical Exegesis: Writing About Romans in Fourteenth-Century England, in: The Chaucer Review 39 (2004), p. 70–102.

[11] Alexander Marx, Divergent Voices in the Preaching of the Third Crusade: Martin of León’s Reading of the Fall of Jerusalem, in: Crusades 23/1 (2024), p. 25–43 (Open Access). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14765276.2024.2371795, August 29, 2024.

[12] Martin of León, Liber sermonum, Prologus, in: Migne PL 208, col. 31–32. For more on Martin, his work, and my previous research project, see: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/forschung/historische-identitaetsforschung/projekte/martin-of-leon, August 29, 2024.

[13] Alexander Marx, The Preaching of the Third Crusade (1187-1192). The Early University of Paris, Biblical Exegesis, and the Coming Apocalypse, Leiden, forthcoming. It will be available Open Access at: https://brill.com/display/title/70827?rskey=PQWNfZ&result=2. See also id., Jerusalem as the Travelling City of God. Henry of Albano and the Preaching of the Third Crusade, in: Crusades 20 (2021), p. 83–120; id., The Passio Raginaldi of Peter of Blois. Martyrdom and Eschatology in the Preaching of the Third Crusade, in: Viator 50/3 (2019), p. 197–232.

[14] Id., Divergent Voices (as in n. 11), p. 40–41.

[15] Anyone who would like to share references to the conquest is more than welcome to do so. Cases of interest include unpublished materials or references hidden in appendices or difficult-to-access editions. Please send references to me via e-mail, and I am happy to enter them into the database. Each entry will of course include a note acknowledging from whom I got the reference.

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