Jerusalem Delivered (La Gerusalemme liberata) (1580) is a baroque epic poem by Torquato Tasso which tells the (largely fictionalized) story of the First Crusade in which Christians knights, lead by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle Muslims in order to raise the siege of Jerusalem. The poem is composed of eight line stanzas grouped into into 20 cantos of varying length. Events March 1 - Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens: dynamic figures spiral down around a void: draperies blow: a whirl of movement lit in a shaft of light, rendered in a free bravura handling of paint In arts, the Baroque (or baroque) is both a period and the style that dominated it. ... In mathematics, see epic morphism. ... Torquato Tasso (March 11, 1544 – April 25, 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem Delivered; 1575), in which he describes the imaginary combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem. ... The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. ... Godfrey of Bouillon (c. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade. ... In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. ... A canto is a significant section of a long poem or the highest part in a piece of choral music. ...

The work belongs to the Renaissance tradition of the chivalric novel and the Italian epic poem, and Tasso frequently borrows plot elements and character types directly from Ariosto's Orlando furioso. Tasso's poem also has elements inspired by the classical epics of Homer and Virgil (especially in those sections of their works that tell of sieges and warfare). By region Italian Renaissance Spanish Renaissance Northern Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance English Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Il Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... Ludovico Ariosto (September 8, 1474 _ July 6, 1533) was a Ferrarese poet, author of the epic poem Orlando furioso (1516), Orlando Enraged. He was born at Reggio, in Hungary in 1518, and wished Aniosto to accompany him. ... Ruggiero Rescuing Angelica by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Orlando Furioso is an epic poem written by Ludovico Ariosto in 1516. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that...

Tasso's choice of subject matter -- an actual historic conflct between Christians and Muslims (albeit with fantasical elements added) -- had an historical grounding and created compositional implications (the narrative subject matter had a fixed end point and could not be endlessly spun out in multiple volumes) that are lacking in other Renaissance epics. But like other works of the period which portray conflicts between Christians and Muslims, this subject matter had a topical resonance to readers of the period, as the Turkish empire was advancing through Eastern Europe. Imperial motto: unknown The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital İstanbul (Constantinople) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million (at most) Area (1683) 11 955 000 km² Establishment 1281 Dissolution October 29, 1923 Currency Akçe The flag of the later...

One of the most characteristic literary devices in Tasso's poem is the emotional conundrum endured by characters torn between their heart and their duty, and this depiction of love at odds with martial valour or honor is a source of great lyrical passion in the poem.

The poem tells of the initial disunity and setbacks of the Christians and their ultimate success. The most famous sequences include the following:

• Sofronia (in English: Sophronia), a Christian maiden of Jerusalem, accuses herself of a crime in order to avert a general massacre of the Christians by the Mohammedan king. In an attempt to save her, her lover Olinde accuses himself in turn, and each lover pleads with the authorities in order to save the other.

• Clorinda, a female warrior-maiden, joins the Muslims, but she falls in love with the Christian knight Tancredi (in English: Tancred). During a night battle in which she sets the Christian seige tower on fire, she is mistakenly killed by her lover, but she converts to Christianity before dying. The character of Clorinda is inspired in part by Virgil's Camilla and by Bradamante in Ariosto; the circumstances of her birth (a caucasian girl born to African parents) are modeled on the lead character (Chariclea) from the ancient Greek novel by Heliodorus of Emesa.

• Another maiden of the region, the Princess Erminia (or "Hermine") of Antioch, also falls in love with Tancred and betrays her people to help him, but she grows jealous when she learns that Trancredi loves Clorinde. She returns to the Muslims, then steals Clorinde's armor and joins a group of shepherds.

• The witch Armida (in English: Armide) (modeled on Circe in Homer and the witch Alcina in Ariosto's epic) enters the Christian camp asking for their aid; her seductions divide the knights against each other and a group leaves with her, only to be transformed into animals by her magic.

• Armide tries to kill the greatest Christian knight Rinaldo (in English: Renaud; his name appears in Ariosto's Orlando furioso (III, 30)); he is the son of Bertoldo and was the reputed founder of the house of Este) but she falls in love with him instead and takes him away to a magical island where he becomes infatuated with her carresses and grows idle. Two Christian knights seek out the hidden fortress, brave the dangers that guard it and, by giving Rinaldo a mirror of diamond, force him to see himself in his effeminated and amorous state and to return to the war, leaving Armide heartbroken. (This sequence echoes a similar storyline in Ariosto: the witch Alcina ensnares the knight Ruggiero, but the spell is broken by a magic ring that the good sorceress Melissa brings him. Alcine grieves at this loss and desires death, but being a sorceress, she cannot die.)

The poem was immensely successful throughout Europe and over the next two centuries various sections were frequently adapted as individual storylines for operas, plays, ballets and masquerades; scenes from the poem were also depicted in paintings and frescoes (for example, at Fontainebleau in France). Tancred (1072 - 1112) was a leader of the First Crusade, and later became regent of the Principality of Antioch and Prince of Galilee. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that... Bradamante is the sister to Rinaldo, and one of the heroines in Orlando Furioso. ... Heliodorus of Emesa, from Emesa, Syria, was a Greek writer generally dated in the 3rd century of the Common Era, and is known for the ancient Greek romance or novel called the Aethiopica (the Ethiopian Story) or sometimes Theagenes and Chariclea. According to his own statement, his fathers name... Armida is a beautiful enchantress in Torquato Tassos Jerusalem Delivered, who bewitched Rinaldo, one of the Crusaders, by her charms, as Circe did Ulysses, and who in turn, when the spell was broken, overpowered her by his love and persuaded her to become a Christian. ... Armide is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. ... Circe, a painting by Edward Burne-Jones In Greek mythology, Circe or Kirkê (Greek Κίρκη) was a goddess living on the island of Aeaea. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Alcina is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel for his first season at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. ... Ludovico Ariosto (September 8, 1474 _ July 6, 1533) was a Ferrarese poet, author of the epic poem Orlando furioso (1516), Orlando Enraged. He was born at Reggio, in Hungary in 1518, and wished Aniosto to accompany him. ... Ruggiero Rescuing Angelica by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Orlando Furioso is an epic poem written by Ludovico Ariosto in 1516. ... For Tolkiens fictional character, see Estë To know more about the city, see Este Este, Italian princely family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597), Modena and Reggio (1288–1796). ... Alcina is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel for his first season at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. ... Fresco by Dionisius representing Saint Nicholas. ... The Ecole de Fontainebleau refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered around the royal Château of Fontainebleau. ...

Certain critics of the period however were less enthusiastic, and Tasso came under much criticism for the magical extravagance and narrative confusion of his poem. Before his death, he drastically rewrote the poem, giving this new version the title La Gerusalemme Conquistata, or "Jerusalem Conquered." This revised version is much maligned by modern critics however.

Poussin's illustration to Jerusalem Delivered (1630s).

Image File history File links Tancred. ... Image File history File links Tancred. ... Et in Arcadia ego by Nicolas Poussin. ...

Works based on Jerusalem Delivered

Music and Operas:

• Armide by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1686)
• Rinaldo by George Friderich Handel (1711)
• Armida abbandonata by Niccolo Jommelli (1770)
• Armida by Antonio Salieri (1771)
• Armide by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1777)
• Armida by Joseph Haydn (1784)
• Armida by Gioacchino Rossini (1817)
• Rinaldo by Johannes Brahms (1858)
• Armida by Antonín Dvorák (1904)
• "Combatimento di Tancredi e Clorinda" by Claudio Monteverdi (1624)
• "Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda" for soprano, tenor, baritone, three violas, cello, double bass, harpsichord by Luciano Berio (1966) (an arrangement of the opera by Monteverdi)

Plays: Armide is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. ... Jean-Baptiste Lully, originally Giovanni Battista Lulli (November 28, 1632–March 22, 1687), was an Italian-born French composer, who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. ... Events The League of Augsburg is founded. ... Rinaldo and Armida by Francois Boucher, 1734 (Louvre Museum) Rinaldo is an Italian opera by George Friderich Handel. ... George Frideric Handel (German Georg Friedrich Händel), (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German-born British Baroque music composer. ... // Events February 24 - The London premiere of Rinaldo by George Friderich Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage. ... Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (September 10, 1714 - August 25, 1774) was an Italian composer. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (August 18, 1750 – May 7, 1825), born in Legnago, Italy, was a composer and conductor, as well as one of the most important and famous musicians of his time. ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... For other works by the same name, see Armide. ... Gluck, detail of a portrait by Joseph Duplessis, dated 1775 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) Christoph Willibald (von) Gluck (July 2, 1714 – November 15, 1787) was a German composer. ... 1777 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... (Franz) Joseph Haydn, (March 31 or April 1, 1732 – May 31, 1809) was a leading composer of the Classical period, called the Father of the Symphony and Father of the String Quartet. Although he is still often called Franz Joseph Haydn, Haydn himself actually never used Franz, signing letters and... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of Romantic music, who predominantly lived in Vienna, Austria. ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ... Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák (listen â–¶(?)) (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer of romantic music. ... 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The operatic scena for three voices Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (published 1624) by Claudio Monteverdi appears in his eighth book of madrigals, written over a timespan of many years. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi Claudio Monteverdi (May 15, 1567 (baptised) – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. ... Luciano Berio (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian composer. ...

Paintings: Theodor Hildebrandt - "Tancred and Clorinda" (c.1830) Theodor Hildebrandt (1804 - 1874), German painter, was born at Stettin. ...