Raymond D'Aguilers

Raymond D'Aguilers (Raimundus de Aguilers, Raymond of Aguilers or de Agiles) was a chronicler of the First Crusade(1095-1096) as well as Raymond IV of Toulouse's priest. He later became Raymond IV of Toulouse's chaplain. He followed the Provençal army of crusaders, guided by count Raymond IV of Toulouse, to Jerusalem.

He was educated as a clerk in a monastery of Vézelay and all traces of him are lost after the Battle of Ascalon (1099). As an eyewitness of the events of the First Crusade, he is one of the most important chroniclers of the crusade. Because he describes some visions and miracles of the crusaders—for example the discovering of the Holy Lance of Peter Bartholomew—at length, some modern historians do not take his work very seriously. However, his description of the capture of Antioch (from 1097–1098) may be the only authentic explanation of this event.

Like many of the Crusaders and the Crusade's themselves, Raymond of Aguilers motives during the Crusade have been questioned. This is particularly true in regards as to why he wrote the Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem. Raymond of Aguilers claimed he wrote to inform the Bishop of Viviers and the general populace of the true actions in regards to crusade. This was in direct response to rumors spread by several deserters and traitors according to Aguilers. Other historians, however, contend that Raymond of Aguilers actually wrote the Historia Francorum qui Ceperunt Iherusalem to raise up his own liege Raymond IV of Toulouse. Aguilers, being the one responsible for his liege's spiritual being, could possible gain further prestige by portraying Raymond IV of Toulouse as a truly holy individual. This would further explain why during the capture of Antioch Aguilers focused heavily on the finding of the Holy Lance by Peter Bartholomew instead of focusing on the accounts of two saintly figures aiding in the battles as described in the Gesta Francorum.

His work is entitled Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem and was translated from Latin into modern French at the beginning of the 19th century by the French scholar François Guizot, in "Memoires sur l'histoire de France" (1824), XXI, 227–397. The Latin text was first published by Jacques Bongars (Gesta Dei per Francos, I, 139-183), and again in the "Recueil des historiens occidentaux des croisades" (1866), 235–309. The most recent translation is provided by John Hugh and Laurita L. Hill in 1968, and was translated into English.