The rotten apple and the good apples: Orthodox, Catholics, and Turks in Philippe de Mézières' crusading propaganda

Abstract

Philippe de Mézières, one of the most prolific and idiosyncratic of the French crusading propagandists, has long been a subject of scholarly attention. In spite of all efforts, however, his general attitude to the crusade in the east is still an open question. This paper aims to reveal Philippe's approach to the crusade in the second half of the fourteenth century by attempting to unveil his ‘image’ of the Greek Orthodox people in the Balkans and the Turks. It will be argued that, in the context of contemporary French authors, Philippe's view no longer corresponded to recent developments in the attitudes toward Islam and the eastern Europeans. The Crusade was being reoriented, and the value system of the West was changing in the face of the Turkish advance. Deeply rooted in French medieval chivalric and religious traditions, Philippe underwent an internal transformation between the years 1369 and 1396, but he, nevertheless, failed to adapt to the changing realities of the time.