Medieval quotes

Medieval Quotes Advent Calendar 5th of December

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Death of the outlaw Eustache the Monk at the Battle of Sandwich in 1217. A battle in which the “enemy” for Eustache was the English forces who were fighting to the rid the country of the forces of Prince Louis of France. It’s much more complicated than that, but that is an outline. The English forces were led by William Marshal

“The enemy set out in small boats and attacked the ships [of Eustache’s fleet] with longbows and crossbows. The Monk’s men guarded themselves against everything thrown at them in the chase by firing missiles and shooting arrows. They killed many Englishmen and defended themselves nobly. Eustache himself toppled many of them with the oar he wielded, breaking arms and smashing heads with every swing. This one he killed, another one he threw overboard. This one he knocked down, another one he trampled underfoot, and a third one had his windpipe crushed. But Eustache was assailed from all directions with no let up. Battle axes struck his ship on all sides. On the first wave the defenders were able to ward off the attack, preventing the enemy from coming on board. Then the English started hurling pots of finely ground lime, smashing them to pieces on the ship railings, with the result that great clouds of dust covered the decks. That was what caused the most damage, against which Eustache’s men could not defend themselves. To their misfortune the wind was against them, causing even further torment, for their eyes became filled with ash. In the confusion the English leaped in to Eustache’s ship and mistreated his men badly, taking all the nobles prisoner. As for Eustache the Monk, he was slain, his head cut off. With that the battle was over.

Epilogue

No man who spends his days doing evil can live a long life.

 

From Thomas E. Kelly  editor and translator Eustache the Monk. In A Book of Medieval outlaws edited by Thomas H. Ohlgren. ISBN9780750924931

Advent Calendar of Medieval Quotes 4th of December

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A description from Roger of Hoveden of the demise of The White Ship in 1120.

“To his son and all his retinue he [Henry I] had given a ship, a better one than which there did not seem to be in all the fleet, but as the event proved, there was not one more unfortunate ; for while his father preceded him, the son followed somewhat more tardily, but with a still more unhappy result. For the ship, when not far from land, while in full sail, was driven upon the rocks which are called Chaterase, and being wrecked, the king’s son, with all who were with him, perished on the sixth day before the calends of December, being the fifth day of the week, at nightfall, near Barbeflet. In the morning, the king’s treasures which were on board the ship, were found on the sands, but none of the bodies of those lost.There perished with the king’s son, his illegitimate brother, earl Eichard, together with the king’s daughter, the wife of Rotrou ; Richard, earl of Chester, with his wife, the king’s niece, and sister of earl Tedbald, the king’s nephew. There also perished Othoel, the governor of the king’s son, Geoffrey Riddell, Robert Maldint, William Bigot, and many other men of rank ; also several noble women with no small number of the king’s children ; besides one hundred and forty soldiers, with fifty sailors and three pilots. A certain butcher was the only person who made his escape, by clinging to a plank of the wrecked vessel. The king having had a fair voyage, on reaching England, thought that his son had entered some other port ; but on the third day he was afflicted with the sad tidings of his death, and at first, from the suddenness of the calamity, fainted away, as though a person of weak mind; but afterwards,concealing his grief, in contempt of fortune he resumed his kingly spirits. For this son being the only one left him by lawful wedlock, he had named him heir to the kingdom in succession to himself.”

From: The Annals of Roger of Hoveden Volume I pgs 213-214

https://archive.org/details/annalsofrogerde01hove

 

Advent Calendar of Medieval Quotes 3rd of December

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3rd of December

From Roger of Wendover. A description of happenings immediately after the death of Henry II.

I would like to point out that I am not including these quotes as examples of definitive facts. All medieval chroniclers need to be taken with a large grain of salt.

“He died on the octaves of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, after a reign of thirty-four years,seven months,and five days. On the morrow,as they were carrying him to be buried, arrayed in his royal robes, his crown, gloves, shoes, ring, sceptre, and sword, he lay with his face uncovered; and when Richard, hearing the news of his death, came to meet the convoy, blood flowed from the nostrils of the deceased, as if he was indignant at the presence of one who was believed to have caused his death.”

From Roger of Wendover Flowers of History Volume II. Pg 76

https://ia800503.us.archive.org/35/items/rogerofwendovers02roge/rogerofwendovers02roge_bw.pdf

 

Advent Calendar of Medieval Quotes

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The basic premise of this particular project is a medieval quote a day for the 24 days leading up to christmas. A medieval quote advent calendar. I’m not going to be providing background to the quotes. These will just be snippets of medieval works. Hope you enjoy

I am a day late on this post so two quotes will go up today.

 

1st of December

From Gerald of Wales a description of the land around St David’s

“St David’s is in a remote corner of the country, looking out towards the Irish Sea. The soil is rocky and barren. It has no woods, no rivers and no pasture lands. It is exposed to winds and extremely inclement weather. It lies between two hostile peoples who are constantly fighting over it, the Flemmings and the Welsh. However, these saintly men deliberately chose to establish the arch-bishopric there, for they wanted to live as far removed as possible from worldly upsets, preferring an eremitical existence to a pastoral one, so that they might enjoy a spiritual life which no one could take away from the.”

The Journey Through Wales and The Description of Wales. pg 161. ISBN: 9780140443394

2nd of December

From History of William Marshal a description of Marshal himself.

“His body was so well fashioned that, even if he had been created by the sculptor’s chisel, his limbs would not have been so handsome. I can tell you this because I saw them and remember them well. At the same time his had fine hands and feet, but all this was as nothing compared to his overall appearance. Anyone who looked upon it would have found it so upright, so well formed, that if his judgement were sound, he would have concluded that nowhere in the whole world was there to be found such a perfect body. His hair was brown, his face swarthy, but his features were so much like those of a true noble that he could have been an Emperor of Rome. Also, he had wide hips and was so handsomely formed as any noble could be; it was a master sculptor who fashioned him.”

History of William Marshal Volume I. pg 39. ISBN: 0905474422