Geoffrey of Villehardouin (in French Geoffroi de Villehardouin) (1160–c.1212) was a knight and historian who participated in and chronicled the Fourth Crusade. Events Erik den helige is succeeded by Karl Sverkersson. ... Events The first Great Fire of London burns most of the city to the ground. ... A silver statue of an armoured knight, created as a trophy in 1850 For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... This is a list of historians. ... The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204), originally designed to conquer Jerusalem by taking Egypt first, instead, in 1204, conquered the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. ...

He was Marshal of Champagne, and joined the Crusade in 1199 during a tournament held by Count Thibaud III of Champagne. Thibaud named him one of the ambassadors to Venice to procure ships for the voyage, and he helped to elect Boniface of Montferrat as the new leader of the Crusade when Thibaud died. Champagne is one of the traditional provinces of France, a region of France that is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the regions name. ... Events John Lackland, becomes King of England Births Isobel of Huntingdon (d. ... Theobald III of Champagne (d. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian Venezia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′ N 12°19′ E, population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). ... Boniface of Montferrat (c. ...

Although he does not say so specifically in his own account, he probably supported the diversion of the Crusade first to Zara and then to Constantinople. While at Constantinople he also served as an ambassador to Isaac II Angelus, and was in the embassy that demanded that Isaac appoint Alexius IV co-emperor. Zara redirects here; see also Zara (disambiguation). ... Map of Constantinople. ... Isaac II Angelus, Byzantine emperor 1185-1195, and again 1203-1204, was the successor of Andronicus I. He inaugurated his reign by a decisive victory over the Normans in Sicily, but elsewhere his policy was less successful. ... Alexius IV Angelus (c. ...

After the conquest of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 he served as a military leader, and led the retreat from the Battle of Adrianople in 1205 after Baldwin I was captured. The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, a Christian state of the Greek nation, centred at its capital in Constantinople. ... Events February - Byzantine emperor Alexius IV is overthrown in a revolution, and Alexius V is proclaimed emperor. ... This Battle of Adrianople occurred on April 14, 1205 between Bulgarians under Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, and Crusaders under the Baldwin I. It was won by the Bulgarians after a skillful ambush. ... Events January 6 - Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans April 14 - Battle of Adrianople (1205) between Bulgars and Latins August 20 - Following certain news of Baldwin Is death, Henry of Flanders is crowned Emperor of the Latin Empire Births Deaths July 13 Hubert Walter Archbishop of Canterbury... Baldwin I (1172 - 1205), the first emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, as Baldwin IX Count of Flanders and as Baldwin VI Count of Hainaut, was one of the most prominent leaders of the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the capture of Constantinople, the conquest of the greater part...

In 1207 he began to write his chronicle of the Crusade, De la Conquête de Constantinople (On the Conquest of Constantinople). It was in French rather than Latin, making it one of the earliest works of French prose. Unfortunately, he leaves out information that may have portrayed the Crusaders negatively; for example, he does not mention why or when the Crusade was diverted. Villehardouin's account is generally read alongside that of Robert of Clari, a French knight of low station, and of Nicetas Choniates, a Byzantine writer. Events Stephen Langton consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury June 17 by Pope Innocent III Births September 8 - King Sancho II of Portugal October 1 - King Henry III of England (d. ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech. ... Nicetas Choniates, sometimes called Acominatus, was an historian like his brother Michael whom he accompanied from their birthplace Chonae to Constantinople. ...

Villehardouin's nephew (also named Geoffrey) went on to become Prince of Achaea in Morea (the medieval name for the Peloponnesus) in 1209. Villehardouin himself seems to have died shortly afterwards, perhaps in 1212. The Principality of Achaea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. ... The Morea and surrounding states carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911) The name Morea (Μωρέας) for Peloponnesos first appears in the 10th century in Byzantine chronicles. ... Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... Events Albigensian Crusade against Cathars (1209-1218) the Franciscans are founded. ...

Bibliography

• Chronicles of the Crusades (Villehardouin and Jean de Joinville), translated by Margaret R. B. Shaw (Penguin). ISBN 0140441247
• Colin Morris, "Geoffroy de Villehardouin and the Conquest of Constantinople", History 53 (February 1968): 24-34

Jean de Joinville (1224 - December 24, 1319) was one of the great chroniclers of medieval France. ...

External links

• Villehardouin's chronicle, translated by T. Marzial (1908), at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook website