Conclusion

Summary

It has been the argument of this book that cross-cultural communication was a concept which, though then nameless, was well understood in the thirteenth century. The career of the most famous Angevin ally, Robert II d'Artois, was typical of French soldiers who came down to the Regno. Most of them, like Robert, intended to contribute to a campaign they believed to be blessed by God, to earn a noble reputation, and to return home wiser in the ways of the world. Only a small percentage of those who fought in the Regno aspired to remain there. Since the death rate was very high, far more ended their lives on the battlefield or on their sick beds in Italy than had hoped for this conclusion. Most of those who escaped these fates went home, some after a short time, some after much longer, all having learned lessons about the applications of naval and military power that they could not have acquired at home. Whether these lessons could appropriately be applied to the different conditions of France remained to be seen. But few French soldiers wanted to stay for ever in the country where they had learned them.