International Medieval Society, Paris
Société Internationale des Médiévistes, Paris

Symposium 2009 - Space/l'Espace
Abstract

The paper will examine anew the binary of East and West as two directions, characterized by rising and setting of the sun, and focuses particularly on the idea of westward progression of history. It argues that this idea developed in response to perceived handicaps of the West, both natural and theological, in relation to the East. More specifically, the paper analyzes the ways in which several authors writing about the First Crusade in the early twelfth century modified the idea of westward progression to fit the new circumstances of warfare in the Middle East. The authors developed a new theory of cardinal points switching places, with the West becoming the “new East” and, conversely, the East becoming the “new West.”