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Chronicles of the Crusades

Jean de Joinville,

Frank Thomas Marzials (Translation),

Geoffrey de Villehardouin

3.84 · Rating details · 1,351 ratings · 60 reviews

The two most authoritative accounts of the Holy Wars -- Villehardouin's "Conquest of Constantinople" and Joinville's "Chronicle of the Crusade of St. Lewis --" offer firsthand testimony of battles and their religious and political context. ...more

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ebook, 717 pages

Published March 9th 2012 by Dover Publications (first published August 30th 1212)

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Jun 17, 2011 Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography-memoir, 13th-century, medieval-history, crusades, france, biographical, read-in-translation

Joinville's life of St Louis is a moving tribute to the friendship of these two men. Written to be submitted as evidence for the proposed canonisation of the recently deceased king Joinville writes about their experiences together on crusade.

We see the gathering of the soldiers and the supply dumps readied in preparation. We sit at the council of war and listen to the deliberations of the nobles. We experience battle, defeat and imprisonment, then pranks and life in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and ...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Katie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crusades, medieval-sources, history, religious-history, medieval, byzantium

Villehardouin's accounting of the Fourth Crusade falls solidly into the category of truth-is-way-crazier-than-fiction stories. The Fourth Crusade is absolutely nuts, filled with unexpected detours, lost princes, and shifting alliances. If you don't know the story, it's definitely worth reading (I'm honestly kinda shocked that no one has bothered to make a movie out of it yet). Villehardouin's account of it is clear if somewhat detatched - you'll get a nice overview of what happened, but most of Villehardouin's accounting of the Fourth Crusade falls solidly into the category of truth-is-way-crazier-than-fiction stories. The Fourth Crusade is absolutely nuts, filled with unexpected detours, lost princes, and shifting alliances. If you don't know the story, it's definitely worth reading (I'm honestly kinda shocked that no one has bothered to make a movie out of it yet). Villehardouin's account of it is clear if somewhat detatched - you'll get a nice overview of what happened, but most of the main players of the story remain somewhat distant and flat. The latter half of the tale - what happens after (spoilers!) the crusaders take over and burn down most of Constantinople - is also a bit confusing for readers new to the history, filled with lots of names and places that really warrant a better map than the one provided in the Penguin edition. If you're new to the Fourth Crusade, I'd recommend reading Villehardouin's account along with a modern historical analysis of what's going on, just to fill in the details, provide additional context, and make yourself aware of some of Villehardouin's biases. Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice is a good one.

I'm more partial to Joinville's account of Louis IX, even if Louis's crusade was not quite as wacky. If Villehardouin is the professional war correspondent, Joinville is the guy who can't wait to tell you all about his amazing adventures he had over in the East, from getting captured by Saracens to hearing all kinds of crazy stories about Tartars, Bedouins, and the Old Man in the Mountain. Joinville doesn't have Villehardouin's narrative clarity (he jumps all over the place and his battle scenes can be hard to follow) but he more than makes up for it in warmth and a curious eye for detail. It's most apparent any time Joinville talks about his relationship with King Louis, which has an empathy and reality to it that lots of medieval chronicle sources lack. There's this one scene where Joinville is worried that the king is mad at him for standing up to him in a council meeting and he leans through the grating of a window , only to have the king come up behind him and thank him for his honesty. There's another where Joinville mentions that when he first set out in crusade he was afraid to turn around, fearing that affection for his 'lovely castle' and children would overcome his vow to head east. There are quite a few where Louis chastises Joinville for not being quite pious enough, or Joinville tells Louis that he'll stay in his service for an extra year, but only if the king promises to stop getting mad when he asks for stuff. Joinville and Louis both pop off the page in a way that medieval people often don't in these sorts of biographies, which tended to put higher value on aligning with traditional accounts in saints' lives than with depicting flawed human beings. It makes for a hugely fascinating account , even when it's a bit garbled in terms of its narrative.

One note on the Penguin edition: the translation reads well, but could definitely have benefited from extra notes and extra maps. ...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Charles Dee Mitchell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Going on a crusade never seemed like a very good idea to me, and reading these firsthand accounts of the 4th and 7th crusades reinforced my opinion.

In Villehardouin's account of the 4th crusade, not very much real crusading gets done. The French fleet gets caught up the politics of Constantinople, and as certain of the clergy point out, Christian fighting Christian was not really the point of crusading. When Constaninople falls, the French divvy up the various territories, and most of the new ru Going on a crusade never seemed like a very good idea to me, and reading these firsthand accounts of the 4th and 7th crusades reinforced my opinion.

In Villehardouin's account of the 4th crusade, not very much real crusading gets done. The French fleet gets caught up the politics of Constantinople, and as certain of the clergy point out, Christian fighting Christian was not really the point of crusading. When Constaninople falls, the French divvy up the various territories, and most of the new rulers prove so venal that insurgencies break out immediately. Some things don't change.

Jean de Joinville was a young nobleman greatly enamored of the pious and only slightly older King Louis when he joined the 7th Crusade. He wrote his Life of Saint Louis when he was in his 80' as part of the successful effort to promote Louis's canonization. Joinville works from both an excellent memory and a solid piece of earlier French scholarship. His first hand account is harrowing and unrelenting in its depiction of the sufferings the French troops endured. HIs battle descriptions are exciting, detailed, and never stint on the gruesome realities of the physical damage done by medieval weaponry. An early French victory is undone by disease that decimates their forces. They are captured and begin a series of negotiations with the Saracens that are seldom worth the parchment they are written on, Changing rule within the Saracen forces consistently invalidates any previous agreement.

Joinville's laudatory descriptions of Louis's piety can be tedious, and occasional details of that piety will, I hope, strike modern readers as grotesque. Louis came down very hard on taking the Lord's name in vain. One man who commits such a sacrilege is buried up to his chin in pig guts. Another has his lips burned off. Joinville does not report this as excessive behavior. Through Joinville's history, I came to understand how serious the taking of oaths was among the reputable, devout Christians. You word was your bond. Turks and Saracens, for the most part, lied all the time and considered much Christian behavior bizarre.

If restoring Jerusalem to Christian rule was the goal of these Crusades, nothing much gets accomplished here. When Louis returns to France and starts ruling properly, he does, in this account, prove to be an admirable king. He goes after the corruption that comes from selling political office to the highest bidder, and he stands up to the Church on the question of their often politically motivated excommunications.

For some reason as a old, ailing man he determines to go on yet another crusade. To depart for the heathen east, he has to be physically carried to the ships He can no longer ride or horse or even stand the jogging of a carriage ride. He dies of intestinal flu in Tunis.

I love reading source material, but this has made me curious to read a more modern scholarly history of the Crusades. Recommendations welcome. ...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Duntay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I much preferred Joinville's warmly human account to Villehardouin's war-correspondent style. Though I can see how he would not be everyone's cup of tea - he wanders off the thread of his story at times and there is some repetition. Those interested in the details of military maneuvers and diplomatic wrangling would most likely prefer Villehardouin.

I developed a soft spot for Joinville reading the book's introduction - the translator writes that both accounts were most likely dictated as readin ...more

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Feb 14, 2015 Janez rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cultural-history, biografija, military, history, library-books, mediaeval, histoire, adventure, religion, ethnic

The crusades (1096-1291) were religious, political, military and civilisational event that has changed the relations between the West (Europe) and the East for ever. And that change was irreversible. The consequences of the crusades are still felt today. However, all was not bad. The European civilisation got richer and better by the acquisitions brought back from the East by the crusaders.
This volume includes two first-hand accounts of the crusades. Geoffroy de Villehardouin gives the account o The crusades (1096-1291) were religious, political, military and civilisational event that has changed the relations between the West (Europe) and the East for ever. And that change was irreversible. The consequences of the crusades are still felt today. However, all was not bad. The European civilisation got richer and better by the acquisitions brought back from the East by the crusaders.
This volume includes two first-hand accounts of the crusades. Geoffroy de Villehardouin gives the account of the fourth crusade. Villehardouin, an experienced politician (marshal in the county of Champagne) and diplomat (envoy to and negotiator with the doge of Venice), describes the course of the crusade in a way that Fernand Braudel would call it "l'histoire evenementielle". Although he admits that the goal of the fourth crusade was not achieved (the crusaders attacked, conquered and sacked two Christian cities-Zara/Zadar and Constantinople), he is pretty much black and white narrator. The Greeks (the Greek population or the Orthodox Christians) are always represented as bad,disloyal, horrific... while the crusaders (with few exceptions, grudgingly admitted by Villehardouin) are their total opposite. Villehardouin also isn't prone to showing emotions-he does give in only in few cases, like when he is awed by the beauty of Constantinople.
Jean de Joinville is much better at expressing his feelings. His lively and vivid description of saint Louis IX, the seventh crusade (which achieved a little more than nothing), the anecdotes he recounts, gives the reader the feeling of being in a company of an old friend. Although Joinville does sound at moments like a real chatterbox, he never goes too far, he is never vulgar or disrespectful. There is a strong religious component present in the both chronicles. But there is difference. While Villehardouin does give God his place, he is first and foremost politician. Joinville on the other hand, could well be a cleric giving the description of the crusade. This is, of course, the sign of the age when both narrators wrote their accounts (or better yet, had them written).
All things considered, this book is a must for every one who wants to improve her/his knowledge of the crusades, of the medieval mentalities and, in general, of the time long gone... ...more

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Jul 29, 2017 Siria rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, history, european-history

This edition brings together two eye-witness texts about the Crusades—Geoffroi de Villehardouin's account of the Fourth Crusade, and Jean de Joinville's of the Seventh Crusade some fifty years later. A solid translation, though it's much easier to warm to Joinville than it is to Villehardouin—the latter may have a far better sense of how to structure a narrative, but Joinville seems to have understood people better. There are some wonderful vignettes here, full of character, even if they mostly ...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Helena Schrader rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-ages

This is a rare book which offers us two contemporay accounts of the crusades through the eyes of participants -- and not just monkly croniclers but fighting men.

Although the two accounts are by different authors (Geoffroy de Villehardouin for the Fourth Crusade and Jean de Joinville for the Seventh), they both offer stark, unromanticized and often critical reports. These men are describing military campaigns not creating romaticized works of art. They are both soldiers and statesmen, intimates This is a rare book which offers us two contemporay accounts of the crusades through the eyes of participants -- and not just monkly croniclers but fighting men.

Although the two accounts are by different authors (Geoffroy de Villehardouin for the Fourth Crusade and Jean de Joinville for the Seventh), they both offer stark, unromanticized and often critical reports. These men are describing military campaigns not creating romaticized works of art. They are both soldiers and statesmen, intimates of the leaders of the respective campaigns, offering an analysis of events rather than poets trying to inspire. The clear, unembellished style is in part attributable to an outstanding modern translation of the medeival French by M.R.B. Shaw, but the descriptions of appalling conditions, fear, brutality, and betrayal are all the work of the original authors.

To be sure, Joinville's stated intention is to pay tribute to his beloved late King and to justify King Louis' reputation for saintliness. Joinville's handling of Louis is, in this sense, unabashedly biased. But this in no way detracts from the authenticity of his account of the Seventh Crusade. On the contrary, Joinville's Louis can only shine if he shows how very dark the surroundings were. I was particularly struck by Joinville's willingness to admit and describe his own fears, uncertainties and mistakes.

These accounts are also invaluable to historians because the narrators explain events in terms they consider self-evident -- but which are often alien to us, reminding us of the great differences in social attitudes between then and now. Thus while human emotions, motives and behaviour is strikingly similar to today, other aspects of society are strikingly different. Likewise, details like how horses were loaded on ships or how provisions were pre-positioned and stored for the king of France are described lucidly, providing the novelist and historian with very valuable details of medeival military operations.

In short, I highly recommend these accounts -- just don't expect them to be tales of brave knights and fair ladies. These are the accounts of real men about real wars. ...more

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Sep 11, 2020 Pedro Pascoe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, cultural, medieval, history, middle-ages

Having recently read an account of relics in the wake of the 4th Crusade, and seeing this book, already in my collection, cited as a primary source, that pretty much sign-posted this book as the next medieval text for me to read.
This book, as published, collects two medieval texts, from Villehardoin and Joinville, chronicling their views of the events of the Fourth and Seven Crusades respectively. I was very tempted, having finished Villehardoin's account, to put the book down, as I was primaril Having recently read an account of relics in the wake of the 4th Crusade, and seeing this book, already in my collection, cited as a primary source, that pretty much sign-posted this book as the next medieval text for me to read.
This book, as published, collects two medieval texts, from Villehardoin and Joinville, chronicling their views of the events of the Fourth and Seven Crusades respectively. I was very tempted, having finished Villehardoin's account, to put the book down, as I was primarily interested in his account of the Fourth Crusade. However a quick flick through Joinville's chronicle revealed the chapter headed 'The Old Man of the Mountain' and that was enough for me to read his account as well, having quite the interest in the Assassins.
These are two very different accounts of two very different Crusades, one wildly more successful than the other, and yet disasterous with very long reaching monumental consequences as well.
Villehardoin's account is quite a straight-forward military account of the snafu that was the Fourth Crusade, and the perils of unexpectedly running the diminished empire of Constantinople, not at all the stated goal of the Fourth Crusade, but, hey, war, am I right?
Joinville's account, on the other hand, seemed more personal than Villehardoins, even though it was essentially a fluff piece for his then lord King Louis, and their disasterous expedition to Egypt. Joinville recounts an encounter along the way (having reached Outremer after their military misadventures in Egypt), with envoys from The Old Man himself, as well as hearing what he reports as a serious account of Prester John, that glorious old piece of medieval propaganda. But also he recounts the day to day events of kings on the road, smattered with details of money transactions, crazy royal relations, how to prepare a boat for sailing with horses on board, and the odd reference which would have seemed commonplace (to the rich at any rate), at the time, but serve to ground this account in a time well and truly lost to us, putting us more in the moment than a dry history of the time ever could. So for those observations alone, as well as mention of The Old Man and Prester John, I thought it was well worth the push to read Joinville's account, and shed a bit of light on the later Crusades, of which I know very little.
A worthy primary source for armchair medievalists. ...more

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Mar 31, 2019 Richard S rated it liked it · review of another edition

Much odder and bizarre than most contemporaneous histories from the distant past. It seems and feels very untrustworthy. Certainly not as good as something like Bernal Diaz's Conquest of New Spain. ...more

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Nov 30, 2015 Suzannah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crusades, non-fiction, biography, history

I think I might have a new favourite primary source historian in John de Joinville. What a duck.

I must tell you here of some amusing tricks the Comte d'Eu played on us. I had made a sort of house for myself in which my knights and I used to eat, sitting so as to get the light from the door, which, as it happened, faced the Comte d'Eu's quarters. The count, who was a very ingenious fellow, had rigged up a miniature ballistic machine with which he could throw stones into my tent. He would watch us

...more

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Jul 10, 2013 Shiloah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tjed-scholar-phase, history

An outstanding compilation of two books written by laymen-men who fought in the crusades (the 4th and 7th). I learned so much from these accounts including: battle in the medieval times, culture, war machines, that lances were used in battle not just for sport, about Louis IX's life and how he led the 7th crusade. Egyptian culture, battle strategies, and much about the ancient Muslims and especially the Bedouins. Fascinating. I highly recommend this for history buffs and scholars. ...more

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Jun 01, 2019 Brian Wilkerson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is another book I got while in College. It is a combination of two accounts, Geoffrey of Villehardouin's record of the Fourth Crusade and John of Joinville's record of the Sixth Crusade. It is unusual among my books for being primary sources. I will go into each one individually.

Geoffrey of Villehardouin's record of the Fourth Crusade.

The presentation here is interesting. There is no introduction written by Geoffrey of Villehardouin so his purpose in doing so can be debated. Personally, This is another book I got while in College. It is a combination of two accounts, Geoffrey of Villehardouin's record of the Fourth Crusade and John of Joinville's record of the Sixth Crusade. It is unusual among my books for being primary sources. I will go into each one individually.

Geoffrey of Villehardouin's record of the Fourth Crusade.

The presentation here is interesting. There is no introduction written by Geoffrey of Villehardouin so his purpose in doing so can be debated. Personally, I think it is a morality tale.
The crusaders are presented as heroes and others, such as the Venetians building their boats, are enthusiastic about helping them. The economic angle is glossed over. He lays much blame on those that "go to other ports" instead of joining this particular crusader army. To leave it is a sin and punishment is swift and karmic.

He loves his hyperbole. The fleets and fortresses are all described as the best ever and everyone greets everyone else with great honor. Those who leave the main crusade army are the worst ever because there was never a more noble enterprise than this one here.

When I first learned of the Fourth Crusade and how it ended up attacking Constantinople instead of its target in Egypt, I was shocked. I thought "aren't all these guys supposed to be allies? Why are they attacking each other?" It puzzled me for years. This book, both its introduction by Caroline Smith and the account itself provides the answers. They are, basically, "No" and "because they have long-standing trust issues". Just because they practiced the same religion (I know, the Great Schism had already taken place), could speak one or more shared languages and had a common enemy did not make them friends.

John of Joinville's record of the Sixth Crusade

First thing, it's not really about the Sixth Crusade. It's actually about King Louis IX a.k.a. Saint Louis and why he deserved this special distinction. It takes some time for him to get to the crusade itself. The first section is about the king's virtues, such as his frugality and means of administering justice.

It is indeed a contrast with Geoffrey of Villehardouin's record. There is no hyperbole. While he praises King Louis he also criticizes some of his actions, mainly the tactical ones. It feels more like a personal account.

Being first person historical accounts, I'm not sure how to rate them.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Chronicles of the Crusade" a + ...more

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Jun 03, 2019 Markus rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: history, read-in-french

I read the two works of Joinville and Villehardouin in their French versions.
Two outstanding 'must reads' for the sake of reality history recorded by eyewitnesses. ...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Bryn Hammond rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: medieval-cross-cultures

Joinville has such raw material as this:

A blow from one of the enemy’s swords landed in the middle of Erard de Sevirey’s face, cutting through his nose so that it was left dangling over his lips. At that moment the thought of Saint James came into my mind, and I prayed to him: ‘Good Saint James, come to my help, and save us in our great need.’ Just as I had uttered this prayer Erard de Sevirey said to me: ‘My lord, if you think that neither I nor my heirs will incur reproach for it, I will go an ...more

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Dec 02, 2009 Mark Adderley rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: medieval-literature, medieval-history

The Fourth Crusade was a shambles. The Crusaders (Geoffrey de Villhardouin consistently calls then "pilgrims") set out to recapture the Holy Land from the Turks, but finished up killing other Christians in Zara, Hungary, and by sacking Constantinople. Villhardouin portrays the whole thing as a glorious and heroic enterprise, but it's relatively easy to find Byzantine sources that portray the sacking of Constantinople as anything but heroic. Pope Innocent III, who initiated the campaign, was sign ...more

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Jul 10, 2007 George rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historybooks

Hollywood movies be damned; it doesn't get any closer to being there during a crusade then this book of collected journals from the 4th, 6th and 7th crusades. The blood, sweat, rank stench of death, the smell and taste of salt water as they sail towards the holy land... it's here, in every word, every sentence. ...more

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Jan 30, 2017 Rebecca L added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads, did-not-finish

I just couldn't get into this.
It was interesting and all but the writing was just so slow and boring and ahhhhh! ...more

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Aug 05, 2017 Gino Kutcher rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book consists of accounts of two crusades [the 4th and 7th]. The first half of the book written about the 4th crusade by Geoffrey De Villehardouin, I found to be engaging and educational. I enjoyed reading it and would rate it a 4.5.
The second part of the book written by Jean de Joinville about the life of King Louis IX and the 7th crusade I did not enjoy at all. I found it repeated itself repeatedly and then proceeded to relay the same information in a slightly different manner. In additi ...more

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May 08, 2020 Libby Beyreis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Not a wonderful book, but definitely interesting to read first-hand accounts of the Crusades. It's depressing when you see how all the talk about freeing Jerusalem from the infidel was really just about killing people and taking their land, without being super fussy about whether those people were Christian or not. Anyone who thinks that the Crusades were something noble to be admired should read this book and get a different perspective. ...more

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Nov 02, 2020 Nicholas Garcia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Two enlightening, entertaining first-hand accounts of several crusades. Joinville's account of the Conquest of Constantinople is particularly engaging and interesting. The second account is less fascinating, but still noteworthy. ...more

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Jan 23, 2018 Timothy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A very well written text, as neutral as could be expected when written by the invading side. Had to read it for a history class in university. Glad that I did.

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Jul 06, 2020 Jill Rebryna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Not a bad read.

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Jul 07, 2020 Eric rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fascinating

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Oct 21, 2020 John rated it liked it · review of another edition

Woah, these guys didn't even make it to the Holy Land lol ...more

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Sep 16, 2017 Jared rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shaw's mid-20th-century translations from the Old French of Villehardouin and Joinville are well done and accessible to the modern English reader, making it possible for those who aren't medievalist specialists to learn of some of the most important events in world history. Joinville's biography of his saintly, honorable friend is an edifying and inspiring portrait of godly leadership and a whole man, a redeemed sinner striving to serve God and his subjects. Villehardouin's chronicle, however, s Shaw's mid-20th-century translations from the Old French of Villehardouin and Joinville are well done and accessible to the modern English reader, making it possible for those who aren't medievalist specialists to learn of some of the most important events in world history. Joinville's biography of his saintly, honorable friend is an edifying and inspiring portrait of godly leadership and a whole man, a redeemed sinner striving to serve God and his subjects. Villehardouin's chronicle, however, soon becomes a somewhat depressing tale of human folly, pride, disguised ambition, and futility, and Villehardouin's portrayal of his fellow wayward Crusaders as The Good Guys while blaming their problems (most of which they'd brought on themselves) on those Crusaders who'd actually kept their vows and tried to help the Christians in the Holy Land wears pretty thin after a while. (The only issue I had with Shaw's edition of these works was a remark that Shaw made in her introductory commentary on the scandal of the Christian Crusading army waging war on their fellow Christians in Constantinople. Shaw observed that the Abbot of Vaux consistently condemned the Crusaders for leaving their actual purpose of defending Christians in the Holy Land and instead waging war on their fellow Christians. However, Shaw wondered why the same Abbot of Vaux not long after took a leading part in the Albigensian Crusade, even though, Shaw claimed, the Albigensians were no less Christian than the men of Constantinople. That's like saying, "The Mormons are no less Lutheran than the Missouri Synod." Neither the Latins who sacked Constantinople nor the Greeks whom the Latins attacked regarded the Manichaean Cathari of the Albigeois as Christians, for the Cathari rejected all of the essential doctrines of the Christian religion. That's why the Abbot of Vaux condemned the sack of Constantinople but didn't have any qualms helping to suppress the extremist Albigensian heretics. But that confusion on the translator's part does not affect her translation.) ...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Edward Waverley marked it as to-read · review of another edition

A glimpse into this treasure: "King Louis also spoke to me of a great assembly of clergy and Jews which had taken place at the monastery of Cluny. There was a poor knight there at the time to whom the abbot had often given bread for the love of God. This knight asked the abbot if he could speak first, and his request was granted, though somewhat grudgingly. So he rose to his feet, and leaning on his crutch, asked to have the most important and most learned rabbi among the Jews brought before Him A glimpse into this treasure: "King Louis also spoke to me of a great assembly of clergy and Jews which had taken place at the monastery of Cluny. There was a poor knight there at the time to whom the abbot had often given bread for the love of God. This knight asked the abbot if he could speak first, and his request was granted, though somewhat grudgingly. So he rose to his feet, and leaning on his crutch, asked to have the most important and most learned rabbi among the Jews brought before Him. As soon as the Jew had come, the knight asked him a question. “May I know, sir,” he said, “if you believe that the Virgin Mary, who bore our Lord in her body and cradled Him in her arms, was a virgin at the time of His birth, and is in truth the Mother of God?”

The Jew replied that he had no belief in any of those things. Thereupon the knight told the Jew that he acted like a fool when – neither believing in the Virgin, nor loving her – he had set foot in that monastery which was her house. “And by heaven” exclaimed the knight, “I’ll make you pay for it” So he lifted his crutch and struck the Jew such a blow with it near the ear that he knocked him down. Then all the Jews took to flight, and carried their sorely wounded rabbi away with them. Thus the conference ended.

The abbot went up to the knight and told him he had acted most unwisely. The knight retorted that the abbot had been guilty of even greater folly in calling people together for such a conference, because there were many good Christians there who, before the discussion ended, would have gone away with doubts about their own religion through not fully understanding the Jews. “So I tell you,” said the king, “that no one, unless he is an expert theologian, should venture to argue with these people. But a layman, whenever he hears the Christian religion abused, should not attempt to defend its tenets, except with his sword, and that he should thrust into the scoundrel’s belly, and as far as it will enter.” ...more

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Dec 30, 2015 Reds_reads rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, biography, autobio-memoir, medieval, history

This book is really two in one, each written by a different participant in the Crusades and they are very different in style.

The first, 'The Conquest of Constantinople', is written by Villehardouin, a nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade. It reads as a career politician's account - a little dry, but packed with detail about the different factions, squabbles & negotiations, alliances and treachery. It clearly shows why the Crusade was such a shambles, with conflicting ambitions & aims and ...more

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Dec 29, 2016 Julie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: education

I cannot remember a time when I was not interested in the Crusades. However, I don't think I ever really understood the reason for the Crusades until I read this book. Christians from the West desired to see the holy land and would make the sacrifice to travel long distances, but infidels from Syria (including Saladin) would thwart their way by capturing, torturing and killing the travelers. Traveling to the Holy Land became so difficult that leaders (bishops, kings, groups of people, nations) w ...more

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Jun 12, 2008 Kristopher Swinson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Closer to 1.8.

Unlike one reviewer, I found Joinville's portion more enjoyable than Villehardouin's, primarily because Villehardouin's was recitation of incessant fighting...and not even of much tactical merit at that. All we could gather is that French (Franks) were fighting each other, the Greeks, or the Saracens at every available opportunity. Joinville's was a tad more psychological in nature, at least, and he seemed a right honest chap for his times.

Joinville disclosed the hypocrisy of most ...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Matt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history-political, biography, history-military, 2012-reads

Originally I skimmed through this book almost a decade ago in preparation for my Senior History Oral Exam and only focused on the overall theme questions listed in my study guide at the time. However this past week while actually reading Chronicles of the Crusades and found thanks to the excellent translation, a easy read and very informative on its subject matters. Of the two chroniclers, I found Jean de Joinville the easier to read because of his style of writing. Most likely the spread and ev ...more

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About Jean de Joinville

Jean de Joinville

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Jean de Joinville (c. May 1, 1224 – 24 December 1317) was one of the great chroniclers of medieval France. He is most famous for writing Life of St. Louis, a biography of Louis IX of France that chronicled the Seventh Crusade.

He is the grandfather of Sir Geoffroi De Charny, distaff side.