Gui de Melun

Gui de Melun (German: Guido von Melun ; † after summer 1249 ) was a French crusader and chronicler in the 13th century .

Gui was a knight in the household of the Vice Count of Melun and joined the Crusade to Egypt ( Sixth Crusade ) under King Louis IX in 1248 . to the saint . After taking the port city of Damiette in June 1249, he wrote a letter to his half-brother “B. von Chartres ”, who was a student in Paris, in which he reports on the course of the crusade so far. The original letter has not survived , but its contents were completely transcribed by the English chronicler Matthäus Paris in his Chronica Majora and can therefore still be read today.

Gui was a simple knight and not involved in the planning and management level of the cruise company, which is why his descriptions of this correspond to the experience report of a simple fighter. He offers an alternative insight into the company to the reports by Jean de Joinville or Jean de Beaumont , which belonged to the king's personal circle. For example, Gui's letter provides information about the degree of secrecy, because Ludwig IX. regarding the goal of the crusade. When he left Cyprus he was aware that the attack would be on Egypt, but against the metropolis of Alexandria . Gui was accordingly surprised when the fleet landed on the coast off Damiette, which he explained because of the adverse weather conditions on the crossing. He also describes the struggle on the coast and the subsequent entry into the city, after observing the Muslim occupation's escape-like abandonment. He further described the death of Count Hugo X of Lusignan due to several wounds he had suffered in battle.

When Gui wrote his letter, the further course of the crusade was still to be planned. As he reports, the gentlemen were discussing with the king the further march towards Alexandria or Cairo. He intended to write another letter to his addressee about the progress of the crusade or to report through an intermediary who was to travel home in the spring of 1250. It is not known whether he ever had the opportunity.

Individual evidence

↑ Matthæei Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora. Volume 6: Additamenta (= Rerum britannicarum medii aevi scriptores or chronicles and memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the middle ages. 57). Edited by Henry Richards Luard. Longman & Co. et al., London et al. 1882, pp. 155-162 .

Web links

Letter of the knight Gui translated into English by Dana C. Munro in: Letter of the Crusaders, Translations and Reprints from the Original Scources of European History (1896)

personal data
SURNAME	Gui de Melun
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Guido of Melun
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Crusader, chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH	13th Century
DATE OF DEATH	after 1249

[1] Matthæei Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora. Volume 6: Additamenta (= Rerum britannicarum medii aevi scriptores or chronicles and memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the middle ages. 57). Edited by Henry Richards Luard. Longman & Co. et al., London et al. 1882, pp. 155-162 .