List of works about the archaeology, cartography and numismatics of the Crusades

Historians of the Crusades: archaeology, cartography and numismatics include those authors whose work was in the auxiliary sciences of history, including the areas of archaeological exploration; historical geography and cartography; numismatics and sigillography; and document analysis techniques. Much of this work is based on the accounts of travelers to the Holy Land.

Archaeological disciplines have contributed to the understanding of the history of the Crusades by verifying or refuting accounts presented in original sources. Particular emphasis has been on Crusader castles, history of the art of the period, and document analysis techniques such as palaeography, diplomatics and epigraphy. Historical cartography, geography and topography are sources used in the study of the history of the Crusades. Some of these authors and their works are presented below, supplementing works that are essentially travelers' accounts. The disciples of numismatics, the study of coins and other money, and sigillography, the study of seals of Byzantium and the Latin East, play a role in interpreting histories. The coinage of Outremer that has been studied are the coins of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Frankish Syria, and those of the Islamic world, including Frankish imitations.

In his article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, French historian Louis R. Bréhier (1869–1951) identified archaeological, cartographical and numismatics sources as a key for historical understanding of the Crusades.Bréhier, Louis René (1908). "Crusades (Sources and Bibliography)". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Principal authors and their works are identified below. Many of these overlap with historians and travelers discussed in the companion articles in Historians and histories of the Crusades, and many of the works meet multiple categories in the overall work. Related articles include Biblical archaeology, the list of Christian holy places, the study of numismatics, the cartography of Palestine and the cartography of Jerusalem. The travel accounts in the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (PPTS) library are also of interest.

Cartography Early journeys to the Holy Land included pilgrimages and government surveys, and resulted in numerous documents relating to geography and archaeology.

Descriptions of the Holy Land in the 5th and 6th Centuries. Numerous works dating from 440 to 570 describe the geography, topography and buildings in the Holy Land.Runciman, Steven (1969). "Chapter II.D. The Pilgrimages to Palestine before 1091." In Setton, Kenneth M.; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades: I. The First Hundred Years. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 68-80. These include: The Epitome of S. Eucherius (440); The Breviary of Jerusalem (530); Theodosius' De situ terrae sanctae, or Topography of the Holy Land (530); The Buildings of Justinian, by Procopius (500 – after 565); and The Holy Places Visited by Antoninus Martyr (c. 570), the so-called anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza. Both the Breviary and Antoninus Martyr describe the crown of thorns present in a "Basilica of Mount Zion." In PPTS II.1–II.4.

Arculf and Adomnán. Arculf (fl. late 7th century), a Frankish bishop who toured the Holy Land c. 680. Adomnán (c. 624–704) was a Scottish abbot who wrote about the sacred places based on the work of Arculf. The accounts contain the second oldest known map of Jerusalem (the oldest being the Madaba Map). In PPTS III.1.

Pilgrimage of Arculfus in the Holy Land (about the year A.D. 670). De locis sanctis (Concerning Sacred Places), a work by Adomnán based on Arculf's account.

Commemoratorium de Casis Dei vel Monasteriis is a report from 808 sent to Charlemagne tabulating all churches, monasteries and hospices in the Holy Land. Its purpose was to allow the emperor to expeditiously distribute alms. In Descriptiones Terrae Sanctae ex saeculo VIII., IX., XII. et XV (1874) by Titus Tobler.Tobler, T. (1874). Descriptiones Terrae Sanctae ex saeculo VIII., IX., XII. et XV. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs.

Ibn Rustah. Ahmad ibn Rustah (died after 903), a Persian explorer and geographer.Bosworth, C. Edmund. "Abū 'Ali Ahmad ebn Rosta". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VIII, Fasc. 1, pp. 49-50. Retrieved 21 September 2020

Kitāb al-A'lāq al-Nafīsa (Book of Precious Records). A geographical compendium describing the travels of ibn Rustah to Europe, Russia and Arabia. Al-Balādhuri. ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jabir al-Balādhurī (fl. 9th century), one of the earliest Muslim historians who traveled widely in Syria and Mesopotamia and provided an extensive geographic information on the area.C. E. Bosworth, "Balādori"," Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2016 (accessed on 20 September 2016).Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911). "Balādhurī". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press. p. 233. Kitāb Futūḥ al-Buldān (The Conquest of Nations), an early history of the Caliphate.Balādhurī, A. ibn Yaḥyá., Hitti, P. K. (Philip Khuri). (191624). The origins of the Islamic state: being a translation from the Arabic accompanied with annotations, geographic and historic notes of the Kitâbfutûḥ al-buldân of al-Imâm abu l'Abbâs Aḥmad ibn-Jâbir al-Balâdhuri. New York.

Ibn Jubayr. Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217), an Arab geographer and traveler.

Al-Rihlah (The Voyage). A travel account which includes his trip to Mecca from 1183 to 1185 and included travel to Egypt and Sicily. In Recueil des historiens des croisades (RHC) Historiens orientaux, Volume 3 (1884).

William of Rubruck. William of Rubruck (fl. 1253 – 1255), a Flemish Franciscan missionary who accompanied Louis IX of France on the Seventh Crusade and, in 1253, set out on a journey to Mongol territory.Schlager, Patricius (1912). "William Rubruck" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company.Yule, Henry, and Beazley, Charles Raymond (1911). "Rubruquis, William of " . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 810-812.

Itinerarium fratris Willielmi de Rubruquis de ordine fratrum Minorum, Galli, Anno gratiae 1253 ad partes Orientales (1255). A report of William's travels, presented to Louis IX in 1255.Ruysbroeck, W. van., Rockhill, W. Woodville., Giovanni di Piano Carpini, a. of Antivari. (1900). The journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55. London: Printed for the Hakluyt Society.

Abu'l Fida. Abu'l-Fida (Abulfeda) (1273–1331), a Kurdish politician, geographer and historian from Syria who had descended from Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Saladin.Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911). "Abulfeda". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press. p. 80.

Tarikh al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashar (Concise History of Humanity). In Recueil des historiens des croisades (RHC) Historiens orientaux, Volume 1 (1872). An Abridgment of the History at the Human Race. A continuation of ibn al-Athir's The Complete History through 1329. Taqwim al-Buldan (A Sketch of the Countries). A text on geography that includes descriptions of the major cities of the world and contains the first known reference to the circumnavigator's paradox in which travelers gain or lose a day circling the globe.

Rashid al-Din. Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318) was a Jewish-turned-Islamic physician and historian who was vizier to the Ilkhan Ghazan.

Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles). A history of the Mongols from the time of Adam until 1311. The books include History of the Mongols, regarding the Khanate conquests from Genghis Khan through that of Ghazan. They also include the History of the Franks through 1305, based on sources such as Italian explorer Isol the Pisan and the Chronicon pontificum et imperatorum of Martin of Opava. A third part on geography has been lost. "This article is available in print. Vol. XIV, Fasc. 5, pp. 462-468".

Tractatus de locis et statu sancte terre ierosolimitane. The Tractatus de locis et statu sancte terre ierosolimitane (late 12th or early 13th century) is an anonymous work concerning the geography of the Kingdom of Jerusalem prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. It also discusses the ethnography of the Christian groups living there as well as the feudal structure of the kingdom. The non-Christian groups including Jews, Bedouins and Assassins are also discussed.

Al-Idrisi. Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165), an Arab geographer who spent time at the court of Roger II of Sicily.

Tabula Rogeriana (1158). Commissioned by Roger II of Sicily, the Tabula Rogeriana was the most advanced map of the world at the time it was published in 1158 and was still in use at the time of Christopher Columbus. Nuzhat al-Mushtaq, a universal geography, translated by Lebanese Maronite Gabriel Sionita (1577–1648).

Yaqut al-Hamawi. Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229), an Arab scholar.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Yāqūt". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 904.

Kitāb Mu'jam al-Buldān (Alphabetical Dictionary of Geography) is simultaneously a book of geography, history, biography and Islam. Much of his work was derived from travel through Egypt, Syria and Persia.

Izz al-Din ibn Shaddad. Izz al-Din ibn Shaddad al-Halabi (1217-1285), an Aleppan geographer employed by the Ayyubids.Sourdel, D. "Ibn Shaddād". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Retrieved 22 July 2020.

Al-a'laq al-khatira fi dhikr umara' al-Sham wa'l-Jazira, a historical geography of Syria and al-Jazira. Ta'rikh al-Malik al-zahir, a biography of Baibars, Mamluk sultan of Egypt.

Ibn Abd al-Zahir. Ibn Abd al-Zahir (1223–1293), also known as Muhi ad-Din ibn Abdazzahir, was an Egyptian historian who wrote extensively of the Mamluk sultans as well as a geographical study.

Kitāb al-Rawḍah al-Bahīyah. A geographical study used extensively by Egyptian historian al-Makrizi. Lives of Baibars and Qalawun. A biography of sultans Baibars and al-Mansur Qalawun.

Al-Dimashqi. Shams al-Din al-Ansari al-Dimashqi (1256–1327), an Arab geographer known as the Damascene.

K. Nuk̲h̲bat al-Dahr fi ʿAd̲j̲āʾib al-Barr wal-Baḥr (Cosmographie de Ch. A. Abd. M. de-Dimichqi, or Geography). A work covering Greater Syria as well as Southeast Asia.

Hamdallah Mustawfi. Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini (1281–1349), a Persian historian and geographer.Melville, Charles (6 March 2012). "Hamd Allāh Mostawfi". Encyclopædia Iranica (online ed.). "This article is available in print. Vol. XI, Fasc. 6, pp. 631-634".

Nozhat al-qolub. A work on geography that may be derived from a lost work of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, the third part of his Jami' al-tawarikh.

Marino Sanudo. Marino Sanudo (Sanuto) the Elder (1260–1338), a Venetian statesman and geographer.Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911). "Sanuto, Marino, the elder" . In Chisholm, Hugh, ed., Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 196.

Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis (Secrets of True Crusaders to help them to recover the Holy Land) (1321). A work written in 1321 on geography which was offered to the pope as a manual for the reconquest of the Holy Land. The earliest surviving edition of Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis is from Volume II of Gesta Dei per Francos. In PPTS, Volume XII.2. Conti, Niccolò de'. Niccolò de' Conti (c. 1395 – 1469), an Italian merchant, explorer, and writer, who traveled to India and other Asian destinations. His travels were used to help create the Fra Mauro map of 1450.Charles Raymond Beazley (1911). "Conti, Nicolo de'". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.) Encyclopædia Britannica. 7. (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 28-29.Francesco Surdich (1983). "Conti, Niccolò de'" in Dizionario biografico degli italiani (DBI). 28. Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, Rome