Gunther of Pairis
[otherwise Günther von Pairis, Gunther der Dichter, Guntherus Parisiensis, Guntherus Poeta, Guntherus Cisterciensis] (c. 1150 – c. 1220) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
Cistercian monk and author, writing in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
.
His best-known work is his ''Historia Constantinopolitana'' about the
Fourth Crusade, in a mixture of prose and verse. It was based on the account of Martin of Pairis, abbot of
Pairis Abbey, and includes the
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
and
looting of
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. His is the only western account to state explicitly that the crusaders pillaged Greek churches, as the other accounts were written by the pillagers themselves, such as
Geoffrey of Villehardouin
Geoffrey of Villehardouin (c. 1150 – c. 1213) was a French knight and historian who participated in and chronicled the Fourth Crusade. He is considered one of the most important historians of the time period,Smalley, p. 131 best known for w ...
, who wrote
The Conquest of Constantinople.
Gunther also wrote ''Solimarius'', about the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
, and ''Ligurinus'', an
epic about
Frederick Barbarossa.
References
* Andrea, Alfred (ed.), 1997: ''The Capture of Constantinople: The ‘Historia Constantinopolitana’ of Gunther of Pairis''
Notes
External links
Crusades Encyclopedia
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther of Pairis
13th-century German poets
German Cistercians
German chroniclers
13th-century German historians
1150s births
1220s deaths
Fourth Crusade
German male poets
Medieval writers about the Crusades
13th-century Latin writers
12th-century German historians