Geoffroi de Villehardouin
Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople
"Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople" by Geoffrey of Villehardouin is a historical chronicle written in the early 13th century. As an eyewitness to the infamous sack of Constantinople in 1204, the knight-crusader delivers the oldest surviving French prose history. Written in epic style, Villehardouin narrates five years of crusading through battles, negotiations, and controversial sieges of Christian cities, blending military detail with religious justification while shaping events according to his own perspective.