Knights at the Opera, Part 1 - An Introduction

Recently, such terms as "crusade" and "holy war" have cropped up in chiefly militaristic and ideological discussions. But in the 19th century, the Age of Chivalry was a much-romanticized concept across all art forms, fueling for example some of the most beautiful paintings (and poetry) by Victorian artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement. In opera, too, the Medieval period during which the Crusades took place was most appealing to librettists, who would not lack for royal and/or exotic settings, inspirational religious scenes, and such special effects as armor-crunching battles and supernatural spells.

Generally speaking, these opera plots tend to have one or more of the following scenarios: missions or tournaments at which a knight must succeed to win the hand or his beloved or physically rescue her from the clutches of non-Christian kidnappers; difficulties that arise when members of opposing religious factions fall in love; or travel by some specific European army to an Eastern land where what are often essentially personal squabbles are played out against a colorful background. Though Christians who harm fellow Christians, or aid and abet such forces as oppose them, are punished, often with exile, in these operas it is usually considered perfectly fine to kill non-Christian characters, though sometimes they are merely converted to ensure a happy ending. In such works, Moors, Byzantines, Saracens, Arabs, etc., as well as evil sorcerers of unearthly realms are as good as interchangeable, representing the archetype of an exotically garbed, oft-swarthy bogeyman.

Do I sound cynical? Well, something that emerges very quickly when one begins to research the historical facts supporting such libretti and their various bases within European literature, is that works that glorify Medieval knights usually omit the darker realities of historical Christian Soldiers' behavior. Though many pilgrims indeed used their journey to the East for a sincere and harmless expression of their faith, and some battles did stem from a real need to protect European territories from invasion, it is a sad truth that the Crusades also generated opportunities for cruel and self-serving missions to use the cloak of advancing the beliefs of Christianity as an excuse to plunder communities in which they would not be disciplined by their own side for their unChristian behaviors. Such armies attracted aristocratic younger sons who lacked inheritances, and also unpropertied commoners, both of whom hoped to conquer and seize for themselves lands belonging to inhabitants of Moslem regions (be these latter peoples Moslem, Jewish, or even Christian); noblemen or church elders who itched to raid the coffers of their non-Christian equivalents, by blackmail or outright theft; men from all classes who dreamed of seducing exotic women; and religious fanatics who longed to destroy whomever and whatever they considered heathen. Infighting among these travelers was common, as was their mistreatment of people who extended hospitality to them along their journey. Often, poor training or poor strategy caused not only the needless death of innocents but the demise of the would-be warriors themselves before they even reached their goal of Jerusalem.

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