USAMA IBN MUNQIDH’S ANECDOTE ABOUTH THE (NON-)SANCTIONING OF ADULTERY IN THE LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM: JUST A MOCKERY OF THE FRANKS OR A RELEVANT LEGAL HISTORY SOURCE?
USAMA IBN MUNQIDH’S ANECDOTE ABOUTH THE (NON-)SANCTIONING OF ADULTERY IN THE LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM: JUST A MOCKERY OF THE FRANKS OR A RELEVANT LEGAL HISTORY SOURCE?

Summary/Abstract: Usama ibn Munqidh was an Arab nobleman, knight, diplomat, and memoirist whose life almost coincided with the duration of the First Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. He knew the Franks best among all of his compatriots at the time. Usama’s The Book of Contemplation (Memoirs) is a first-rate piece of Arabic literature, but it is also of a great importance for research into the social and legal history of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. The subject of research in this paper is the anecdote about adultery among the Franks that Usama bequeathed to us in his Book of Contemplation, and a reexamination of the previous standpoint that it was merely an expression of the writer’s mockery of Frankish customs and their moral code. Following this, the literary nature of The Book of Contemplation and the goals with which it was written are first pointed out, and then the dilemma of whether Usama understood the story of adultery correctly. By applying the legal-historical method and comparing this anecdote with the content of relevant legal norms on adultery in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, it is concluded that Usama’s account could be veritable.

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