Chanson d'Antioche

Susan B. Edgington is an Honorary Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London, UK. Carol Sweetenham is an Associate Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, UK

'Before discussing the actual translation itself, it is worth noting that the authors include in this volume a comprehensive 97-page critical introduction to the text that not only sets it in the context of the Crusade Cycle as a whole, but locates it within the wider milieu of the chansons de geste. In fact, this introduction represents the most extended critical appraisal of the Crusade Cycle yet carried out in English, and as such, is an important contribution to scholarship in itself... Of course, the chief purpose of this volume is to provide a translation of the Chanson d'Antioche, and in this regard it can be considered as a resounding success. The translation itself is lucid and engaging, rendering a number of difficult Old French passages into readable English. Comprehensive critical notes accompany both the introduction and translation... In conclusion then, this volume is a landmark piece of scholarship not only in the field of the crusades but more widely in medieval history.' Reviews in History 'This is a very good addition to Ashgate’s excellent Crusdade Texts in Translation and one on which the publishers and authors are to be congratulated.' The Medieval Review 'The careful new translation of the Antioche by Susan Edgington (London) and Carol Sweetenham (Warwick) makes it available to the English reader for the first time, their clear and readable prose rendering the access particularly easy, and for this they are highly to be commended. The 98-page introduction offers an excellent discussion of the questions which scholars have been concerned with for generations, and here too we must acknowledge the first satisfactory overview of the field in the English language... Edgington and Sweetenham have provided us with the basis for future work on this text in the English-speaking world. At the same time they have set the agenda for a closer methodological collaboration between the disciplines of historical and literary studies. It is certain that thi

• Contents: Preface; Part I Introduction: The textual history of the Chanson d'Antioche; The Chanson d'Antioche as a historical source; The Chanson d'Antioche as literary text; Principles of translation; Summary. Part II Translation. Part III Appendices; Bibliography; Index.