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The First Crusaders, 1095-1131. By Jonathan Riley-Smith. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1997. Pp. xvi, 300. $49.95.)
In 1098 and 1099 survivors of the First Crusade began to reappear in their homelands. Some had been part of the great triumph at Jerusalem in July, 1099; others had left before then, particularly during the horrendous siege of Antioch in 1097-98. One of the latter was Guy Trousseau of Montlhery, who "came home worn out by his journey and unable to come to terms with the fact that his courage had left him." But at least Guy had returned. Baldwin of Mons simply disappeared in Asia Minor in 1098, and his wife, Ida of Louvain, having waited for him in vain, actually went on pilgrimage in 1106 in a fruitless search for him. The stories of such people are at the heart of this book which investigates the lesser-known participants, many of whom left only a single charter or incidental reference in a chronicle or annal. Jonathan Riley-Smith has made a systematic...