About “Chanson d'Antioche”
The Chanson d'Antioche is a chanson de geste composed in approximately 1180, consisting of 9000 lines in Alexandrine verse organized into laisses. It forms part of a quasi-historical cycle of epic poems inspired by the events of the First Crusade between 1097 and 1099, focusing on the conquest of Antioch and Jerusalem and the establishment of the Crusader states. The poem was later revised and integrated into a more elaborate 14th-century Crusade cycle, which emphasized romance elements and embellished the original narrative.
Book details
- First published
- 1180