Crusade (fwd)

[clevin@rci.ripco.com (Craig Levin)]

Poster: clevin@rci.ripco.com (Craig Levin)

Efen:

> Does anyone know if crusaders or merchants ever brought female 
> servants/slaves back to Europe from the Middle-East. Or is there 
> any evidence of (female) Arabs visiting the 12th Century Norman 
> court? My wife and I are looking for interesting reasons that a 
> Lady of Queen Elanor's court (who doesn't travel much) might know 
> something about Middle-Eastern music and dance. You needn't send 
> me a complete text, just a source or a place to look would be 
> nice.

In general, slavery had died out in mediaeval Europe by the end
of the Norse raids, long before the lifetime of Eleanor of
Aquitaine. However, the easiest solution to your wife's dilemma
is simple: Eleanor herself had accompanied her husband <at the
time, Philippe of France> on the 2nd Crusade, and your lady wife
was among the members of the queen's retinue. Even if she hadn't
gone on the journey, she'd certainly have friends who did. Also,
pilgrims wouldn't have been uncommon sights at court, and they
might have had a chance to see some of the indigenous culture of
the Holy Land. Consider this: many people went to the Holy Land
to stay-and she might be related to a few of them. As a lady of
quality, she <and they> would most likely be literate, or be able
to afford a clerk who could write correspondence, or otherwise
find a way to communicate in writing.

Caveat: I doubt that a male pilgrim, Crusader, or settler in the
Holy Land would have had a chance to really know the deep details
of the local female dances, _unless_ they had "gone native," as a
few did; they would, though, by having "gone native," have left
their attachments to the home country behind, and be unlikely
sources for her. Also, the few women who went to raise families
in the Holy Land tried to maintain European standards of conduct-
and the local women's dances wouldn't fit those standards.
Basically, what your lady wife's asking for is highly unlikely.

I recommend J. Riley-Smith's works on the subject of Crusading.
Generally, he doesn't require his readers to be acquainted with any 
language other than English <unlike Runciman, who's the grand
master of the subject, and requires one to know Latin and French,
at the least>, and his maps are good.
-- 
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~clevin/index.html 
clevin@ripco.com
Craig Levin
=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://sca.wayfarer.org/merryrose/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org