Chronicles of the Crusades

by Joinville, Jean de (Author); Villehardouin, Geffroy de (Author); Smith, Caroline (Translator)

• ISBN13: 9780140449983
• ISBN10: 0140449981
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-31
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

Two famous, firsthand accounts of the holy war in the Middle Ages Originally composed in Old French, the two chronicles brought together here offer some of the most vivid and reliable accounts of the Crusades from a Western perspective. Villehardouin's Conquest of Constantinople, distinguished by its simplicity and lucidity, recounts the controversial Fourth Crusade, which descended into an all-out attack on the E astern Christians of Byzantium. In Life of Saint Louis, Joinville draws on his close attachment to King Louis IX of France to recall his campaigning in the Holy Land. Together these narratives comprise a fascinating window on events that, for all their remoteness, offer startling similarities to our own age.

Author Biography

Originally composed in Old French, the two chronicles brought together here offer some of the most vivid and reliable accounts of the Crusades from a Western perspective. Villehardouin-'s Conquest of Constantinople, distinguished by its simplicity and lucidity, recounts the controversial Fourth Crusade, which descended into an all-out attack on the Eastern Christians of Byzantium. In Life of Saint Louis, Joinville draws on his close attachment to King Louis IX of France to recall his campaigning in the Holy Land. Together these narratives comprise a fascinating window on events that, for all their remoteness, offer startling similarities to our own age.

Table of Contents

Chronology
Introduction
Further Reading
A Note on the Translations
Maps
The Conquest of Constantinople	p. 1
The Life of Saint Louis	p. 137
Two 'Crusade Songs'	p. 337
Epitaph for Geoffrey III of Joinville	p. 346
Notes	p. 349
Glossary	p. 383
Indexes	p. 391
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