Geoffrey of Villehardouin (a. 1150- a. 1212) is considered one of the most important chroniclers or historians of his time. Geoffrey of Villehardouin followed the example of Counts Thibaud of Champagne and Louis of Blois of being a crusader as a response to charismatic preacher Fulk of Neuilly call to liberate Jerusalem. Villehardouin was about 50 years old when he took the oath of the Crusaders in 1199, the 28th of November, at the Tournament from Ecry-sur-Aisne. At this tournament the first crusaders army was formed. That was about fifteen months after the Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) proclaimed the crusade and one year after he authorized Fulk to preach the crusade. One of the most popular chronicles of the Fourth Crusade is that of Geoffrey of Villehardouin, entitled La conquete de Constantinople (The conquest of Constantinople). Professor Alfred J. Andrea believes that any debate about the Fourth Crusade must start from Villehardouin`s chronicle. It depicts the course of the crusade from the moment of Fulk of Neuilly sermon, in 1198, until the death of Boniface of Montferrat in 1207.

Keywords: Geoffrey of Villehardouin, the Fourth Crusade, oath, Venice, chronicle

ION ALEXANDRU MIZGAN