Odo of Deuil (1110 – 18 April 1162), his first name also spelled Odon, Eude or Eudes, was a French historian of and participant in the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusa ...

(1147–1149). Born at Deuil to a modest family, he became a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and was a confidant of

Suger Suger (; la, Sugerius; 1081 – 13 January 1151) was a French abbot, statesman, and historian. He once lived at the court of Pope Calixtus II in Maguelonne, France. He later became abbot of St-Denis, and became a close confidant to King Lo ...

abbot of Saint-Denis This is a list of abbots and grand priors of the Basilica of Saint-Denis. This list is drawn mostly from Félicie d'Ayzac, ''Histoire de Saint-Denys'' (Paris, 1861), Vol. 1, pp. cxxiii–cxxxi. Abbots For the first part of this list, dates may i ...

. He took part in the

in 1147, and served as the chaplain of Louis VII on the expedition.''"Eudes of Deuil's" De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem "as a source for the Second Crusade"'', Jonathan Phillips, ''The Experience of Crusading'', Vol. I, ed. Marcus Bull and Norman Housley, (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 80. His narrative of the Crusade is entitled ''De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem'' (On Louis VII's journey to the East), which relates the progress of the crusade from France to

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

. It was written so that Suger could compose a history of Louis' life. Eudes explains the failure of the crusade in terms of human action rather than as the will of God, in contrast to the reasoning of

Otto of Freising Otto of Freising ( la, Otto Frisingensis; c. 1114 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carries valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was Otto I ...

. His aims were to glorify Louis, but also to provide a guide for future crusaders so that the mistakes of the Second Crusade would not be repeated. Eudes blamed the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

under

Manuel Comnenus Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor ...

for the downfall of the crusade. Eudes' prejudice against Byzantium led Runciman to describe Eudes as "hysterically anti-Greek." However, Phillips has recently argued that Eudes' view of Byzantium was possibly rooted in ideological differences which minor skirmishes between the crusaders and Greeks had brought to the fore. His prejudice should also be set against the experience of

Conrad III of Germany Conrad III (german: Konrad; it, Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III and from 1138 until his death in 1152 k ...

, who wrote that Manuel treated him as a "brother." Eudes' account ends with the remnant of the crusade arriving at Antioch, and so does not include a description of the Siege of Damascus. He returned to France and became abbot of Saint-Denis in 1151.''Odo of Deuil's "The Journey of Louis VII to the East"'', Rudi Paul Lindner, ''The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture: Reflections on Medieval Sources'', ed. Jason Glenn, (University of Toronto Press, 2011), 166.

Notes

Sources

*Odo of Deuil, ''De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem'', tr. V.G. Berry (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1948). *J. Phillips, "Odo of Deuil's ''De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem'' as a source for the Second Crusade", in M. Bull ''et al.'' (eds), ''The Experience of Crusading'', 2 Vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 1.80-95. *

S. Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...

'', A History of the Crusades'', 3 Vols (London:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1951-4).

External links

Odo of Deuil at Crusades EncyclopediaExtracts from the ''De profectione''Letters concerning the Second Crusade
{{Authority control 1110 births 1162 deaths Crusade literature 12th-century Latin writers 12th-century French historians French abbots French male non-fiction writers Crusades chaplains Christians of the Second Crusade