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This is the story of Edler Schweizer 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.

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	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.
	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 Land, on one occasion he saved the King s life during a battle.
	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.
	Othon was present at the defence of Acre in 1290 which did not succeed. The Saracens conquered and destroyed the city and massacred the inhabitants. Othon escaped to Cyprus.
	Othon is pursued from the defeat at Acre but escapes to Cyprus.
	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.
	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 succesful diplomat, he negotiated with almost all the rulers of Western 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.
	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.