Donnadieu, Jean <br/><br/>
Narratio patriarcae. The origin and destiny of a story about the Muslim Middle East circa 1200 

 -  2019.<br/>							 
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<br/><br/> The chronicle of Richard of San Germano for the year 1214 presents a text that forms the report that would have been addressed to Pope Innocent III by the patriarch of Jerusalem. This was a statement on the organization of the Ayyubid confederation at the beginning of the 13th century, at which time it had been placed under the authority of the Sultan Al-Adil, and on the situation in the Middle East. An analysis of this short document, as well as a translation, are also provided, bearing the name Narratio patriarcae or Relatio tripartita ad Innocentium de viribus Agaranorum inmodern scholarship. We decided, firstly, to return to the origin and the nature of this document, reporting on a peace proposition that came about between Christians and Muslims on the initiative of the sultan. All aspects of this text, which provides a very incomplete picture of the Middle Eastern world of the 1200s, raise questions. These uncertainties relate to the identity of its author, the veracity of the information contained within the report, and the meaning that might be attributed to it. In any case, it would have chimed well with certain aspects of the pope’s eastern policy before the Fourth Crusade. Secondly, we wish to emphasize that the great influence that this document went on to have is undeniable. It features in no less than 60 manuscripts that span the xiii th to the 16th centuries. It was most often associated with pieces of musicfrom nearby or even from far away.