Edler Schweizer Ritter Othon The First Of Grandson - Saint Peter Port, Guernsey
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 49° 27.098 W 002° 32.185
30U E 533599 N 5477767
This statue of the Swiss knight was erected by Credit Suisse, the Swiss finance company.
Waymark Code: WMYQQA
Location: Guernsey
Date Posted: 07/12/2018
Views: 1
He lived between 1238 and 1328 and in 1277 he was appointed Governor of Guernsey for life.
The statue is one and a half times life size and shows him in armour standing holding a sword by its pommel, with the tip resting on the ground.
In front of the statue is a large bronze table with a 3d map on it. The map shows parts of the world that he visited during his long life and on the edge of the table various inscriptions telling the story of that part of his life.
This is the story of Edler Scheizer Ritter Othon the First of Grandson 1238 - 1328.
As the friend of Edward the First he established a lasting friendship between England
and Switzerland. Between 1269 and 1271 he accompanied the King Edward the First
on a crusade and on one occasion saved the King's life during a battle.
He was a great soldier and a brilliant diplomat.
Othon was appointed as the Papal Legate to Basel. The German Emperor gave him
the castle and town of Laupen. Edward appointed him as Chief Justice of Wales
between 1284 - 1294. In 1277 he was appointed as Governor for life of Guernsey
and the other Channel Islands. At the age of ninety he travelled to Avignon
to help his friends there he was attacked robbed and died in prison.
His tomb was ordered by the Pope to be placed in the Cathedral of Lausanne.
Othon the First of Grandson was born in 1238 in the castle of Grandson, Canton Vaud in Switzerland. His father was Peter Grandisson the first Lord of Grandson.
Guernsey and the other Channel Islands were Othon's reward for his services to Edward and were given to him for life in 1277. He visited Guernsey in 1323 with his bodyguard of twenty crossbowmen.
Othon was a successful diplomat he negotiated with almost all the rulers of Wstern Europe, he was literate, unusual for a knight and pious. he was Chief Justice for North Wales from 1284 - 1294. The Pope appointed him the Papal Legate to Basel.
Othon is believed to have accompanied the Holy Shroud of Christ to Europe from Cyprus, it eventually arrived in France, it was deposited in Turin Cathedral in the sixteenth century.
The main purpose of the crusade was the liberation of Jerusalem from the Saracens. The crusaders conquered the city in 1099 and founded a Christian kingdom which lasted until 1187.
In 1252 at the age of fourteen Othon became a page at the court of Henry King of England. He became a friend of the Crown Prince Edward later Edward the First, and was knighted by him in 1268 at the age of thirty.
The two were lifelong friends. Othon accompanied Edward on the crusade of 1269 - 1271 to the Holy Lan, on one occasion he saved the King's life during a battle.
Othon was present at the defence of Acre which did not succeed. The Saracens conquered and destroyed the city and massacred the inhabitants Othon escaped to Cyprus.
At the age of ninety he travelled to Avignon to help his friends. There he was attacked, robbed and died in prison. His tomb was ordered by the Pope to be placed in the Cathedral of Lausanne.