se croisieroient et feroient le service Dieu un an en l’ost, seroient quittes de toz les péchiez que il avoient faiz, dont il seroient confés. Por ce que cil pardons fu issi granz, si s’en esmeurent mult li cuers des gens; et mult s’encroisièrent por ce que li pardons ère si grans. in translation: Be it known to you that eleven hundred and ninety-seven years after the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the time of Innocent Pope of Rome, and Philip King of France, and Richard King of England, there was in France a holy man named Fulk of Neuilly - which Neuilly is between Lagni-sur-Marne and Paris - and he was a priest and held the cure of the village. And this said Fulk began to speak of God throughout the Isle-de-France, and the other countries round about; and you must know that by him the Lord wrought many miracles. Be it known to you further, that the fame of this holy man so spread, that it reached the Pope of Rome, Innocent; and the Pope sent to France, and ordered the right worthy man to preach the cross (the Crusade) by his authority. And afterwards the Pope sent a cardinal of his, Master Peter of Capua, who himself had taken the cross, to proclaim the Indulgence of which I now tell you, viz., that all who should take the cross and serve in the host for one year, would be delivered from all the sins they had committed, and acknowledged in confession. And because this indulgence was so great, the hearts of men were much moved, and many took the cross for the greatness of the pardon. Notes Sources Beer, Jeanette M. A. Villehardouin: Epic Historian, Librarie Droz, 1968 Burckhardt, Jacob. Judgement on History and Historians, Garland Publishing, 1984 Godfrey, John. 1204: The Unholy Crusade, Oxford University Press, 1980 Joinville and Villehardouin. Chronicles of the Crusades, Penguin Books, 1963 Michaud, Joseph Francois. Michaud's History of the Crusades, AMS Press, 1973 Queller, Donald E. The Fourth Crusade, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977 This contains a summary and critical review of the work. External links Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople - English translation Old French Online, Lesson 7 - Some of the original text parsed The full text available online, edition of Jean Alexandre Buchon, on Google Books (contains translated words