IT is impossible to generalise about the authorship of crusade narratives. To some extent authors shared social and literary influences, but as well as geographical and chronological diversity, each had unique perspectives or personal agendas in terms of patronage, opinion, justification or propaganda. The widespread practice of plagiarism during the medieval period meant that some authors simply compiled crusade texts, including additional evidence where they had access to it. All of these factors may have influenced opinion of women in crusade narratives. Unfortunately there is not space within the scope of this book to give detailed background information for each author. Instead this chapter will provide an overview of issues such as textual interdependence and authorship in terms of patronage, education, and access to material, in order to show that the authors of histories of crusading and the Latin East cannot be universally described as more misogynistic than their contemporaries.

Textual Interdependence

THE propensity of medieval authors for borrowing extensively from other sources often makes it difficult to assess individual agendas. If a text influenced the development and spread of the crusade idea it might also have influenced attitudes to women's involvement. In these circumstances, a careful comparison of texts can be of benefit. Deletion of information suggested that it was considered inconsequential or incorrect, whereas its inclusion verbatim implied tacit approval. Additions indicated personal knowledge, opinion, or access to external sources. Nicholson views this kind of plagiarism as ‘evidence … of how the crusaders themselves saw crusade and how they developed the account of the crusade which they would have eventually retold in Europe’.