Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade, Villehardouin

[Arnieh]

This may me covered under Byzantine history. But I could find nothing specific on the crusades in the title search of the catalog.

This to me is one of the funniest episodes in all of Christian history. The debacle of the Fourth Crusade. The supposed intent of which was to capture Muslim controlled Jerusalem by way of Egypt. Instead these "faithful" men, acting in the name of Christ, attacked, sacked, and thoroughly pillaged the very Capital of eastern Christendom, Constantinople, stealing everything they could get their hands on! Was it piety or treasure they were after?

We may find the answer here from one of the participants:

Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople by Geoffrey de Villehardouin

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6032

Or we may not.

[annise]

quote from Oman's book still in progress on the fourth crusade

Conscientious men would have refused to join in such an unholy bargain, and would have insisted in carrying out their original purpose against Egypt. But conscientious men had been growing more and more rare among the Crusaders for the last hundred years. There were as many greedy military adventurers among them as single-hearted pilgrims.

Anne

[Arnieh]

Yes, I figured it would be covered under that work. How completely, I do not know. I read a book on the fourth crusade by Jonathan Phillips and nearly laughed my arse off!

[annise]

THere's a chapter on it more or less - the book is an overview, nothing is in great detail. Sort off "A Short History of the Byzantine Empire" with another name

Anne

[Arnieh]

It's just so ridiculous. Imagine the scene:

The brave knights are huddled together in the Crusader Briefing room waiting for their leader, a man of most noble birth, to speak.

At length he rises and speaks thusly:

"Men," he says, "our mission is clear. Our cause is just and righteous. Our resolve is unshakable. We shall march on the Holy Land and crush the infidel Muslims, driving them out, and restoring Jerusalem to the Christian world. We shall do this in the name of God, and our lord Jesus Christ. So let us go boldy forth, knowing that our's is the divine will. Therefore, take up the cross, ready your swords, and prepare your hearts."

Later, at an assemblage of the men, the same leader rises again to speak:

"Men," he says, "umm errr, slight change in plans. We shall swing by Constantinople instead and say 'hello' to our Christian brethren."

[ColleenMc]

The formatting of the Gutenberg edition of the book linked above is very hard to follow.

If the Fourth Crusade is of interest, I recommend the full Everyman's Library version of this work, including the introduction by translator Frank Marzials (I recorded Marzials' biography of Dickens and he is a very clear and readable author), the text of Vellehardouin's narrative as well as a narrative by another Cursader, Joinville.

https://archive.org/details/MemoirsOfTheCrusades/page/n9/mode/2up

Colleen