Chronicles of the Crusades (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Villehardouin, Geoffroi De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140441247 ISBN 13: 9780140441246

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1963

Synopsis

Two famous, firsthand accounts of the holy war in the Middle Ages translated by Margaret R. B. Shaw

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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

About this title

About the Author:

Jean de Joinville was a thirteenth-century medieval French chronicler. His most famous work is Life of St. Louis, a biography of Louis IX of France that chronicled the Seventh Crusade.

Geoffrey de Villehardouin was a soldier and historian who took part in, and wrote extensively on, the Fourth Crusade. His eyewitness account of the 1204 conquest of Constantinople is the earliest surviving French historical narrative.

Margaret R. B. Shaw is an author and translator whose work includes contributions to Chronicles of the Crusades by Jean de Joinville and Geffroy de Villehardouin and Scarlet and Black by Stendhal.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1963
• ISBN 10: 0140441247
• ISBN 13: 9780140441246
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368