On the eve of the First Crusade, the Abgar legend was widely known in Western Europe despite the fact that it was considered apocryphal and, therefore, condemned by the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus’ promise to King Abgar to protect Edessa against enemies had become the main motif of the legend, as reflected in the use of Abgar’s and Jesus’ letters as apotropaic amulets. Having grown up in the third century, the legend widely spread throughout the Near East.
Its core episodes are the letter exchange between King Abgar of Edessa and Jesus Christ, the healing of Abgar and the conversion of the city of Edessa to Christianity. The Abgar legend is included in the corpus of the New Testament apocryphal legends. Gurinov, “The blessed city”: Edessa and the Abgar legend in the age of the Crusades, in Opere et Veritate: Sammelband von wissenschaftlichen Werken, gewidmet dem 10-jährigen Jubiläum der Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Historikern von weißrussischen Universitäten und der Universität Tübingen, ed.
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