.undertaken to indite and chronicle this hiftory, at the reqneft and pleafure of the high and renowned prince, Guy de Châtillon, count of Blois, lord of Avefnes, Beauvois, Eftonnehonne, de la Geude, my good and fovereign mailer and lord, confidered in myfelf that grand deeds of arms would not fall out for a long fpace of time in the marches of Picardy and the country of Flanders, fince there was peace in thofe parts ; and it was very tirefome to me to be idle, for I well know, that when the time fhall come, when I Ihall be dead and rotten, this grand and noble hiftory will be in much fafhion, and all noble and valiant perfons will take pleafure in it, and and gain from it augmentation of profit. ' And moreover, fince I had, God be thanked, fenfe and memory, and a good collection of all paft things, with a clear underftanding to conceive all the facts of which I fhould be informed, touch-ing my principal matters, and fince I was of an age and conftitution of body, and fit to encoun-' ter difficulties, I determined not to delay purfu-ing my fubject. And in order to know the truth of diftant transactions, without fending upon the enquiry any other in place pf myfelf, I took w opportunity of vifiting that high and redoubted prince Gallon Phoebus count de Foix and de Beam ; for I well knew, that if I were fo fortu-nate as to be admitted into his houfehold, and to remain there in quiet, I could not choofe a fitua-tion more prqper to learn the truth of every event, as numbers of foreign knights and fquires af-fembled there from all countries, attracted by , • hit m