Chronicles of the Crusades

Geoffrey Villehardouin, Jean de Joinville, Jean de Joinville, Sir Frank Marzials

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780486454368
• eBook ISBN: 9780486149851
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

This book features two eyewitness accounts of the Crusades: Villehardouin's Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople and Joinville's Chronicle of the Crusade of St. Lewis. A pair of engrossing narratives by actual participants, these are among the most authoritative accounts available of the medieval Holy Wars. They recount terrifying scenes from the battlefields that recapture the horror of warfare, and offer invaluable insights into the religious and political fervor that sparked the two hundred-year campaign.
The first reliable history of the Crusades, Villehardouin's work spans the era of the Fourth Crusade, from 1199–1207. It traces the path of a small army of crusaders who despite overwhelming odds captured the city of Constantinople. Joinville's chronicle focuses on the years 1248–1254, the time of the Seventh Crusade. Written by a prominent aid to King Louis of France, it offers personal perspectives on the pious monarch and his battles in the Holy Lands. Both of these highly readable histories provide rare glimpses of medieval social, economic, and cultural life in the context of the crusaders' quest for honor, piety, and glory.

SECOND BOOK

BIRTH AND CORONATION OF ST. LEWIS

IN the name of God Almighty, we have, hereinbefore, written out a part of the good words and of the good teachings of our saintly King Lewis, so that those who read may find them set in order, the one after the other, and thus derive more profit therefrom than if they were set forth among his deeds. And from this point we begin, in the name of God and in his own name, to speak of his deeds.

As I have heard tell he was born on the day of St. Mark the Evangelist, after Easter (25th April 1214). On that day crosses are, in many places, carried in procession, and, in France, these are called black crosses; and this was as it were a prophecy of the great number of people who were to die in the two Crusades, viz., that of Egypt, and the other, in which he himself died, at Carthage, whereby there were great mournings in this world, and many great rejoicings in paradise for such as in these two pilgrimages died true Crusaders.

He was crowned on the first Sunday in Advent (29th November 1226). The beginning of the mass for that Sunday runs: Ad te levavi animam meam, and what follows after; and this means, “Fair Lord God, I shall lift up my soul to thee, I put my confidence in thee.” In God had he great confidence from his childhood to his death; for when he died, in his last words, he called upon God and His saints, and specially upon my lord St. James and my lady St. Geneviève.

FIRST TROUBLES IN THE REIGN OF ST. LEWIS

God, in whom he put his trust, kept him all his days from his childhood unto the end; and specially, in his youth, did He keep him, when great need was, as you shall shortly hear. As to his soul, God kept it through the good teachings of his mother, who taught him to believe in God and to love Him, and to gather round himself all good people of religion. And, child as he was, she made him recite all the Hours, and listen to the sermons on festival days. He recorded that his mother had sometimes given him to understand that she would rather he were dead than have committed a mortal sin.

Good need had he of God’s help in his youth, for his mother, who came from Spain, had neither relations nor friends in all the kingdom of France. And because the barons of France saw that the king was but a child, and the queen, his mother, a foreign woman, they made the Count of Boulogne, who was uncle to the king, their chief, and held him as their lord. After the king was crowned, there were certain barons who demanded of the queen that she should give them great lands, and because she would none of it, all the barons assembled at Corbeil.

And the saintly king told me that neither he, nor his mother, who were at Montlhéri, dared return to Paris till those in Paris came in arms to fetch them. And he told me that all the way, from Montlhéri to Paris, was filled with people, armed and unarmed, and that all cried to our Saviour to give him a good life, and a long, and to defend and guard him from his enemies. And this God did, as you shall presently hear.

In this parliament which the barons held at Corbeil, the barons there present decided, so it is said, that the good knight, the Count Peter of Brittany, should rebel against the king, and they agreed besides that they would each in person, and with two knights only, attend the count when he obeyed the summons which the king would address to him. And this they did to see if the Count of Brittany would be able to master the queen, who was a foreign woman, as you have heard. And many people say that the count would have mastered the queen, and the king too, if God had not helped the king in this his hour of need, as He never failed to do.

The help God gave him was such that Count Thibaut of Champagne, who was afterwards King of Navarre, came there to serve the king with three hundred knights; and through the help that the count gave to the king, the Count of Brittany had to yield to the king’s mercy, and when making that peace, as it is said, to surrender to the king the county of Anjou and the county of the Perche.

CRUSADE OF RICHARD CŒUR-DE-LION—RIGHTS OF ALICE, QUEEN OF CYPRUS, OVER CHAMPAGNE

Inasmuch as there are certain things of which you should have knowledge, I hold it fitting here to depart somewhat from my subject. We will tell you here, therefore, that the good Count Henry the Large had by the Countess Mary—who was sister to the King of France and sister to King Richard of England—two sons, of whom the elder was called Henry and the other Thibaut. This Henry, the elder, went as a Crusader on pilgrimage to the Holy Land at the time when King Philip and King Richard besieged Acre and took it.

So soon as Acre was taken, King Philip returned to France, for which he was greatly blamed; but King Richard remained in the Holy Land, and did there such mighty deeds that the Saracens stood in great fear of him; so much so, as it is written in the book of the Holy Land, that when the Saracen children cried, their mothers called out, “Wisht! here is King Richard,” in order to keep them quiet. And when the horses of the Saracens and Bedouins started at tree or bush, their masters said to the horses, “Do you think that is King Richard?”

This King Richard wrought to such effect that he gave for wife to Count Henry of Champagne, who had remained with him, the Queen of Jerusalem, who was direct heiress to the kingdom. By the said queen Count Henry had two daughters, of whom the first was Queen of Cyprus, and the other did my Lord Everard of Brienne have to wife, and from them sprang a great lineage, as is known in France and Champagne. Of the wife of my Lord Everard of Brienne I will say nothing to you at this present; but I will speak to you of the Queen of Cyprus, seeing she is related to the matter I have in hand; and I speak, therefore, as follows.

THE BARONS ATTACK THIBAUT IV., COUNT OF CHAMPAGNE

After the king had foiled Count Peter of Brittany, all the barons of France were so wroth with Count Thibaut of Champagne that they settled to send for the Queen of Cyprus, who was the daughter of the eldest son of Champagne, so as to disinherit Count Thibaut, who was the son of the second son of Champagne.

But some took steps to reconcile Count Peter with Count Thibaut, and the matter was discussed to such effect that Count Thibaut promised to take to wife the daughter of Count Peter of Brittany. A day was fixed on which the Count of Champagne should espouse the damsel; and she was to be taken, for the marriage, to an abbey of Prémontré, near Château-Thierry, and called, as I believe, Val-Secret. The barons of France, who were nearly all related to Count Peter, undertook this duty, and conducted the damsel to Val-Secret to be married, and advised thereof the Count of Champagne, who was at Château-Thierry.

And while the Count of Champagne was coming for the marriage, my Lord Geoffry of la Chapelle came to him on the part of the king, with a letter of credence, and spoke thus: “My Lord Count of Champagne, the king has heard that you have covenanted with Count Peter of Brittany to take his daughter in marriage. Now the king warns you that, unless you wish to lose everything you possess in the kingdom of France, you will not do this thing, for you know that the Count of Brittany has done more evil to the king than any man living.” Then the Count of Champagne, by the advice of those he had with him, returned to Château-Thierry.

When Count Peter and the barons of France, who were expecting him at Val-Secret, heard this, they were all like men distraught, with anger at what he had done to them, and they at once sent to fetch the Queen of Cyprus. And as soon as she was come, they entered into a common agreement to gather together as many men-at-arms as they could, and enter into Brie and Champagne, from the side of France; and the Duke of Burgundy, who had to wife the daughter of Count Robert of Dreux, was to enter into Champagne from the side of Burgundy. And they fixed a day on which they should assemble before the city of Troyes, to take the city of Troyes if they could accomplish it.

The duke collected all the people he could, and the barons also. The barons came burning and wasting everything on one side, and the Duke of Burgundy on another, and the King of France came on yet another side to fight against them. The evil plight of the Count of Champagne was such that he himself burned his cities before the arrival of the barons, so that they might not find supplies therein. Among the other cities that the Count of Champagne burned, he burned Epernay, and Vertus, and Sézanne.

SIMON OF JOINVILLE DEFENDS TROYES—PEACE BETWEEN THE COUNT OF CHAMPAGNE AND THE QUEEN OF CYPRUS

The citizens of Troyes, when they perceived that they had lost the help of their lord, asked Simon, lord of Joinville, and father of the lord of Joinville that now is, to come to their help. And he, who had gathered together all his men-at-arms, moved from Joinville by night, so soon as the tidings were brought to him, and came to Troyes before it was day. And thus were the barons foiled of their intent to take the said city; wherefor the barons passed before Troyes without doing aught, and went and encamped in the meadow of l’Isle—there where the Duke of Burgundy already was.

The King of France, who knew they were there, at once addressed himself to go thither and attack them; and the barons sent and begged him to withdraw in person from the field, and then they would go and fight against the Count of Champagne and the Duke of Lorraine and the rest of the king’s people, with three hundred knights less than the count and duke had in their force. But the king told them they should not so fight without him, for he would remain with his people in person. Then the barons sent back to the king and said that, if it so pleased him, they would willingly incline the Queen of Cyprus to make peace. The king replied that he would agree to no peace, nor suffer the Count of Champagne to agree to any peace, till they had retired from the county of Champagne.

They retired in such sort that from Isle, where they were, they went and encamped below Jully, and the king encamped at Isle, from which he had driven them. And when they knew that the king had come to Isle, they went and encamped at Chaource, and not daring to wait for the king, they went and encamped at Laignes, which belonged to the Count of Nevers, who was of their party. So the king caused the Count of Champagne and the Queen of Cyprus to come to terms, and peace was made in such sort that the Count of Champagne gave to the Queen of Cyprus about two thousand livres (yearly) in land, and forty thousand livres, which latter sum the king paid for the Count of Champagne. And the Count of Champagne sold to the king, for the said forty thousand livres, the fiefs hereinafter named, viz.—the fief of the county of Blois, the fief of the county of Chartres, the fief of the county of Sancerre, the fief of the county of Châteaudun. Now there are certain people who say that the king only holds the said fiefs in pledge; but this is not so, for I asked our saintly king of it when we were oversea.

The land that Count Thibaut gave to the Queen of Cyprus is held by the Count of Brienne that now is, and by the Count of Joigny, because the great-grandmother of the Count of Brienne was daughter to the Queen of Cyprus and wife to the great Count Walter of Brienne.

OF HENRY I., CALLED THE LARGE-HEARTED, COUNT OF CHAMPAGNE

In order that you may learn whence came the fiefs that the Count of Champagne sold to the king, you must know that the great Count Thibaut, who lies buried at Lagny, had three sons. The first was called Henry, the second Thibaut, and the third Stephen. The aforesaid Henry was Count of Champagne and of Brie, and was called Count Henry the Large-hearted; and rightly was he so called, for he was large-hearted both in his dealings with God and the world: large-hearted towards God as appears in the Church of St. Stephen of Troyes and the other fair churches which he founded in Champagne, and large-hearted towards the world as appeared in the case of Artaud of Nogent, and on many other occasions, of which I would tell you if I did not fear to interrupt my story.

This Artaud of Nogent was the citizen of all the world in whom the count had the greatest faith; and he became so rich that he built the castle of Nogent l’Artaud with his moneys. Now it happened that Count Henry was coming down from his halls at Troyes to go and hear mass at St. Stephen’s on the day of Pentecost. At the foot of the steps there came before him a poor knight and knelt down before him and spoke thus: “Sire, I pray you, for the love of God, to give me of what is yours, so that I may marry my two daughters whom you see here.” Artaud, who went behind him, said to the poor knight: “Sir knight, it is not courteous on your part to beg of my lord, for he has given away so much that he has nothing left to give.” The large-hearted count turned towards Artaud and said: “Sir villain, you speak not sooth when you say I have nothing left to give; I have you left. There, take him, sir knight, for I give him to you, and moreover, I pledge myself for him,” The knight was not abashed, but took hold of Artaud’s cloak, and said he would not leave him till they had done business together. And before he escaped, Artaud had done business with him to the tune of five hundred livres.

The second brother of Count Henry was called Thibaut and was Count of Blois. The third brother was called Stephen, and was Count of Sancerre. And these two brothers held from Count Henry all their heritages, and their counties, and the appurtenances thereof; and they held them afterwards from the heirs of Count Henry who held the county of Champagne, until such time as Count Thibaut sold them to the King of France, as has been related above.

ST. LEWIS HOLDS A FULL COURT AT SAUMUR IN 1241

Now let us return to our subject and tell how, after these things, the king held a full court at Saumur in Anjou, and I was there and can testify that it was the best-ordered court that ever I saw. For at the king’s table ate, after him, the Count of Poitiers, whom he had newly made knight at the feast of St. John; and after the Count of Poitiers, ate the Count of Dreux, whom he had also newly made knight; and after the Count of Dreux the Count of la Marche; and after the Count of la Marche the good Count Peter of Brittany; and before the king’s table, opposite the Count of Dreux, ate my lord the King of Navarre, in tunic and mantle of samite well bedight with a belt and a clasp, and a cap of gold; and I carved before him.

Before the king the Count of Artois, his brother, served the meat, and before the king the good Count John of Soissons carved with the knife. In order to guard the king’s table there were there my Lord Imbert of Beaujeu, who was afterwards Constable of France, and my Lord Enguerrand of Coucy, and my Lord Archamband of Bourbon. Behind these three barons stood some thirty of their knights, in tunics of silken cloth, to keep guard over them; and behind these knights there were a great quantity of sergeants bearing on their clothing the arms of the Count of Poitiers embroidered in taffeta. The king was clothed in a tunic of blue satin, and surcoat and mantle of vermeil samite lined with ermine, and he had a cotton cap upon his head, which suited him very badly, because he was at that time a young man.

The king held these banquets in the halls of Saumur which had been built, so it was said, by the great King Henry of England (Henry II.) in order that he might hold his great banquets therein; and this hall is built after the fashion of the cloisters of the white monks of the Cistercian order. But I think there is none other hall so large, and by a great deal. And I will tell you why I think so—it is because by the wall of the cloister, where the king ate, surrounded by his knights and sergeants who occupied a great space, there was also room for a table where ate twenty bishops and archbishops, and yet again, besides the bishops and archbishops, the Queen Blanche, the king’s mother, ate near their table, at the head of the cloister, on the other side from the king.

And to serve the queen there was the Count of Boulogne, who afterwards became King of Portugal, and the good Count Hugh of St. Paul, and a German of the age of eighteen years, who was said to be the son of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, for which cause it was told that Queen Blanche kissed him on the forehead, as an act of devotion, because she thought that his mother must ofttimes have kissed him there.

At the end of the cloister, on the other side, were the kitchens, the cellars, the pantries and the butteries; from this end were served to the king and to the queen meats, and wine, and bread. And in the wings and in the central court ate the knights, in such numbers, that I knew not how to count them. And many said they had never, at any feast, seen together so many surcoats and other garments, of cloth of gold and of silk; and it was said also that no less than three thousand knights were there present.

BATTLE OF TAILLEBOURG IN 1242

After this feast the king led the Count of Poitiers to Poitiers, so that his vassals might do homage for his fiefs. And when the king came to Poitiers, he would gladly have been back in Paris, for he found that the Count of la Marche, who had eaten at his table on St. John’s Day, had assembled as many men-at-arms as he could collect, at Lusignan near Poitiers. The king remained at Poitiers nearly a fortnight, nor did he dare to depart therefrom till he had come to terms—how, I know not—with the Count of la Marche.

Ofttimes I saw the Count of la Marche come from Lusignan to speak to the king at Poitiers, and always he brought with him the Queen of England,⁵¹ his wife, who was mother to the King of England. And many people said that the king and the Count of Poitiers had made an evil peace with the Count of la Marche.

No long time after the king had returned from Poitiers, the King of England came into Gascony to wage war against the King of France. Our saintly king rode forth to fight against him with as many people as he could collect. Then came the King of England and the Count of la Marche to do battle before a castle called Taillebourg, seated on an evil river called La Charente, at a point where one cannot pass except over a stone bridge, very narrow.

So soon as the king came to Taillebourg, and the hosts came in sight of one another, our people, who had the castle behind them, bestirred themselves mighti...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Bibliographical Note
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• VILLEHARDOUIN’S CHRONICLE OF THE FOURTH CRUSADE AND THE CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE
• JOINVILLE’S CHRONICLE OF THE CRUSADE OF ST. LEWIS
• FIRST BOOK
• SECOND BOOK
• INDEX
• A CATALOG OF SELECTED DOVER BOOKS IN ALL FIELDS OF INTEREST