The City Lament: Jerusalem across the Medieval Mediterranean

A groundbreaking analysis reveals shared poetic and rhetorical modes across Latin Christendom, Islamic caliphates/sultanates, and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia through medieval Jerusalem city laments. Contrasting with traditional antagonistic models, this study demonstrates rich cross-cultural exchanges in elegies mourning Jerusalem's loss, whether to Muslim or Christian forces. By examining texts in English, French, Latin, Arabic, and Armenian from 1095–1191, the research challenges Orientalist narratives, exposing literary intersections that reframe our understanding of medieval Mediterranean literature and Crusades historiography.

Boyadjian, T. M. (2018). The City Lament. https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501730863