Battle of Cresson: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Cresson - The problem of the sources

Battle of Cresson - The problem of the sources

The battle is mentioned in a number of contemporary chronicles. These accounts differ considerably, and have never been fully reconciled by historians. Instead historical accounts tend to be dominated by the early interpretations of the Latin De expugnatione Terrae Sanctae libellus. The aforementioned Latin Itinerarium was probably written around 1191 or 1192 by a crusader who had served under Richard I during the unsuccessful Third Crusader. Variations in style and some disorder (especially in the early chapters) indicate that it was patched together from a number of other accounts.

The Old French account of Balian's squire Ernoul gives an account of the immediate aftermath, although Ernoul himself was travelling with his lord and was not present for the actual fighting. The Arabic chronicle of Baha ad-Din briefly mentions Saladin's expedition but does not refer specifically to Cresson; according to him the advance guard remained in the Hawran while Saladin was in Damascus.

There is no real secondary literature on this battle, which was a minor prelude to Hattin. However, the classic study on crusader warfare of this period is Smail. A useful additional read is Marshall, which covers the armies of the region shortly after the battle of Hattin.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The problem of the sources", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki