Henry of Valenciennes

Henry of Valenciennes was an early 13th-century French writer, historian and chronicler of the Latin Empire.

Henry of Valenciennes was a chronicler under Henry of Flanders who left for the Fourth Crusade with the army of his patron. In 1204, following the capture of Constantinople by the Franco-Venetian forces, he became a canon in the Hagia Sophia. In 1206, the year of his patron's accession to the throne of the Latin Empire, he was tasked with compiling a chronicle mostly focused on his deeds, roughly picking up where Geoffrey of Villehardouin's chronicle concludes. As a result, Henry's chronicle is usually included with Geoffrey's in the surviving manuscripts. It abruptly ends in 1209 or 1210,^[1] but it is notable for its account of the battle of Philippopolis.^[2] Henry is also credited with the Lai d'Aristote, previously attributed to the Norman Henry d'Andeli.^[3][4]