Godfrey of Bouillon

Simon John is Lecturer in Medieval History at Swansea University. He previously taught at the University of Oxford, and held a Junior Research Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research. Much of his work to date has focussed upon the crusades and their socio-cultural impact in Latin Christendom. He has published articles in the English Historical Review, the Journal of Medieval History and the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, and is the co-editor (with Nicholas Morton) of Crusading and Warfare in the Middle Ages: Realities and Representations. Essays in Honour of John France (2014).

‘Omnipresent in the crusader sources but seldom studied in his career beyond the crusades, Godfrey of Bouillon was due for a new biographical examination. Through painstaking analysis of the sources, in-depth prosopographical work, and clear analysis of the political and military background, John has produced a thorough portrayal, which by rooting Godfrey in his context before the crusade deepens and roots our understanding of his career in service of the Latin conquest of Jerusalem’ - De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History.‘… deeply researched and clearly presented… this book deserves to be read and enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the political world of 11th-century Europe, the religious climate that spawned the First Crusade, and the problems faced in establishing the Latin East’ – Reviews in History.‘In sum, this new biography of Godfrey will surely become the standard work on Godfrey in any language… It is sure to make a considerable impact on the scholarship on the First Crusade’ – Sehepunkte.

• Introduction  1. Ancestry and parentage  2. Godfrey’s career in the West, c.1060-95  3. The coming of the First Crusade, 1095-96  4. The First Crusade, 1096-99  5. In Jerusalem, 1099-1100  Conclusion  Epilogue  Bibliography