On the Question of the Tradition of Using the Term Khorasan in the Latin Chronicles of the First Crusade

Abstract

This work is devoted to the consideration of the tradition of using the geographical term Khorasan in the Latin chronicles of the first crusade. The founder of this tradition can rightfully be called the anonymous author of The Acts of the Franks and Other Jerusalemites. This book is of particular interest to researchers, because. this work not only became the first of its kind report on the invasion of the Crusader knights, immigrants from Western Europe to the Middle East, but also served as the main source of information for the works of other chroniclers. In the 11th century. the civilization of the medieval West for the first time in many years moved from a deaf defense to a systematic offensive, which forced contemporaries to take a fresh look at phenomena that had previously been hidden by a veil of myths and secrets. It is all the more interesting to learn about what ideas were formed about the historical region of Khorasan that really existed in that era among Latin authors, among whom, after Anonymous, are: monk and others. In the view of the Anonymous, “Khorasan” denoted the center of the Seljuk state, but it is quite natural to assume that this term also has a number of other meanings and meanings that have yet to be clarified and analyzed. At the same time, the very fact of the use of this term in the works of the listed authors points to going beyond the limits of traditions.