KB-4

Ramon Muntaner was a lively writer, and at least by his own account, a mover and shaker in the history of the Catalan Company, a group of disgruntled mercenaries who eventually seized the duchy of Athens at the turn of the fourteenth Century. This extract from Muntaner's larger Chronicle deals with the actions of the company from their employment by the restored Byzantine Empire in 1303 until the seizure of Athens in 1311. Muntaner also includes his own exploits dealing with company related issues. His time with the company moved him a good distance up the ladder of personal eminence in Catalan affairs. He has a good eye for the characters of the more famous individuals he encountered, even if he's not very reliable about things he did not see personally, he does warn the readers that there is a difference in his reliability.
One gains an insight into mercenary contracts during the period, and how labour relations could turn very messy, with men used to violence. He also talks about the conflicts between expedience, and perceived feudal obligations in the minds of the mercenaries.
This is an extract and Robert D. Hughes is a competent translator, though I find his editorial skills especially in identifying political figures of the time, relatively poor, as kings, princes, and pretenders are not identified on their initial appearance in this account, and the footnotes of this type, when they do appear, are not fully informative. On balance, this translation is more academically attuned to the tastes of the twenty-first century, but the casual reader is directed to the full Chronicle, translated by Lady Goodenough, and available on the net. ( )