De la Conquête de Constantinople

De la Conquête de Constantinople (On the Conquest of Constantinople), is the oldest surviving example of historical French prose, and considered to be one of the most important historical sources on the Fourth Crusade. It was written by Geoffrey of Villehardouin, a knight and crusader, who gave his eyewitness account of the successful conquest of the Byzantine Empire's capital city, Constantinople, on April 13, 1204.

Villehardouin was present at the origins of the Crusade during the 1199 tournament held by Thibauld III of Champagne. Throughout the five-year crusade he acted as an envoy, an ambassador, a councilman, and even a military leader at the Battle of Adrianople in 1205. Several years later, Villehardouin took the time to write down his account.

Villehardouin chose to write his work in epic fashion. He writes his work in the third-person, and combines objectivity and ecclesiastical points-of-view. A common technique in his work is to narrate a battle or episode along subjective and even militaristic guidelines, and follow this with his personal and religious explanation of what the results were.

Villehardouin makes constant hints and references to future events and the unknowingness of the characters at this moment. He defines the outcome in his own terms and does not allow the audience to reach their own conclusion for the actions of the characters. He recapitulates the events leading to Alexis's negotiations with the Crusaders. Compare this to Robert de Clari's account of the Fourth Crusade.

His Crusade is more than just a Holy War, it is an event of such great magnitude that he must recapture it within his work in lengthy detail and describe the actors. Villehardouin describes the Doge of Venice as a blind man who valiantly leads his men into battle. Contemporary studies are undecided but lean towards this man being only short-sighted or having poor eyesight. He makes many references to The Song of Roland. Much like this earlier epic, Villehardouin describes the French Army as elected to execute God's will. When Villehardouin describes how Count Louis refuses to leave the field, there is a clear reference to the functions of Roland's climax in his epic.

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