Chronicles of the Crusades

Provides two chronicles of the Crusades, with the first account covering the Fourth Crusade, and the second account detailing the travels of King Louis and his battles during the Sixth and Seventh Crusades.
The Conquest of Constantinople by Geoffrey of Villehardouin and The Life of Saint Louis by John of Joinville are eye-witness accounts of going to war in the service of God. In the first years of the thirteenth century Villehardouin served as an envoy in the Fourth Crusade, at the very heart of a campaign that veered from its aim of conquering Muslim Egypt to the sacking of Greek Orthodox Constantinople instead. Half a century later, Joinville accompanied the French king, Louis IX, on crusade to Egypt and the Near East. The Chronicles of the Crusades are invaluable first-hand narratives of these campaigns and provide vivid insights into the characters and beliefs of the crusaders.This edition has a new clear, accessible translation from the Old French by Caroline Smith, an introduction on the history of the crusades and the different approaches of the two authors, a chronology, maps, further reading, appendices of extra material, a glossary, notes and indexes.
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.
Two famous, firsthand accounts of the holy war in the Middle AgesOriginally 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'sConquest 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. InLife 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.