Eustace the Monk (Old French:Eustache le Moine; c. 1170 – 24 August 1217), bornEustace Busket,[1] was amercenary andpirate, in the tradition ofmedieval outlaws. The birthplace of Eustace was not far from Boulogne. A 1243 document mentions a Guillaume le Moine, seigneur de Course, which indicates that the family lived in that vicinity.[2]
Eustace was born a younger son of Baudoin Busket, a lord of thecounty of Boulogne. According to his biography, he went toToledo, Spain, and studiedblack magic there. The author of theHistoire des Ducs de Normandie wrote in Eustace's own day, "No one would believe the marvels he accomplished, nor those which happened to him many times."[3] He later returned home to become aBenedictine monk atSt Samer Abbey nearCalais, and then left the monastery to avenge his murdered father. Other sources, however, suggest that his father died soon after 1190.[citation needed] The same sources mention that by 1202, Eustace was theseneschal andbailiff of thecount of Boulogne,Renaud de Dammartin, and that in c. 1204, the two quarrelled and, accused of mishandling his stewardship, Eustace fled and was declared anoutlaw. Renaud confiscated his lands and fields; Eustace supposedly burned twomills in retaliation.[citation needed]
Eustace became a pirate in theEnglish Channel and theStrait of Dover, both for his own purposes and as a mercenary ofFrance andEngland.[citation needed]King John of England employed him intermittently from 1205 to 1212, againstPhilip II of France. 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 theNormandy coast and establishing bases in theChannel Islands (he and his men heldCastle Cornet inGuernsey for a considerable period).[citation needed] He took the island ofSark in 1205.[4] When he raided English coastal villages, King John briefly outlawed him, but soon afterwards issued a pardon because he needed Eustace's services.[citation needed]
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 raidedFolkestone when English troops seized his Channel Island bases.[citation needed] Whencivil war broke out in England in 1215, he supported the rebel barons and ferriedPrince Louis ofFrance across the Channel to help them in 1216.[citation needed]
In August 1217, whilst ferrying much-needed reinforcements to Louis, Eustace met an English fleet underHubert de Burgh sailing out ofDover. In the ensuingBattle of Dover, Eustace wrought havoc among his former allies, until the English blinded the French with powderedlime.[5] English troops boarded his ships and defeated his men inhand-to-hand combat. Eustace, hisflagship and some other ships managed to escape, but his ship was surrounded on 24 August 1217 in theBattle of Sandwich byPhilip d'Aubigny's English fleet ofCinque Ports ships. Eustace was found hiding in the ship'sbilges and offered huge sums for his life,[5] 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 thetrebuchet (carried as deck-cargo to England) as his execution site. (Matthew Paris includes the beheading but does not specify which he chose.) His brothers survived, and continued to hold his Channel Islands base.[citation needed]
In June 1217, during the negotiations for what would be known as theTreaty of Lambeth, the English demanded the return of the Channel Islands from Eustace's control, forcibly if necessary. However, he was executed while negotiations were still ongoing[6][7] and thereafter the negotiations concerned his brothers, with the same demand.[7][8] The treaty eventually compelled Louis not only to give up his claim to the English throne but also to eject Eustace's brothers from the Channel Islands.[9]
A romance biography of him was written between 1223 and 1284 by an unknown poet fromPicardy, mainly interested in his year or so of adventures after leaving Renaud's service. This account tells of Eustace, from a forest hideout, duping, ambushing and humiliating Renaud again and again, in different disguises and often stealing his horses.[10] It is linked to the medieval myths ofRobin Hood and the 13th-centuryOld French romanceFouke le Fitz Waryn on the life ofFulk FitzWarin.[10][11]
This account is then supplemented from 1205 onwards by English government records.
Eustace served as the main inspiration for the murderous Friar Bellows from the first season of the British television showBlackadder.Eustace was one of two pirates who directly inspired the characterEustass Kid from the Japanese Anime/MangaOne Piece (the other being William Kidd).
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