Brief Notices

BRIEF NOTICES Andrea,Alfred J. (Ed. and Trans.). The Capture of Constantinople: The Hystoria Constantinopolitana of Günther of Pairis. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1997. Pp. xiv, 194. $36.50 cloth; $16.50 paper.) Günther ofPairis (ca. 1 150-1210?), a Cistercian monk ofthe Alsatian abbey of Pairis, composed four known Latin works. By far the most famous of these was the Hystoria Constantinopolitana,a contemporary account of the Fourth Crusade (1201-1204) written before the end of 1205 and based on the recollections of Gunther's crusading abbot, Martin. Along with the memoirs ofGeoffrey de Villehardouin and Robert de CIari, Gunther's account is one of the most extensive descriptions of this pivotal event. But the Hystoria Constantinopolitana is more than that. Not content simply to report a series of remembrances, Günther crafted a sophisticated epic, using language and literary structure to place the diversion of the crusade and subsequent conquest of Constantinople within the context of God's mercy, judgment, and plan for humanity. As a piece of literature, the Hystoria Constantinopolitana represents a remarkable achievement of twelfth-century humanism. That a relatively unknown monk produced it in a smallish monastery in an out-of-the-way location makes it all the more remarkable. Despite its importance, the Hystoria Constantinopolitana remained devilishly hard to come by until very recently. It is hard to imagine someone better qualified to rescue this work from obscurity than Alfred J. Andrea. For many years,Andrea has trained his historical and linguistic expertise on the so-called "minor" sources of the Fourth Crusade, publishing definitive editions and translations of the works of the Anonymous of Soissons, the Anonymous of Halberstadt ,and the Devastatio Constantinopolitana. None ofthese,however, matches the complexity of the Hystoria Constantinopolitana. Rather than relying on older editions, Andrea went to the manuscripts themselves, producing a superior edition of his own, along with an English translation and extensive notes. Before it could be published, though, Peter Orth published his own excellent edition of Gunther's epic. What we have, then, with The Capture of Constantinople is Andrea's previous work minus the critical edition. What is left is far more than simply a lively and exacting translation. In an extensive introduction Andrea examines the life of Günther, the structure of the Hystoria Constanti607 608BRIEF NOTICES nopolitana, and its importance as a historical source. The introduction and translation are profusely footnoted with comprehensive references to related primary evidence as well as modern scholarly literature. It is the work of a scholar who is not only an expert on the text,but on the events that the text describes . With the publication of The Capture ofConstantinople,Andrea has taken a remarkable medieval text and made it accessible. Scholars will want to use this work alongside the Orth edition, not only for the copious references but also to take note of those points on which Andrea and Orth disagree on the text itself. For students and non-specialists, The Capture of Constantinople opens a new window onto one of the strangest events in crusading history, allowing them to examine it from yet another perspective. That is all to the good; for, as Andrea has written elsewhere,"the Fourth Crusade is too important and interesting to be left exclusively to professional historians." Thomas F. Madden (Saint Louis University) The Beginning of Heaven and Earth: The Sacred Book ofJapan's Hidden Christians. Translated and annotated by Christal Whelan. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 1996. Pp. xii, 135. $34.00 cloth bound; $16.95 paperback .) This short work represents a welcome addition to the field ofJapanese studies in the United States. Christal Whelan of the Department ofAnthropology in the University of Hawaii provides the first readily available translation into English of the Hidden Christians' sacred text, The Beginning ofHeaven and Earth (Tenchi Hajimari no koto). The book is divided almost equally into an introduction , the translation itself, and notes. The introduction contains an enormous amount of information on the beginnings of Christianity in Japan, the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians), the origins of the text, and thoughts on the diverse influences from East and West that surface in the document. All this background information...