The poet of Jerusalem Deliveredwearing his crown of laurels. © The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2014
Frontispiece of Jerusalem Delivered. © The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2014. Torquato Tasso began composing his monumental epic in the early 1570s. Parts of the work as well as pirated complete editions of it were in circulation before its first authorized edition in 1581. This illustration is possibly from an eighteenth century edition: the Hunterian Collection in the Special Collections at the University of Glasgow includes a two -volume edition (Foulis: Glasgow, 1763; Sp Coll Hunterian Cz.3.25-26, vols 1-2), which contains the same illustrations by Sebastien LeClerc.
Writers and fans of historical fiction would agree: Torquato Tasso was the George R.R. Martin of his time. Tasso’s epic fantasy, Jerusalem Delivered, based on the First Crusade, is populated with knights and fights, male and female warriors and witches, castles and dragons, forests and quests. The illustrations in two different editions, housed in the Hunterian Art Gallery collection and in the Special Collections of the Glasgow University Library, capture the exotic and magical appeal of this heroic world.
Factual sources, of course, tell a rather different story: chroniclers and historians, geographers and travel-writers depict the extraordinary event of the First Crusade and the world that created it from the point of view of reality. Maps and photographs of the Holy Land reveal a world completely different to the one created by the poet’s flights of fancy.
Realist or fantasy, historical fiction is ever inspired by known facts, then fills in the gaps with its own inventions, enhancing our experience and enjoyment of the past.
In this blog I will present some of the illustrations inspired by the great Renaissance poet’s epic fantasy, as well as factual information on the First Crusade, and then look at how historical reality, fiction, and fantasy interweave to create inspiring, unforgettable works like Jerusalem Delivered.The challenge of creating a plausible, recognisable world which uses historical reality but is not tied down by it is of great personal interest to me as a writer (and avid reader) of historical fiction and fantasy: it will be great if other reader/writers will eventually participate in these discussions and will be inspired, and inspiring, in their turn.
First Crusade Fictions 