Notes

I cite Guibert's Memoirs from the translation of C.C. Swinton Bland, revised by John F. Benton, Self and Society; the Latin is available in the PL and in the editions of Labande and Bourgin. I cite the Gesta Dei per Francos from the edition in the Receuils des historiens des croisades (page numbers) and from the PL (column numbers); translations are my own. I cite the Tractatus de incarnatione contra Judaeos from the PL; translations are my own.

• 1. On the medieval Christian view of Islam as "heresy," see Daniel, Islam and the West 209-13 (and passim); Daniel, The Arabs and Mediaeval Europe 246, 249-52; and Southern 38-39. For the related view of Islam as "schism," see Daniel, Islam and the West 217- 18. And for the alternative understanding of Islam as "paganism," see Daniel, Islam and the West 214 and 391 n. 61; and Daniel, The Arabs and Mediaeval Europe 33- 34, 97-98, 238-41, 254, 260.
• 2. "The shattering effect of perversion is somehow related to the fact that its 'error' originates internally to just those things it threatens" (Dollimore 121).
• 3. See Benton, Self and Society 10, 13-16, 21-30, and "Consciousness of Self." For more on Guibert's attitudes toward the body and sex, see Kantor; Duby, Knight 139-59; and Stock 499-510. And for a discussion of the significance of the De pignoribus sanctorum in addressing a problem that Stock would place "[a]t the centre of the growth of religious intellectualism and of scientific naturalism"--"the status of a physical object having religious associations during an age of increasing literacy" (244)--see Stock 244-52. Benton's and Kantor's approaches to Guibert are self-consciously "psychohistorical"; for a critique of their work, see Coupe.
• 4. For brief comments on Guibert's depiction of Jean, see Moore, Formation 117, and Duby, Knight 155- 56.
• 5. As Duby, Knight, notes: "The words Guibert attributes to [Jean] are those that had been attributed to the heretics of Orleans a hundred years before" (156).
• 6. Guibert's famous treatment of the heresy at Bucy is discussed in a variety of contexts by Trachtenberg 205; Cohn 49; Moore, Origins 67-69; Duby, Knight 148; Bullough 209-10; Moore, Formation 36, 64, 94, 122-23, 124-27, 129-30; Ginzburg, Ecstasies 76; and Richards 59.
• 7. For a brief discussion of this passage, see Moore, Formation 29-30.
• 8. For a discussion of Guibert's Gesta in the context of other chronicles of the First Crusade, see Daniel, The Arabs and Mediaeval Europe 120-26.
• 9. Hujus nefariae institutionis obscuritas Christianum tunc nomen obtexit; et adhuc per Orientis pene universi, Affricae AEgypti, AEthiopiae Libiae, et juxta nos Hispaniae remotissimos sinus, obliterat. (130; col. 692)
• 10. As Southern suggests, Western writers in the early twelfth century "had a few facts" about Muhammad's life "derived ultimately from Byzantine writers" (29); these included "his marriage to a rich widow, his fits, his Christian background, and his plan of general sexual license as an instrument for the destruction of Christendom" (29-30). Southern sees Guibert's account as typical of "the picture of Mahomet and his followers which became current in northern Europe in the first half of the twelfth century" (29-30 n. 26; and see 31). For further discussion of the (mis)representation of Muhammad's life by chroniclers like Guibert, see Daniel, The Arabs and Mediaeval Europe 235-40.
• 11. At quum saepius utrorumque commercia lecti unius urna susciperet, propheta coepit egregius morbo epilensiae, quem caducum vulgo dicimus, aliquoties acriter, prophetissa cernente, vexari; et eversis obtutibus, facie tabida, labiis spumantibus, dentium ejus stridoribus ipsa terreri. (128-29; col. 690)
• 12. "Desipis, inquit, fatua, dum id quod est claritatis et gloriae, tu tuae ascribis injuriae. An nescis, improvida, quia quotiescumque prophetarum Deus inlabitur mentibus, tota corporis humani massa concutitur, quia ferre non praevalet carnis infirmitas, quum ei se applicat divina majestas? Resipisce tandem, et ne insolitis visionibus expavescas; beatasque sancti hominis tortiones gratanter attende, praesertim quum eum tunc virtus spiritualis instituat, super his omnibus quae sciri et fieri in futurum a vobis expediat." His feminea levitas relevata sermonibus, totum jam non modo tolerabile, sed etiam sacrosanctum et spectabile arbitra[ba]tur, quicquid prius foedum ac despicabile putabatur. (129; col. 691)
• 13. See the discussion of Western representations of Muhammad's death in Daniel, Islam and the West 125- 29. Southern notes that the account of "Mahomet's death and destruction by pigs during one of his fits" is "a hateful elaboration of some details in the Byzantine tradition" (31).
• 14. Sed hunc tantum tamque mirificum legislatorem quis exitus de medio tulerit, dicendum est. Quum subitaneo ictu epylenseos saepe corrueret, quo eum diximus superius laborare, accidit semel, dum solus obambulat, ut morbo elisus eodem caderet; et inventus, dum ipsa passione torquetur, a porcis in tantum discerpitur, ut nullae ejus praeter talos reliquiae invenirentur. Ecce legifer optimus, dum Epicureum, quem veri Stoici, Christi scilicet cultores, occiderant, porcum resuscitare molitur, immo prorsus resuscitat, porcus ipse porcis devorandus exponitur: ut obscoenitatis magisterium obscoenissimo, uti convenit, fine concludat. Talos jure reliquit, quia perfidiae ac turpitudinis vestigia deceptis miserabiliter animabus infixit. . . . Quod si Manichaeorum sunt vera repurgia sectae, ut in omni quod comeditur pars quaedam maneat commaculata Dei, et dentium comminutione, et stomachi concoctione pars ipsa Dei purgetur, et purgata jam in angelos convertatur, qui ructibus et ventositate extra nos prodire dicantur: sues de hujus carnibus pastas quod credimus angelos effecisse et magnis hinc inde flatibus emisisse? Sed omissis jocularibus quae pro sequacium derisione dicuntur, hoc est insinuandum: quod non eum Deum, ut aliqui aestimant, opinantur; sed hominem justum, eumdemque patronum, per quem leges divinae tradantur. Hunc coelitus assumptum astruunt; et solos talos relictos ad suorum fidelium monimentum, quos etiam infinita veneratione revisunt: porcorum vero esum, justa prorsus ratione contemnunt, qui morsibus eorum dominum consumpserunt. (130; cols. 692-93)
• 15. This material is presented in the (forged) letter, reproduced by Guibert, supposedly sent from the Greek Emperor to Robert of Flanders, requesting Western aid against the Muslim "threat." On the letter, see Boswell 279 n. 33; translated in Boswell 367-69. The Greek version translated by Boswell differs significantly from the Latin version presented by Guibert. See Daniel's comment that "[d]ifferent versions of the Letter of the Emperor of Constantinople are variations on a pornographic theme" (The Arabs and Mediaeval Europe 126).
• 16. "De ecclesiis querimonia est, quas siquidem Gentilitas eversa Christianitate tenebat, in quibus equorum ac mulorum ceterorumque animalium catabula construebat. Quod in tantum verum fuit, ut etiam fana sua, quae Mathomarias vocant, inibi instituerent, et infinitae turpitudinis commercia exercerent, ut non jam basilicae, sed meritoria et scenae fierent. Porro de catholicorum necibus frustra agerem, quum mortuis in fide vitae aeternalis videretur instare concambium; superstites sub miseri jugo famulatus vitam gererent, ipsis, ut arbitror, mortibus acriorem. Virgines enim fidelium deprehensae publicum fieri praecipiebantur scortum, quum nusquam pudori deferretur ac honestati conjugum. Matres correptae in conspectu filiarum, multipliciter repetitis diversorum coitibus vexabantur, quum filiae assistentes carmina praecinere saltando nefaria inter hujusmodi cogerentur. Eadem statim passio, quod dici quidem et dolor et pudor est, revolvebatur ad filias, quae etiam foeditas obscoenis infelicium matrum cantionibus ornabatur. Totius denique nominis reverentia Christiani prostibulo tradebatur. Quumque sexui femineo non parcitur, quod tamen excusari poterit pro competenti natura, in masculinum, pecualitate transgressa, solutis humanita- tum legibus, itur."--Unde, ut unius execranda et penitus intolerabili auribus majestate flagitii illa, quae in mediocres et infimos defurebat, petulantia panderetur, dicit quemdam eos abusione Sodomitica interemisse episcopum.--"Et quomodo praeceps et omnibus omnino vesaniis praeferenda libido, quae semper con- silii frontisque fugax perpetuo impetu agitur, et quo crebrius extinguitur eo vivaciori flamma iterato succenditur, erga humana se temperet, quae brutorum animalium inauditis et ori Christiano vetitis commixtionibus sordet? Et quum sit miseris permissa suo ipsorum arbitrio multiplicitas feminarum, parum est apud eos nisi et dignitas tantae spurcitiae volutabro commaculetur marium. Nec mirum si Deus exoletam eorum nequitiam et in clamorem versam impatienter tulerit, tantaque funestorum habitatorum execramenta, more antiquo, terra vomuerit." (131-32; cols. 693-94)
• 17. Dum haec sordidissimus ille tyrannus ediceret, meminisse debuerat quod ob hoc ipsum haec sibi suisque adversitas potissimum ingrueret: quia, edicto celebri, de pluribus universorum filiabus unam per omne imperium suum prostitui juberet, et fisco proprio lucrum foedissimae passionis inferret. Nec minus illud, quod de pluribus filiis unum eunuchizari, data praecepti auctoritate, mandaverit: et corpora marium ademptis virilibus enervia ac effeminata reddiderit, quae usibus militiae jam non habeantur utilia; immo ad detrimenti cumulum, abscidatur in ipsis propago futura, cujus incrementis sperari valerent contra hostes auxilia. (133; cols. 695-96)
• 18. "Honores amplissimi, castellorum et urbium dominia spernebantur; uxores pulcherrimae quasi quiddam tabidum vilescebant; omni gemma gratiores quondam promiscui sexus pignorum fastidiebantur aspectus; et ad quod mortalium nullus aut urgere imperio potuisset, aut suasione propellere, ad id subita mentium demutatarum obstinatione ferebantur" (124; col. 685). For more on Guibert's belief that "the crusade cleansed knighthood of its impurities" (222), see Duby, Three Orders 218- 22.
• 19. I'm thinking here of the contemporary rhetoric of disgust, demonstrated over and over again, for instance, in the public statements of Jesse Helms. See, for instance, Congressional Record.
• 20. See especially Bynum's Holy Feast and Holy Fast and Fragmentation and Redemption.
• 21. Nullus, inquiunt, nisi qui desipiat, credit Deum ad uteri feminei sese dimittere voluisse vilitatem, et consuetudinarii incrementi pertulisse moras. Illud potissimum horrori est ut is, qui Deus diceretur, per mulieris virginalia funderetur. Isdem quoque natus, cum non dissimilia humanitati membra haberet, et feminalibus usus est, et edendi ac bibendi necessitati subjacens, his etiam quae consequuntur aerumnis addictus est. Unde prorsus ridiculum est ut is talis Deus habeatur qui in nullo a miseriis discrepare communibus videatur. Porro si dicatur quia de Virgine natus fuit, falsissimum est, quia homo, tanta infirmitate depressus, contra leges naturae nasci non potuit. Maximum denique huic sententiae robur accessit quia cum latronibus ipse et latronum morte decessit. Et unde malum se potuit resuscitare, qui non praevaluit tam putendi exitii facta vitare? (col. 492)
• 22. Porro Dei Filius in carnem veniens, si competentia corpori membra habuit, membrorum compositio non nocuit. Frustraque non pudeat quod ipsum non puduit. Et quid eum puderet, ubi nihil non sanctum fuit! Si quidquid est, bonum est, nisi ubi peccatum est, membra quae per se bona sunt, cum peccatum non est, sancta sunt. Membra nostra imbecillitati nostrae sunt administratoria, etcum aures, ora vel nares superfluis capitum egerendis inserviunt, caetera quid mali faciunt, quae inferius intestinorum pondus exponunt? (col. 499)
• 23. Interroga, putidissime et nequam, de Domino nostro, si spuerit, si nares emunxerit, si pituitas oculorum vel aurium digitis hauserit, et intellige quia qua honestate superiora haec fecerit, et residua, peregerit. Aut dic mihi, ille tuus, qui Abrahae apparuit Deus, ea quae comedit in quem alium [f., alvum] deposuit? quomodo etiam, aut si factum est, quod consequens fuit? Contremisco dum de his disputo; sed vos, filii diaboli, me cogitis. Deus a vobis exigat, qui novit, quo affectu id ago. Breviter accipite Deum humiliter omnia hominis suscepisse, et nihil hominis veritum praeter peccata fuisse. (col. 499)

Works Cited

• Benton, John F. "Consciousness of Self and Perceptions of Individuality." In Robert L. Benson and Giles Constable, eds., with Carol Lanham. Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982. 263-95.
• Benton, John F., ed. Self and Society in Medieval France: The Memoirs of Abbot Guibert of Nogent (1064?-c. 1125). C. C. Swinton Bland, trans. [revised by Benton]. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
• Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.
• Bullough, Vern L. "Postscript: Heresy, Witchcraft, and Sexuality." In Vern L. Bullough and James Brundage, eds. Sexual Practices and the Medieval Church. Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1982. 206- 17.
• Bynum, Caroline Walker. Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion. New York: Zone Books, 1992.
• Bynum, Caroline Walker. Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1987.
• Cohn, Norman. Europe's Inner Demons. New York: Meridian/New American Library, 1977 [1975].
• Congressional Record--Senate [Debate on Helms Amendments] 14 October 1987, S14202-12, S14215-20.
• Coupe, M.D. "The Personality of Guibert of Nogent Reconsidered." JMH 9 (1983), 317-29.
• Daniel, Norman. The Arabs and Mediaeval Europe, 2nd ed. London and New York: Longman, 1979 [1975].
• Daniel, Norman. Islam and the West: The Making of an Image, revised ed. Oxford: Oneworld, 1993 [1960].
• Dollimore, Jonathan. Sexual Dissidence: Augustine to Wilde, Freud to Foucault. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.
• Duby, Georges. The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest: The Making of Modern Marriage in Medieval France. Barbara Bray, trans. New York: Pantheon, 1983 [1981].
• Duby, Georges. The Three Orders: Feudal Society Imagined. Arthur Goldhammer, trans. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.
• Ginzburg, Carlo. Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath. Raymond Rosenthal, trans. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991 [1989].
• Guibert of Nogent. Autobiographie. Edmond-Rene Labande, ed. and trans. Paris: Belles Lettres, 1981.
• Guibert of Nogent. De pignoribus sanctorum. PL 156, cols. 607-80.
• Guibert of Nogent. De vita sua sive monodiarum libri tres. PL 156, cols. 837-962.
• Guibert of Nogent. Histoire de sa vie (1053-1124). Georges Bourgin, ed. Paris: Alphonse Picard, 1907.
• Guibert of Nogent. Gesta Dei per Francos. PL 156, cols. 679-838.
• Guibert of Nogent. Gesta Dei per Francos. Receuils des historiens des croisades. Historiens occidentaux, vol. 4. L'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1879. 113-263.
• Guibert of Nogent. Tractatus de incarnatione contra Judaeos. PL 156, cols. 489-528.
• Kantor, Jonathan. "A Psychohistorical Source: The Memoirs of Abbot Guibert of Nogent." JMH 2 (1976), 281-303.
• Kimh.i, Joseph. The Book of the Covenant. Frank Talmage, trans. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1972.
• Moore, R. I. The Formation of a Persecuting Society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987.
• Moore, R. I. The Origins of European Dissent. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1985 [1977].
• Richards, Jeffrey. Sex, Dissidence and Damnation: Minority Groups in the Middle Ages. London and New York: Routledge, 1991.
• Southern, R. W. Western View of Islam in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1962.
• Stock, Brian. The Implications of Literacy: Written Language and Models of Interpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.
• Trachtenberg, Joshua. The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and Its Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1983 [1943].