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Posted by Paula Stiles Jul 16, 2006 |
Usamah Ibn Munqidh (1095-1188), author of the autobiographical "Kitab al-I'tibar" (Book of Learning by Example), was a rakish Arab nobleman who roamed through the 12th-century Middle East, both in Muslim and Christian territory, for decades. Born to an emir who gave up his son's birthright to his brother, Usamah had a little money, a lot of education and no title. This seemed to free him up to have all sorts of adventures, usually as some sort of diplomat. He seems like the perfect model for an outlaw-and yet, he never became one.
In 1175, old and blind, he dictated an autobiography that is now one of the most famous primary sources of the Crusades era. It's full of sin and adventure, with Usamah claiming to be only an innocent observer of the most outlandish shenanigans, even when he's smack in the middle of them. Educated and curious, Usamah comes across as a 12th-century version of Sir Richard Francis Burton, but with fewer books to his name.
Crusades historians treat Usamah's pronouncements about everything from the allegedly dubious virtue of Frankish women to the personality of Saladin (subject of this week's film review) with a grain of salt-actually, a boulder--these days. Since Usamah is most famous in the West for his passages about the Franks, and these are some of the most outrageous, this has given him a reputation among historians for telling tall tales.
There is probably also underlying bias to Usamah's stories. For example, while he clearly enjoyed his sojourns in Frankish territory, he also plays up a view of the Franks as barbaric to his Arab audience. This gets him off the hook in an "I did bad things when I was young but I didn't enjoy them one bit" sort of way and is typical of Muslim attitudes about Christians at the time. Not that Christians were any better toward Muslims. They thought Muslims were idolators or servants of the Antichrist. Usamah's wit at the expense of the Franks also probably saved him from charges of being an outlaw, dissolute and generally a bad Muslim. Usamah is a classic case of how difficult primary (eyewitness) sources can be. He's unreliable (probably), but in some cases, he and his information are unique. Just like his life.