CAPAS RESEARCH PROJECT - Alexander Marx The Reception of the Roman Conquest of Jerusalem (70 CE): A Notable Apocalyptic Device in Medieval Latin Texts (c.400-c.1300)
My project, which will become my Habilitation and second book, examines the reception of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem (70 CE) in diverse medieval Latin texts between c.400 and c.1300. This seminal event appears in thousands of texts, often fusing with meaningful subjects such as the crusade movement or anti-Jewish sentiments. There is also a notable apocalyptic dimension to deploying the conquest, since it represents a pivotal node within the concept of Salvation History that points forward to the End of Time, which would likewise occur in Jerusalem. Therefore, using the conquest delivers a repository for imagining the End of Time, its protagonists, and venues—in other words, it delivers a rich repository for the biopolitics of the medieval Apocalypse. Especially via its use in sermon texts (one of four genres that the project investigates), this device offers models for action to audiences, models that blend past, present, and future, just as they imbue historical events with an apocalyptic colouring. The fact of locating these providential events in Jerusalem, while addressing Western audiences, helps in understanding why the Middle Ages, especially since the late tenth century, saw such unceasing waves of pilgrims and then crusaders to the Holy Land.