Gouffier of Lastours

Gouffier and his brothers joined the crusade, initially travelling in the army of their suzerain, Raymond IV of Toulouse, and of the papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy.

At another skirmish, he saved Raymond of Toulouse by killing fifteen Turks, breaking all of his weapons and shield in the process.

He helped capture a town referred to as "Talamania", possibly al-Bara, and he was instrumental in the Siege of Ma'arra in December 1098.

On the evening of 11 December Gouffier climbed onto the walls of Ma'arra, followed by so many other crusaders that the ladder broke under their weight.

Gouffier was with Raymond of Toulouse, who pressed the Muslim defenders back into the Tower of David before they surrendered.

Gouffier defeated her accuser in a duel, and was then allowed to add the fleur de lis, the symbol of French royalty, to his own coat of arms.

Olivier had a daughter, Agnes, who was married to Constantine, the brother of the troubadour Bertran de Born.

It was, however, an influence on the Castilian Gran Conquista de Ultramar, which records Gouffier's deeds at Nicaea, Dorylaeum, and Antioch.

It also influenced the troubadour Uc de Pena, who mentions Gouffier's role as a messenger at Dorylaeum.

The lion story first appears in a note appended to the end of the chronicle of Geoffrey of Vigeois, probably added around 1200.