Robert de Clari

Robert de Clari is a Picard knight. Clari participated in the Crusade (1202-1204) with his lord Count Peter and his brother Aleaumus de Clari. He documented the events he encountered and his travel impressions in a chronicle written in Old French. Robert de Clari stood out for his significant heroics during the siege and conquest of Constantinople, being the first Crusader soldier to climb the walls. The crusade, which began to capture the Holy Lands, ended with the sacking of the Byzantine Empire's capital. The narration of this religious-military operation, which deepened the conflict between the Eastern and Western churches, from the perspective of an ordinary soldier, makes Clari's writings even more interesting. However, what is intriguing for Trojan studies is that, after the Roman Emperors, despite the change in religion, we see for the first time here the legitimization of the conquest of Asian lands in the name of Christianity with the Trojans:

"All the pilgrims and Venetians agreed to go to Constantinople. After organizing their fleets and determining the route they would take, they set sail. They arrived at a port called Abydos (The Crusaders stayed at this port for eight days to gather all their ships together. R.A.). This port was approximately a hundred leagues from Constantinople. This was the port where Troy was located, at the mouth of the Dardanelles. They traveled upwards from the Dardanelles to a place one league from Constantinople. They waited until all the ships were gathered. They decorated and adorned the ships so beautifully that it was a sight to behold... We forgot to mention an incident that happened to Pierre de Bracheux. Emperor Henri was at war. Johannis of Wallachia and the Cumans had entered the empire's land and settled at a place no more than two leagues from the emperor's camp... When the Wallachians and Cumans sent hostages to stay there until Pierre returned to the empire's camp, Pierre mounted a large horse and set out with three knights. He came to a place near the Wallachians' camp... After talking about this and that, they said: "We admire your bravery. We are amazed that you have come to a place so far from your country to gain wealth and land. Do you not have land in your country that you can benefit from?" Pierre replied: "Strange? Have you not heard how and by what trickery Troy was captured?" The Wallachians and Cumans said, "We have heard. This happened a long time ago." "Exactly!" said Pierre, "Troy belonged to our ancestors, those who fled from there settled in the place we came from. We came because this is where our ancestors were."