[MR] Wikipedia: Eustace the Monk

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

A slow news day in history prompted me to dig deep for this one.

One of the more obscure, but interesting, figures from the early 13th
century was Eustace the Monk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_the_Monk
.

 While you might expect holiness from a monk, he was in fact a mercenary
and pirate. Exactly why he went bad isn't clear, but his earlier life is
said to have included black magic and burning the mills of his master.

Eustace became a pirate around 1205, joined by his two brothers. They
controlled a fleet of ships operating from the Channel Islands. Their ships
and men raided targets on both the English and French coasts, and preyed
indiscriminately on shipping in the English Channel. Eustace was employed
at times by both Bad King John and the French king Phillip II during their
wars. Eustace later served Prince Louis in 1216 when the latter landed in
England and attempted to rule there during King John's exile and war with
his barons.

Eustace and his fleet were finally defeated in 1217 at the Battle of
Sandwich by the English. Found hiding in the bilges of his flagship,
Eustace was summarily beheaded by the English sailors upon whom he had
preyed.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆