The Latin and Islamic dating of the Crusades: A comparative study between Ibn Al-Athir 1160-1232 and William of Tyre 1130-1185 AD

The First Crusade produced a historical material more than any other event at the beginning of the Middle Ages; because the participants in the Crusade were proud of their deeds, and their desire to preserve the memory of their actions was intense. This book – which is originally a doctoral thesis – discusses the Crusade in historical chronicles, and consists of two parts: the first part focuses on Islamic and Latin historiography and documentation of the Crusade, and presents various types of historical literature on the Crusade, revealing similarities and differences between Islamic annals and Christian annals related to the period. The second part is a comparative study that examines the methodology of William of Tyre (1130–1185 AD) and Ibn al-Athir (1160–1232 AD) in narrating and analyzing the events of the Crusades, and compares the two approaches in an attempt to understand the nature of relationships between the Latin emirates in the East and the Islamic world in the 12th century AD.