Winner of Van Courtland Elliott Prize

The Van Courtlandt Elliott Prize Committee is pleased to award the 2012 prize to Lee Manion for his article "The Loss of the Holy Land and Sir Isumbras: Literary Contributions to Fourteenth-Century Crusade Discourse," Speculum 85 (2010), 65-90. The Middle English poem Sir Isumbras was written in the early 1330s, and tells of a knight who has all his worldly goods and family taken from him by God, becomes a smith, then travels to the East as a warrior/pilgrim, where he conquers a sultan and wins his kingdom for himself and for Christianity. Manion situates this poem in the context of crusades and crusading theory after the fall of Acre in 1291. He shows that chroniclers and crusade theorists, often blaming the loss of Acre on the faults of the powerful in society - rich knights and the clerical establishment - included profound social criticism in their call for the radical reform of crusading ideals. He also discusses the actual "unsanctioned" crusades of 1309 and 1320, arguing that they displayed both popular enthusiasm for the ideals of crusading and at the same time a rejection of "official" clerical rituals and practices. Manion argues that the trajectory of Sir Isumbras, which shows that a simple knight who personally reforms himself can and will be successful against the enemies of Christianity, supports the popular critique of powerful lords and clerics as failed crusaders. The popularity of Sir Isumbras demonstrates that after 1291, a "community of crusade discourse" was flourishing outside of clerical circles.

Within a very strong pool of submissions, Manion's study stood out for its interdisciplinary range, and for the implications of his conclusions that crusading ideals permeated late medieval culture far beyond clerical and military circles. Manion's article is a splendid example of careful attention to both historical context and literary detail, elegantly structured so that his main arguments always remain at the forefront. He provides context for understanding Sir Isumbras through detailed examinations of the history of crusading and changes in crusading theory after 1291. In doing so he reveals the power and scope of crusade ideology in the popular imagination, extending from social criticism, to the moral reform of the individual, to changing popular notions of penance and salvation. He concludes with an ambitious attempt to re-categorize the whole genre of crusade romance.

Respectfully submitted,
Joel Kaye
Deborah McGrady
Deborah M. Deliyannis, Chair