Is Alexios' appeal to Robert of Flanders a forgery?
Historian Carol Sweetenham has prepared an excellent and useful translation and commentary of Robert the Monk's History of the First Crusade (Historia Iherosolimitana) -- Robert the Monk is not to be confused with Robert of Flanders.
In the commentary, she questions the authenticity of emperor Alexios’ letter to the Count of Flanders. He would not have itemized the treasures of Constantinople, she reasons. To do so would be to expose the real treasures of the city and the empire. She believed it was a drummed up propaganda piece written in the West in order to mobilize support for the crusades. Nothing appealed so much as the lure to wealth from the prospects of such an adventure.
This seems to be the general consensus among many scholars who have studies to appeal.
- What of the appeal of the emperor Alexios to Robert of Flanders?
- What is in the list of Alexios' appeal to Robert of Flanders?
- Is Alexios' appeal to Robert of Flanders significant nonetheless?