Abstract
The present essay concerns the question, greatly obscured through criticism, regarding the legitimizing and creative association that Jerusalem Delivered maintains with its historiographical sources. After a survey of the theoretical motivations that caused Tasso to choose this historical matter (that is, the First Crusade) for his epic poem, these arguments are verified in a closer analysis of how the sources are effectively reworked in the very text of the Liberata, which also points out a possible discrepancy between the text and its theoretical premises. Without neglecting secondary influences, the principal source, the chronicle of William of Tyre, is taken into account above all. A first overview regarding the degree of freedom that the poet allowed himself within this peculiar intertextual exchange is thus presented, investigating both the likely motivations behind some of the most relevant changes and the main methods followed by Tasso in turning the documentary material into poetic text. Particular attention is paid to the ‘marvelous’ and its unexpected historiographical hints. Canto XI and the episode of Sveno are used as brief samples for textual analysis in order to test the observations that have emerged from this study.