Introduction

As Guillaume de Machaut gives it considerable prominence, it is worth tracing in some detail. Guillaume de Machaut is thought to have been born around the year 1300. Louis de Mas Latrie assumed that whenever their version of events differed from Guillaume de Machaut’s, Guillaume was wrong, and his approach has had an abiding influence on scholars ever since. It was the sort of piece of bravado that would have appealed to the imagination of Guillaume de Machaut’s audience, and it may well be that Guillaume was adapting a story that was already passing into legend to fit his theme of Peter as a precocious crusading enthusiast. Henceforth courage, renown and devotion are to the fore, and, though in the end Peter is slain by traitors, Guillaume de Machaut will honour his memory as the equal of the Nine Worthies of old.