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Pierre l'Ermite et la premire croisade. By Jean Flori. (Paris: Fayard. 1999. Pp. 647. FF 170.00.)
Peter the Hermit does not have quite the centrality in M. Flori's masterly and persuasive study of the First Crusade that its title may at first sight suggest, fior what it offers is a comprehensive reconsideration of the history and historiography of the Crusade in its many aspects; an attempt is made to establish and assess Peter's role within the total picture. The foundation of this reappraisal of the Crusade is a thorough and challenging consideration of the primary sources, and especially of the chronicles. A salutary caution is sounded against an undue reliance upon the anonymous Cresta F'rencorusn, which as it stands is not only colored by the concerns of the Norman Bohemond in the first decade of the twelfth century but is also derived from a common source which it shares with Tudeb(xie. It cannot without...