Eustace the Monk

Eustace Busket, better known as Eustace the Monk (c. 1170 – 24 August 1217) was a medieval outlaw, mercenary and pirate born near Boulogne circa 1170.

The Battle of Sandwich

Busket was the youngest son of Baudoin Busket, lord of Boulogne. He is reported to have studied black magic in Toledo, Spain before returning to France to become a Benedictine monk at St Samer Abbey, near Calais. It is disputed whether Busket left the church when his father was murdered to seek revenge, or if by 1202, Eustace was the seneschal and bailiff to the count of Boulogne, Renaud de Dammartin, and that in 1204, the two quarrelled and Busket was accused of mishandling his stewardship, prompting him to flee and be declared an outlaw. Renaud confiscated his lands and fields, and in retaliation Busket put two mills to the torch.Busket later became a pirate in the English Channel and the Strait of Dover, both for his own purposes and as a mercenary of France and England. King John of England employed him intermittently from 1205 to 1212, against Philip II of France, reportedly having been assigned 30 ships. This employment involved Eustace and his brothers raiding the Normandy coast and establishing bases in the Channel Islands, where he and his men held Castle Cornet in Guernsey for a considerable period. He took the island of Sark in 1205, but in 1212 turned on the English, switching sides to France, and began raiding English coastal villages after the English seized his Channel Island bases. King John briefly outlawed him, but soon afterwards issued a pardon because he needed his services. In August 1217, whilst ferrying much-needed reinforcements to Louis, Busket met an English fleet under Hubert de Burgh sailing out of Dover. In the ensuing Battle of Dover, he wrought havoc among his former allies, until the English blinded the French with powdered lime, boarded the French ships and defeated them in mêlée.Eustace was found hiding in the ship's bilges 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 trebuchet as his place of execution, but it is not recorded how he chose.