Eustace the Monk

From One Piece Encyclopedia

Eustace the Monk (c. 1170 – 24 August 1217) was a and , in the tradition of outlaws. In One Piece, his name is part of the basis for Eustass Kid.^[1]

[edit] Life

[edit] Early life

Eustace was born a younger son of Baudoin Busket, a lord of the county of. According to his biography, he went to studie there, returned home to become a monk at Abbey near , and then left the monastery to avenge his murdered father. Other evidence, however, suggests that his father's death occurred soon after 1190. That evidence proves that by 1202 Eustace was the and of the , and that in c. 1204, the two quarrelled and, accused of mishandling his stewardship, Eustace fled and was declared an . Renaud confiscated his lands and fields; Eustace burned two in retaliation.

[edit] Serving England

He then became a pirate in the and the , both for his own purposes and as a mercenary of and . employed him intermittently from 1205 to 1212, against . The biography asserts that John gave him command of thirty ships at the start of this assignment. This employment involved Eustace and his brothers raiding the coast and establishing bases in the (he and his men held in for a considerable period). When he raided English coastal villages, King John briefly outlawed him, but soon afterwards issued a pardon because he needed his services.

[edit] Serving France

However, Eustace switched sides in 1212 (the biography puts it down to Eustace's enemy Renaud de Dammartin allying himself with John and poisoning John's mind against Eustace) and raided when English troops seized his Channel Island bases. When broke out in England in 1215, he supported the rebel barons and ferried of across the Channel to help them in 1216.

In August 1217, whilst ferrying much-needed reinforcements to Louis, Eustace met an English fleet under sailing out of . In the ensuing , Eustace wrought havoc among his former allies, until the English blinded the French with powdered . English troops boarded his ships and defeated his men in . Eustace, his and some other ships managed to escape, but his ship was surrounded on 24 August 1217 in the by 's English fleet of ships. Eustace was found hiding in the ship's and offered huge sums for his life, which his captors refused, since he had made himself so hated by the English crews. Instead, they allowed him merely the choice between the ship's rail or the side of the (carried as deck-cargo to England) as his execution site. ( includes the beheading but does not specify which he chose). His brothers survived, and continued to hold his Channel Islands base.

[edit] Aftermath

In September 1217, the forced Louis not only to give up his claim to the English throne but to eject Eustace's brothers from the Channel Islands.

[edit] Biography

A romance biography was written on him between 1223 and 1284 by an unknown poet from , mainly interested in his year or so of adventures after leaving Renaud's service. From a forest hideout, this account tells of Eustace duping, ambushing and humiliating Renaud again and again, in different disguises and often stealing his horses. It is linked to the medieval myths of and the romance "Fouke le Fitz Waryn" on the life of .

This account is then supplemented from 1205 onwards by English government records.