The Marshal and His Scribe

This chapter talks about Geoffroy of Villehardouin's scribe, who first recorded his dictation on a temporary surface and then made a fair copy on parchment. The scribe recorded Geoffrey's words directly in the vernacular, which is a unique feature of the memoirs as it is intended as a personal account of his experiences. If the memoirs can be reasonably dated to the eight months Geoffrey spent in Constantinople, it seems likely that he would have dictated to a cleric from Champagne who spoke his dialect. The chapter highlights Geoffrey's familiarity with the process of recording proceedings at court as he witnessed Countess Marie confirm the resolution of a property dispute involving the leper house in Troyes when he was a marshal. Geoffrey might have also heard Evrat, a canon in the comital chapel, read his fresh translations of Genesis to Countess Marie.