Introduction Summary and Analysis

"The Chronicles of the Crusades" is a collection of two books detailing different Crusades, the Fourth and the Eighth. The first book is a depiction of the French barons' Fourth Crusade, and how their attempts at saving Jerusalem failed due to greed and dishonorable behavior. The second is the story of King Louis of France, and how his strong faith in God helped his successful crusade to fortify Jerusalem.

The translator, R.B. Shaw, begins the novel with a brief introduction that explains the two chronicles given in the novel. He begins by discussing the goal of the crusades, that of the capture of the Holy City, Jerusalem. The city, he explains, was transferred back and forth between Christians and the Turks for several hundreds of years before a Holy War was initiated by Pop Gregory VII, which was then translated...