'Desperate with hunger': Food, eating, and cannibalism in narratives of the First Crusade

This thesis examines representations of food, eating, and crusader cannibalism in a range of narrative sources of the First Crusade (1095–1099). While crusade historians have previously noted issues of food supply, hoarding, and foraging in crusade literature, little attention has been paid to the language, imagery, and metaphoric range of hunger in narratives of the campaign. As a result, crusader cannibalism is often examined out of context and isolated from wider themes of hunger and consumption. This thesis redresses this imbalance by situating depictions of crusader cannibalism from first-hand accounts, chronicles, and epic poetry of the First Crusade within the thematic context of hunger. By analysing how medieval crusade commentators engage with the concepts of abundance, dearth, and famine, this thesis demonstrates that discourses surrounding food and consumption have substantial explanatory force in crusade literature. Expressions of hunger are used alongside alimentary metaphors in narratives of the First Crusade to highlight and express the significance of the events of the campaign, including gruesome acts of crusader cannibalism, to their audience. This thesis comprises five chapters that focus on the form and function of hunger – the factor that drives crusaders to consume human flesh – in nine different accounts of the campaign, shedding new light on the role discourses of consumption play in the narrativisation of the First Crusade.