Two Wills from Acre, 1267–1272

This chapter assesses the crusader wills written in Acre that record the intentions of two prominent English lords, Hugh de Neville and Prince Edward of England, both of which provide meaningful points of comparison with the Account-Inventory. The will of Hugh de Neville, a knight from a well-known English family, was compiled in 1267 and features payment to religious houses for the safekeeping of his soul, but also looks to more quotidian matters, including the debts he owed to the person charged with caring for his horse. On the other hand, the will of Prince Edward, the future king of England, written while he was on crusade in 1272, is primarily concerned with matters of state, ensuring that his many territories would be appropriately bequeathed to his children and that his wife would recoup her dowry upon his death. Although neither of these testators died in Acre, the postmortem actions they instructed their agents to take were similar to those that Eudes of Nevers’s executors undertook on his behalf in 1266 and, therefore, represent a documented version of what the count may have expressed orally before he died. Like the Account-Inventory, both wills were written in Old French.