Historian secures major grant for 3-year project
2 February 2009
Professor Peter Edbury has secured £410k research grant from the AHRC for a 3-year project, starting in September 2009, on 'The Old French William of Tyre and its Continuations'.
This project will produce the first modern critical edition of the medieval narratives known as the Continuations of William of Tyre and the Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer. The project team will include a full- time postdoctoral research assistant, and a fully-funded PhD student.
The importance of the Continuations and Ernoul-Bernard is considerable. Together they constitute the fullest narrative for the events from 1184 until (in the case of one manuscript) 1277 in the territories in the Levant ruled by the crusaders, and they are the most significant historical works composed in the Latin East to describe these years. The interest of these texts lies partly in the historical information they contain, but also in their capacity to mirror the political and cultural preoccupations of the authors and the original audience.
The large number of manuscripts and their sheer bulk has hitherto deterred scholars from undertaking a project of these dimensions. The proposed edition will constitute a research tool that will contribute significantly to advancing knowledge and understanding in the fields of history, art history, and French language and literature.
Please also see the Reassessing medieval texts press release.