Alexios IV
Anne Van Arsdall
Baldwin II
Byzantine relations
Category=DSBB
Category=N
Category=NHC
Category=NHD
Category=NHDJ
chivalric culture
crusader states
Emperor's Brother
Emperor's Men
Emperor’s Brother
Emperor’s Men
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eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
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eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
feudal society
Frankish Greece
Frankish Peloponnese primary source
Geoffrey II
Grand Domestic
Greek Archontes
Guy Ii
Helen Moody
Holy Emperor
Innocent Iii
John III
Latin Emperor
Latin Empire
Liege Lord
medieval Greek history
Michael Palaiologos
Nicholas III
Noble Baron
Noble Castle
Pope Innocent Iii
Prince Florent
Prince William II
Theodore II Laskaris
Venetian maritime expansion
Young Man
Product details
- ISBN 9781138307223
- Weight: 420g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 23 Oct 2017
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Numerous Byzantine and Western sources describing the events of the Fourth Crusade have now been translated into English. However, the same is not true for material on Frankish Greece, despite this region’s importance to late medieval crusading. The Chronicle of Morea is the key source for the history of the Frankish states established in Greece after the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 and their relations with the reviving Byzantine Empire during the 13th century. It is also an important source for the growth of the Venetian maritime empire. Most of the action centers on the Peloponnesus, then called Achaia or Morea, where crusaders William of Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin (nephew of the famous chronicler) established a principality and the Villehardouins a dynasty. Preserved in a unique fourteenth-century manuscript, the Old French version of the Chronicle of Morea is a contemporary account of Frankish feudal life transposed onto foreign soil. It describes clashes, conquests, and ransoms between the Franks and Byzantines, as well as their alliances and arranged marriages. A rich source, the Chronicle of Morea brims with anecdotes giving insight into the operation of feudal justice, the role of noble women in feudal society, the practice of chivalry, and the conduct of warfare. Versions of the Chronicle exist in Aragonese, Greek, and Italian, as well as in Old French. However, this is the first translation into English or any other modern language of the Old French text, thus opening its content to a wider audience.
Dr Anne Van Arsdall is a research associate with the Institute for Medieval Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA; Dr Helen Moody is an independent scholar, specializing in literary history.
