ANY WAR produces its heroes. The Third Crusade has left us a long-standing legacy of heroes on both sides. Though now no longer politically correct, the stirring tales of Richard the Lion-Heart and his noble opponent Saladin have provided many a comic book with material. If we go back to the contemporary accounts we find that shortly after the Third Crusade even reliable, factual accounts, such as the eye-witness account of the Norman chronicler Ambroise, depict these knights as worthy of heroic status.

Ambroise's chronicle was written shortly after the end of the crusade by a clerk, apparently at the royal court, who had accompanied Richard on the crusade. It is an important historical document, not without literary merit, written in rhyming couplets making extensive use of sophisticated rhetorical devices.

Ambroise's main hero is Richard the Lion-Heart himself and we will return to Richard shortly, but Ambroise also has other heroes, a number of lesser figures who have their ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ in one or more episodes, men, and very occasionally women, who are in some way exemplary. First three of these ‘minor heroes’ claim our attention: James of Avesnes, Aubery Clement and Andrew of Chauvigny.

James of Avesnes

James of Avesnes, described by Jean Richard as a ‘baron du second plan’, was from Avesnes-sur-Helpe in Hainant; his family held lands from both the Count of Hainant and Philip of Alsace, the Count of Flanders.