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William Of Montferrat

William of Montferrat

William of Montferrat (early 1140s-1177), also called William Longsword (but not related to the other men of the same name), was the eldest son of William V, Marquess of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg. He was the elder brother of Conrad, Boniface, and Renier, and a cousin of both Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and Louis VII of France. In 1176 William was chosen by Raymond III, count of Tripoli, and Baldwin IV, king of Jerusalem, to marry Baldwin's sister Sibylla. William also gained the County of Jaffa and Ascalon in the marriage. William of Tyre describes him as fairly tall, blond, good-looking; brave, frank and unpretentious, but inclined to eat and drink copiously, though not to the impairment of his judgement. With the King's consent, William and Reynald of Châtillon gave a grant of land to the new Castilian military order, the Order of Montjoie, commanded by Count Rodrigo Alvarez de Sarria. However, William's activities in Outremer were cut short. He fell ill, probably from malaria, at Ascalon, and died in June 1177, leaving Sibylla pregnant with the future king Baldwin V. His body was taken to Jerusalem and buried at the Hospital of St John.

Sources


- [http://centri.univr.it/RM/biblioteca/scaffale/volumi.htm#Walter%20Haberstumpf Haberstumpf, Walter. Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV, 1995] (external link to downloadable text).
- Hamilton, Bernard. The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, 2000 ISBN 139780521017473
- Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades, 1951-54, vol. 2
- Usseglio, Leopoldo. I Marchesi di Monferrato in Italia ed in Oriente durante i secoli XII e XIII, 1926 Category:Crusades Category:1140s births Category:1177 deaths

1140

Events


- Henry Jasomirgott was made count palatine of the Rhine.
- The town of Lanark in Scotland was made a Royal Burgh by David I of Scotland.
- Camaldolite monk Gratian founds the science of Canon Law with the publication of the Decretum
- Marburg becomes a town

Births


- May 28 - Xin Qiji, Chinese poet (died 1207)
- Minamoto no Yoshihira, Japanese warrior (died 1160)

Deaths


- Leo I of Armenia
- Thurstan, Archbishop of York Category:1140 ko:1140년

William Longsword

This article is about the ruler of Normandy. For William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury, see: William de Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. There was also a William of Montferrat nicknamed William Longsword. ---- William Longsword (died December 17, 942) was jarl (ruler) of Normandy. Little is known about his early years. He was born overseas in one of the many Viking territories before his father Rollo settled in northern France. William's mother was named Poppa; all that is known of her is that she was a Christian, and the daughter of a Count Berengar. According to the Planctus, he was baptized a Christian. William succeeded Rollo sometime around 928. It appears that he faced a rebellion early in his reign, from Normans who felt he had become too Frankified. The following years are obscure. In 939 William became involved in a war with Arnulf I of Flanders, which soon became intertwined with the other conflicts of the reign of Louis IV of France. He was killed by followers of Arnulf while at a meeting to settle their conflict. His son Richard I of Normandy succeeded him.

External link


- [http://www.ku.edu/carrie/Planctus/Planctus/ Planctus for William Longsword] Category:942 deaths Category:Dukes of Normandy ja:ギヨーム1世 (ノルマンディー公)

William V of Montferrat

William V of Montferrat (occ./piem. Guilhem, it. Guglielmo) (c. 1115-1191), also known as William the Old to distinguish him from his eldest son, William Longsword, was marquess of Montferrat from c. 1136 to his death in 1191. William was the only son of marquess Renier I and his wife Gisela, a daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy and widow of Count Humbert II of Savoy. It seems likely, given that he was still fit enough to participate in battle in 1187, that William was one of his parents' youngest children. He was described by Otto Morena as of medium height and compact build, with a round, somewhat ruddy face and hair so fair as to be almost white. He was eloquent, intelligent and good-humoured, generous but not extravagant. Dynastically, he was extremely well-connected, being a nephew of Pope Callixtus II, a brother-in-law of Louis VI of France (through his half-sister Adelasia of Moriana), and cousin of Alfonso VII of Castile. William married Judith or Julitta von Babenberg, daughter of Leopold III of Austria and Agnes of Germany, sometime before March 28, 1133. It is likely that Judith was still very young at the time: none of their children seem to have been born before 1140, and the youngest son in 1162. She died after 1168. They had five sons, four of whom became prominent in the affairs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and of Byzantium:
- William Longsword, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, father of Baldwin V of Jerusalem
- Conrad, King of Jerusalem
- Boniface, his successor to Montferrat and founder of the Kingdom of Thessalonica
- Frederick, who entered the Church, and may have been Bishop of Alba (although Usseglio notes there are difficulties in identifying him firmly)
- Renier, married into the Byzantine imperial family and three daughters:
- Adelasia or Azalaïs, who married Manfredo II, marquess of Saluzzo
- Agnes, who married Count Guido Guerra of Ventimiglia. The marriage was annulled before 1180, when Guido remarried, and Agnes seems to have entered a convent.
- An unidentified daughter, who married Alberto, marquess of Malaspina. William served honourably in the Second Crusade, alongside his nephew Louis VII of France. As as traditional supporter of the Ghibellines, he and his sons fought with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in his lengthy struggle with the Lombard League. Following Barbarossa's capitulation with the Peace of Venice in 1177, William was left to deal with the rebellious towns in the area alone. Meanwhile, the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus sought support for his own politics in Italy. In 1179 he suggested a marriage between his daughter Maria, second in line to the throne, and a son of William the Old. As the youngest son, Renier was the only one then unmarried, he was married off to the princess, who was thirteen years his senior. In 1183, with the accession of his grandson Baldwin V, a minor, as co-King of Jerusalem, William, then probably in his late sixties, left the government of Montferrat to Conrad and Boniface, and returned to the east. He was granted the castle of St. Elias (present-day El Taiyiba). He fought in the Battle of Hattin in 1187, where he was captured by Saladin's forces. In the meantime, his second son, Conrad, had arrived at Tyre from Constantinople. Conrad was given the command of the defences, and is said to have refused to surrender as much as a stone of its walls to liberate his father, even threatening to shoot him with a crossbow himself when Saladin had him presented as a hostage. Eventually, Saladin withdrew his army from Tyre. In 1188, William was released unharmed at Tortosa, and seems to have ended his days in Tyre, with his son.

Sources


- [http://centri.univr.it/RM/biblioteca/scaffale/volumi.htm#Walter%20Haberstumpf Haberstumpf, Walter. Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV, 1995] (external link to downloadable text).
- Hamilton, Bernard. The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, 2000.
- [http://www.marchesimonferrato.com/Guglielmo%20V.htm Settia, Aldo A. "Guglielmo V di Monferrato, detto il Vecchio", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. LX, Roma 2003] (external link)
- Usseglio, Leopoldo. I Marchesi di Monferrato in Italia ed in Oriente durante i secoli XII e XIII, 1926. Category:Marquesses of Montferrat Category:Crusades Category:1191 deaths

Judith of Babenberg

Judith of Babenberg (c. late 1110s/1120–post-1168), also sometimes called Julitta or Ita in Latin sources, was a daughter of Leopold III of Austria and Agnes of Germany. The chronicler Otto of Freising was one of her older brothers; Conrad III of Germany her half-brother. She married c. 1133 William V, Marquess of Montferrat, by whom she bore at least eight children, including:
- William Longsword, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, father of Baldwin V of Jerusalem
- Conrad I, King of Jerusalem
- Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat and founder of the Kingdom of Thessalonica
- Renier, who married into the Byzantine imperial family. She was still living in 1168, but seems to have died before her husband went to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 1180s. Category:Babenberg Category:Non-ruling Austrian royalty

Boniface of Montferrat

Boniface of Montferrat (c. 1150-1207) was Marquess of Montferrat and the leader of the Fourth Crusade. He was the third or fourth son of William V of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg, born after his father's return from the Second Crusade. Boniface's youthful exploits in the late 1170s are recalled in the famous Epic Letter, "Valen marques, senher de Monferrat", by his good friend and court troubador Raimbaut de Vaqueiras. These included the rescue of the heiress Jacopina of Ventimiglia from her uncle Count Otto, who was intending to deprive her of her inheritance and send her to Sardinia. Boniface arranged a marriage for her. When Alberto of Malaspina, abducted Saldina de Mar, a daughter of a prominent Genoese family, Boniface rescued her, since one of his sisters was Alberto's wife. After 1183, with his father and (from 1187) his older brother Conrad in the East, Boniface was master in Montferrat, and engaged in military campaigns on behalf of his cousin Frederick I Barbarossa against the independent city communes of the Lombard League. In 1191, after Frederick's son Henry VI granted him the county of Incisa, a fifteen-year war broke out against the neighbouring communes of Asti and Alessandria. Boniface joined the Cremona League, while the two cities joined the League of Milan. Boniface defeated the cities at Montiglio in June that year, but the war as a whole went badly for the dynasty's interests. At Quarto, he and Vaqueiras saved his brother-in-law Alberto of Malaspina when he was unhorsed. The first phase of the war ended with a truce in April 1193. By now, Boniface was Marquess of Montferrat, following the tragic death of his brother Conrad, the newly elected King of Jerusalem, the previous year. In June 1194, Boniface was appointed one of the leaders of Henry VI's expedition to Sicily. At Messina, amid the fighting between the Genoese and Pisan fleets, Vaqueiras protected his lord with his own shield - an act which helped the troubador win a knighthood from Boniface that year, after the campaign's successful conclusion: Henry's coronation in Palermo. In October 1197, the truce with Asti ended. Boniface made an alliance with Acqui in June 1198. There were numerous skirmishes and raids, including at Ricaldone and Caranzano, but by 1199 it was clear the war was lost, and Boniface entered into negotiations. Throughout the 1180s-90s, despite the wars, Boniface had nevertheless presided over one of the most prestigious courts of chivalric culture and troubador song. In 12C, the Piemontèis language (which in the present day reflects more French and Italian influences) was virtually indistinguishable from the Occitan of Southern France and Catalonia. Besides Vaqueiras, visitors included Peire Vidal, Gaucelm Faidit, and Arnaut de Mareuil. Boniface's patronage was celebrated widely. To Faidit, he was Mon Thesaur (My Treasure). Curiously, Vaqueiras addressed him as N'Engles (Lord Englishman), but the in-joke is never explained. When the original leader of the Fourth Crusade, Count Theobald III of Champagne, died in 1201, Boniface was chosen as its new leader. He was an experienced soldier, and it was an opportunity to reassert his dynasty's reputation after defeat at home. Boniface's family was well-established in the east; his oldest brother William was the father of King Baldwin V of Jerusalem, and his brother Conrad had been the brother-in-law of Isaac II Angelus, and then briefly King of Jerusalem in the Third Crusade. His younger brother, Renier, had been a son-in-law of Manuel I Comnenus. Boniface was a cousin of Philip of Swabia, who was married to Irene, a sister of the deposed Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelus. In the winter of 1201 Boniface spent Christmas with Phillip in Hagenau, and while there also met with Alexius Angelus, Isaac II's son, who had escaped from the custody of his uncle Alexius III Angelus. At this time the three discussed the possibility of using the crusading army to restore Alexius' right to the throne. Both Boniface and Alexius travelled separately to Rome to ask for Pope Innocent III's blessing for the endeavour; however, Boniface was specifically told by Innocent not to attack any Christians, including the Byzantines. The Crusader army was in debt to the doge of Venice, who had provided their fleet. He instructed them to attack the rebellious cities of Trieste, Moglie, and Zara and beat them into submission before sailing for Cairo. The Pope was angered by these Christian cities being attacked by a Crusader army. The doge, Enrico Dandolo, was now the true war leader of this Crusade, with Boniface as only a figurehead. Alexius Angelus made many promises to the Crusaders and their principal financer, the doge of Venice, for riches and honors if they would help him reclaim his kingdom. Dandolo placated the Pope by having Alexius Angelus promise to submit the Orthodox Church to Rome when he was restored to his throne in Constantinople. This being done, the fleet set sail for Constantinople in 1203. After the conquest of Constantinople in 1204, Boniface was assumed to be the new emperor, both by the western knights and the conquered Byzantine citizens. However, the Venetians vetoed him, believing that he already had too many connections in the Empire (and, likely, felt that they would not have as much influence in the new Empire if Boniface was in control). Instead, they chose Baldwin of Flanders. Boniface founded the Kingdom of Thessalonica (where his brother Renier had held territory), and also held territory in Crete, though he later sold Crete to the Venetians. He was first married around 1170 to Elena del Bosco. She died, leaving one son and 2 daughters:
- William (Guglielmo), b. ca 1170. Marquess of Montferrat
- Agnes, m. the Emperor Henry of Flanders in 1204, and died within three years.
- Beatrice, m. Henry II del Carretto, marquess of Savona, as the second of his three wives; she is the Bel Cavalher (Fair Knight) of Vaqueiras's songs. Some sources claim that in 1197, Boniface married Eleonora, a daughter of Umberto III, count of Savoie, Aosta and Moriana. If so, she died in 1202, leaving no known children. Usseglio is sceptical of this marriage having taken place: the evidence is thin. In Constantinople he married a Hungarian princess, Margareta, daughter of Bela III of Hungary, who was the widow of Emperor Isaac II Angelus. They had one child:
- Demetrius, b. ca, 1205. King of Thessalonica Boniface was killed in an ambush by the Bulgarians on September 4, 1207, and his head was sent to Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan. The loyal Vaqueiras, who had followed him to the East, probably died with him: it is significant that he composed no planh (lament) in his memory.

Sources


- Brand, Charles M. Byzantium Confronts the West, 1968, ISBN 0751200530
- [http://www.marchesimonferrato.com/Bonifacio%20I.htm Goria, Axel. "Bonifacio di Monferrato", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. XII, Roma 1970, pp. 118-124] (external link)
- [http://centri.univr.it/RM/biblioteca/scaffale/volumi.htm#Walter%20Haberstumpf Haberstumpf, Walter. Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV, 1995] (external link to downloadable text).
- Linskill, Joseph. The Poems of the Troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, 1964
- Magoulias, Harry J. (transl.). O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, 1984, ISBN 0814317642
- Queller, Donald E. and Madden, Thomas F., The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople (2nd Edition, 1999) ISBN 0812217136
- Usseglio, Leopoldo. I Marchesi di Monferrato in Italia ed in Oriente durante i secoli XII e XIII, 1926.
- [http://www.cam.org/~malcova/troubadours/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras_epic_letter.php Vaqueiras, Raimbaut de. The Epic Letter] (external link to bilingual text)
- Villehardouin, Geoffrey de, The Conquest of Constantinople, in Joinville and Villehardouin, Chronicles of the Crusades, 1963, ISBN 0140441247 Category:Crusades Category:Marquesses of Montferrat

Renier of Montferrat

Renier of Montferrat (1162–1183) was the fifth son of William III of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg. He became son-in-law of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus and Caesar in 1179, and was later murdered in a Byzantine power-struggle. It was Manuel who suggested the marriage of his daughter Maria to a son of William III. The only eligible son was the youngest, 17-year-old Renier, whom the Byzantine chronicler Nicetas Choniates described as blond and beardless. With his marriage to the 30-year-old princess, Renier was given the title Caesar, renamed "John", and (it is believed) granted Thessalonica as an estate for life, a pronoia. Maria was second in line to the throne, and had only been deprived of the succession by the birth of her much younger half-brother Alexius. Thus, Renier became entangled in the perpetual power struggle around the Byzantine throne. With the death of Manuel I in September 1180, the throne fell to the boy Alexius II, with his mother, the empress dowager Maria, acting as regent. Maria caused a scandal by taking the protosebastos Alexius as a lover. This, combined with her Latin-friendly views triggered a plot to overthrow the Emperor, and install Maria and Renier on the throne. The plot was discovered, and several conspirators arrested. Maria and Renier sought refuge in the Hagia Sofia cathedral with some 150 of their followers. Fighting ensued, later dubbed the Holy War as it took place in that most holy church. Eventually, the conspirators were offered an amnesty to end the hostilities. Both the Emperor and the conspirators fell victims to another usurper though, as Andronicus Comnenus returned from his exile with an army in support. Alexius II was forced to recognice Andronicus as his co-Emperor, and was later murdered. Renier, as a contender to the throne, shared his fate, as did Maria. Andronicus' takeover was marred by the massacre of the Latin population that followed. It is believe that this massacre was one of the reasons later used as an excuse by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade. Renier's surviving older brother Boniface seems to have based his claim to Thessalonica on his late brother's title.

References


- Brand, Charles M. Byzantium Confronts the West, 1968, ISBN 0751200530
- [http://centri.univr.it/RM/biblioteca/scaffale/volumi.htm#Walter%20Haberstumpf Haberstumpf, Walter. Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV, 1995] (external link to downloadable text).
- Magoulias, Harry J. (transl.). O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, 1984, ISBN 0814317642
- Queller, Donald E. & Madden, Thomas F. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople (2nd Edition, 1999) ISBN 0812217136
- Usseglio, Leopoldo. I Marchesi di Monferrato in Italia ed in Oriente durante i secoli XII e XIII, 1926. Renier of Montferrat Renier of Montferrat Category:Byzantine people

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa (see: Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_%28names_and_titles%29#Monarchical_titles, exception #2)

1176

Events


- May 22 - Murder attempt by the Hashshashin on Saladin near Aleppo
- Raynald of Chatillon released from prison in Aleppo
- May 29 - Frederick Barbarossa is defeated in the Battle of Legnano by the Lombard League leading to the pactum Anagninum (the Agreement of Anagni)
- September 17 - Seljuk Turks defeat Manuel I Comnenus at the Battle of Myriokephalon
- Construction begins on the London Bridge
- Cathedral in Sens installs first "horologe"
- Aberdeen becomes a royal burgh.
- Assize of Northampton.
- Carthusian Order approved.
- The first recorded Welsh Eisteddfod is held by Rhys ap Gruffydd at Cardigan.

Births


- Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (died 1220)
- Leopold VI of Austria (died 1230)
- William de Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (approximate date; died 1226)
- Saint Sava, Serbian prince and archbishop

Deaths


- April 20 - Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English soldier (born 1130)
- May 13 - Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine (born 1119)
- August 23 - Emperor Rokujō of Japan (born 1164)
- October 25 - William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, English politician
- Rosamund Clifford, mistress of Henry II of England (born 1150)
- Saint Galdino, Italian archdeacon Category:1176 ko:1176년

Raymond III of Tripoli

Raymond III of Tripoli (c. 1140 or 1142–1187) was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva.

Early life

Raymond succeeded his father Raymond II, who had been killed by the Hashshashin, and Hodierna of Jerusalem, who ruled as regent until Raymond came of age. He was also known as Raymond the Younger to distinguish him from his father. In 1160, Byzantine emperor Manuel Comnenus was seeking a wife from the crusader states. The two candidates presented to him were Raymond's sister Melisende, and Princess Maria of Antioch. At first, Melisende was chosen, and Raymond collected an enormous dowry, while negotiations continued for over a year. However, Manuel's ambassadors heard the rumours that Melisende (and Raymond himself) might have been fathered by someone other than Raymond II, and the marriage was called off; Manuel married Maria instead. Raymond, feeling slighted for both himself and his sister, responded by hiring pirates and criminals to plunder the Byzantine island of Cyprus. Melisende later entered a convent. In 1164 Raymond and Bohemund III of Antioch marched out to relieve the siege Harim, which was under siege by Nur ad-Din. The crusader army was defeated in the ensuing battle on August 12; Raymond, Bohemund, Joscelin III of Edessa, Hugh VIII of Lusignan, and others were taken captive and imprisoned in Aleppo. Raymond remained in prison until 1173, when he was ransomed for 80 000 pieces of gold. During his captivity, King Amalric I of Jerusalem ruled as regent of the county, and dutifully returned it to Raymond once he was released.

Regent of Jerusalem

In 1174 Amalric died and was succeeded by his son Baldwin IV, who was still too young to rule on his own and furthermore was suffering from leprosy; Miles of Plancy, seneschal of the kingdom, claimed the regency, but Raymond soon arrived and demanded to be named regent as the closest male relative of the king (he was a first cousin of Amalric). In this he was supported by the major barons of the kingdom, including Humphrey II of Toron, Balian of Ibelin, and Reginald of Sidon. Soon Miles was assassinated in Acre and Raymond was invested as regent. Raymond also married Eschiva of Bures, Princess of Galilee and the widow of Walter of Tiberias, which allowed him to gain control over much of the northern part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, especially the fortress at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. As regent, he appointed William of Tyre chancellor of Jerusalem in 1174 and archbishop of Tyre in 1175. He retired as regent when Baldwin IV was old enough to rule in 1176, though he still had some influence over the king, and in 1177 he arranged for Baldwin IV's sister Sibylla of Jerusalem to marry William of Montferrat. William died later in the year while Sibylla was pregnant with the future Baldwin V.

Raymond and the nobles' party

Raymond also was drawn into the developing strife in the kingdom. Economically, the opposing sides were the established barons who drew regular income from their holdings, and the new crusaders, who wanted war spoils. Socially, these were arranged as a baronial party and a court party, the royal court being the best source of favour, military commands and other opportunities to become rich. The baronial party appreciated more peaceful relations, trade, and at least peaceful enjoyment of their agricultural incomes. Dynastically, Dowager Queen Maria Comnena was drawn to the baronial party, mostly because she was Amalric I's second wife and had a child with him, Isabella. The court party consisted of the royal family, led by Amalric I's first wife and Baldwin IV's mother Agnes of Courtenay, as well as relative newcomers to the kingdom such as Raynald of Chatillon and Guy of Lusignan. As the great-grandson of Raymond I, Raymond III represented the long-established families who had arrived during the First Crusade, and who had since adapted to the land and its customs. He preferred a policy of good relations with the Muslims, with whom he had become friendly during his captivity, but he frequently came into conflict with the newer crusaders, as well as members of the military orders of the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar, who had arrived more recently and wished to fight the Muslims wherever and whenever possible. In 1180 Agnes and Baldwin supported the marriage of Guy to Baldwin's sister Sibylla, although Raymond was opposed to this. Raymond, in Tripoli at the time, attempted to march to Jerusalem with Bohemund III to intervene, but Baldwin IV thought (or was compelled to think by Agnes) that they were coming to overthrow him; to avoid a possible war, Raymond returned home without entering the kingdom. Baldwin IV was by now incapacitated by his leprosy, and Guy was named regent in 1182. Raymond contested this and when Guy fell out of favour with Baldwin he was re-appointed regent and was given possession of Beirut. In 1183 Raymond and the Haute Cour succeeded in altering the succession, which would normally have passed to Sibylla and Guy once Baldwin IV died, so that it would pass instead to Sibylla and William's son Baldwin V. Baldwin V was even crowned co-king in 1183 in a ceremony presided by Raymond. However, Raymond then passed control of the regency to Joscelin III of Edessa, the king's maternal uncle. Baldwin IV died in 1185, and the child Baldwin V died soon after in 1186. Joscelin, influenced by the court party, had Sibylla named as her brother's successor, although to appease the nobles' faction Sibylla first had to divorce Guy, with the guarantee that she would be allowed to choose a new consort. Once crowned, she immediately re-married Guy. Raymond wanted instead to have Humphrey IV of Toron crowned king, as the husband of Amalric and Maria's daughter Isabella, but Humphrey deserted to Guy's side. Instead of arguing and possibly causing a civil war, Raymond returned to Tripoli.

Battle of Hattin and death

In Tripoli Raymond made peace with Saladin, perhaps hoping to ally with him against their common enemy Guy. At the end of 1186 Saladin, with his army stationed at Raymond's fief of Tiberias, threatened an invasion of the kingdom when Raynald continued to attack Muslim caravans. An embassy, led by Balian of Ibelin, was sent by Guy to negotiate with Raymond, but Saladin’s troops ambushed them at the Battle of Cresson in May of 1187. Raymond reluctantly made peace with Guy after this, and Saladin immediately besieged Tiberias, rather than pillage the kingdom as the Crusaders expected. Raymond and Guy combined their forces at Acre but could not agree on a plan of action; Raymond preferred not to meet Saladin in a pitched battle, even though Raymond's wife Eschiva was still in Tiberias. Guy did not agree, and instead the Crusaders marched into a waterless plain, were surrounded by Saladin's army, and were almost completely destroyed at the Battle of Hattin outside Tiberias. Raymond led the vanguard, but five of Raymond's own knights defected to Saladin's side and told him of the disagreements in the crusader army. The vanguard was surrounded and Raymond led two unsuccessful cavalry charges. The Muslim troops allowed him to pass through in the second charge, and, cut off from the main army, he fled to Tyre. He was one of the few to escape. Raymond died in Tyre later in 1187, of pleurisy. He had appointed as his successor his godson Raymond of Antioch, although this Raymond's father Bohemund III of Antioch installed his younger son Bohemund IV as count.

Physical characteristics

William of Tyre described Raymond as:
"...a man of slender build, extremely spare, of medium height and swarthy complexion. His hair was straight and rather dark in color. He had piercing eyes and carried his shoulders very erect. He was prompt and vigorous in action, gifted with equanimity and foresight, and temperate in his use of both food and drink, far more than the average man. He showed munificence towards strangers, but towards his own people he was not so lavish. He was fairly well-lettered, an accomplishment which he had acquired while a prisoner among the enemy, at the expense of much effort, aided greatly, however, by his natural keenness of mind. Like King [Amalric I], he eagerly sought the knowledge contained in written works. He was indefatigable in asking questions if there happened to be anyone present who in his opinion was capable of answering."
Among Muslim authors, Ibn al-Athir remarked that "Among the Franj of that time, there was no wiser or more courageous man than the lord of Tripoli." Ibn Jubair stated that he had "remarkable intelligence and astuteness." Regarding his marriage to the widow Eschiva of Bures, "he is said to have loved her and her children as tenderly as though she had borne them all to him." Raymond and Eschiva had no children of their own.

Raymond in fiction

A largely fictionalized version of Raymond, renamed Tiberias in order to avoid first-name confusion with Raynald and territorial confusion with Tripoli in Libya, is played by Jeremy Irons in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven. The County of Tripoli plays no role in the movie and Raymond/Tiberias is simply Marshall of Jerusalem, which was in reality a very low position in the kingdom. However, his support and friendship of Baldwin IV and his disputes with Raynald, Guy, and the "court party" are fairly accurately depicted.

Sources


- M. W. Baldwin, Raymond III of Tripolis and the Fall of Jerusalem (1140-1187). Princeton University Press, 1936.
- Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
- William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943. Category:1140s births Category:1187 deaths Category:Counts of Tripoli

Baldwin IV of Jerusalem

Baldwin IV (1161 – 1185), called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185.

Political manoeuvering

Baldwin spent his youth in his father's court in Jerusalem, having little contact with his mother, Agnes of Courtenay, Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon. Baldwin IV was educated by the historian William of Tyre, who discovered that the boy was a leper: the boy and his friends were playing one day, attempting to injure each other by pinching their arms, but Baldwin felt no pain. William immediately recognized this as a sign of leprosy. Baldwin's father died in 1174 and the boy came to the throne at the age of thirteen. In his minority the kingdom was ruled by two successive regents, first Miles of Plancy, though unofficially, and then Raymond III of Tripoli. As a leper, Baldwin was not expected to reign long or even produce an heir, and courtiers and lords positioned themselves for influence over Baldwin's heirs, his sister princess Sibylla and his half-sister princess Isabella. Sibylla was being raised by her great-aunt, Ioveta (the youngest sister of Baldwin's grandmother, Queen Melisende), in the convent of Bethany, and Isabella was in the court of her mother, the dowager queen Maria Comnena, in Nablus. In his capacity as regent, Raymond of Tripoli had the princess Sibylla married to William of Montferrat in autumn 1176. William was also created Count of Jaffa and Ascalon. However, William died the following June, leaving the widowed Sibylla pregnant with the future Baldwin V. It was in this year that the king's distant cousin, Philip of Flanders, came to Jerusalem on crusade. Philip demanded to wed Baldwin's sisters to his vassals. Philip, as Baldwin's closest male kin on his paternal side (he was Fulk's grandson and thus Baldwin's first cousin; Raymond was Melisende's nephew and thus first cousin of Baldwin's father), claimed authority superseding Raymond's regency. The Haute Cour refused to agree to this, with Baldwin of Ibelin publicly insulting Philip. Offended, Philip left the kingdom, campaigning instead for the Principality of Antioch. The Ibelin family were patrons of the dowager queen Maria, and it is possible that Baldwin of Ibelin acted this way in hopes of marrying one of Baldwin's sisters himself.

Baldwin's rule

Baldwin reached majority later that same year, and Raymond of Tripoli stepped down. Disadvantaged, young Baldwin had few male relatives to whom royal power could be delegated. The king turned to his mother and her brother, Joscelin III, the titular count of Edessa. Agnes, growing in influence both at court and over her son and her daughter, Sibylla, had Baldwin appoint Joscelin as seneschal. In 1177 Baldwin IV allowed his step-mother the dowager-queen to marry Balian of Ibelin. This was a dangerous alliance, allowing Maria to marry into the ambitious Ibelin family. With Maria's patronage, the Ibelins tried to have the princesses Sibylla and Isabella married into their family as well. Later in 1177, Baldwin and Raynald of Chatillon (the former prince of Antioch through marriage to Constance of Antioch) defeated Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. In 1176 Raynald had been released from captivity in Aleppo, and later Baldwin created him lord of Kerak, a fortress to the east of the Dead Sea. In the summer of 1180, Agnes had Baldwin IV marry Sibylla to Guy of Lusignan, brother of the constable Amalric of Lusignan. Guy had previously allied himself with Raynald, who was by now taking advantage of his position at Kerak to harass the trading caravans travelling between Egypt and Damascus. After Saladin retaliated for these attacks in 1182, Baldwin appointed Guy regent of the kingdom. By this arrangement Agnes's influence in the kingdom was at its height. She held direct influence over her son the king, over her son's heir Sibylla, and Guy of Lusignan owed his advancement directly to her. Additionally, Agnes also had Baldwin marry the eight-year-old princess Isabella to Humphrey IV of Toron, an ally to Agnes, thus neutralizing the Ibelin-Maria faction. In 1183, Baldwin had become offended by Guy's actions as regent. Guy attended the wedding festivities for Isabella and Humphrey, held in Kerak. However, the festivities were interrupted by Saladin, who besieged the fortress with the wedding guests inside. Baldwin marshalled what strength he had and lifted the siege, but Guy refused to fight Saladin and Saladin's troops simply went home. Baldwin could not tolerate this and deposed Guy as regent. In disgrace, Guy retired to Ascalon, taking his wife the princess Sibylla with him.

Failing health and death

Although Baldwin seems to have held no ill-will towards his sister, in the early months of 1184 Baldwin attempted to have the marriage between Sibylla and Guy annulled. The couple had foiled this attempt by holding fast in Ascalon, not attending the annullment proceedings. Failing to pry his sister away from Guy, Baldwin appointed his nephew as heir and successor, with the support of Agnes, Raymond, and many of the other barons, excluding Sibylla from the succession. Raymond was to act as guardian of the infant heir, and later as regent if Baldwin IV was to expire, but Baldwin IV himself would continue to rule with Agnes herself as his advisor. The military expedition to relieve Kerak and the dynastic struggle had weakened Baldwin considerably. He died in 1185, probably soon after the death of his mother Agnes, who had retired to Acre early in 1184. Though often suffering from the effects of leprosy and ruling with regency governments, Baldwin was able to maintain himself as king for much longer than otherwise might have been expected. As had been decided, Baldwin V succeeded his uncle, with Raymond of Tripoli as regent.

Baldwin in fiction

Baldwin is played by Edward Norton in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven. Although largely fictionalised, this portrayal nevertheless succeeds in conveying his remarkable physical courage and his dedication to his kingdom.

Sources


- William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey, trans. Columbia University Press, 1943.
- Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
- Bernard Hamilton, "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in Medieval Women, edited by Derek Baker. Ecclesiatical History Society, 1978
- Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and his Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Category:1161 births Category:1185 deaths Category:Kings of Jerusalem ja:ボードゥアン4世

Sibylla of Jerusalem

Sibylla of Jerusalem (c. 1160 - 1190) was Queen of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1190. She was the eldest daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem and Agnes of Courtenay and sister of Baldwin IV. Her grandmother Queen Melisende had provided an example of successful rule by a queen regnant earlier in the century.

Dynasty

Sibylla was raised by her great-aunt, the abbess Ioveta of Bethany, sister of former Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, who founded the convent of St. Lazarus in Bethany for her sister in 1138, and died there in 1163. In the convent Sibylla was taught scripture and other church traditions. Though not raised by her mother, Sibylla would later become closer with Agnes and inherit her political supporters. Once her brother became king as Baldwin IV, she was his heir and her choice of husband was of paramount concern in the kingdom. Raymond III of Tripoli, in his capacity as regent during Baldwin's minority (and beyond, as the king suffered from leprosy), arranged for Sibylla to marry William Longsword of Montferrat, the newly created count of Jaffa and Ascalon. In autumn 1176 they were married. William died by June the following year, leaving Sibylla widowed and pregnant. In the tradition of the dynasty, Sibylla named her son Baldwin. The widowed princess remained a prize for ambitious nobles and adventurers seeking to advance themselves and take control of Jerusalem. Philip of Flanders, a distant cousin of Sibylla, arrived in 1177 and demanded to have the princess married to one of his own vassals. By marrying Sibylla to his vassal, Phillip could control the kingship of Jerusalem. The Haute Cour of Jerusalem, led by Baldwin of Ibelin, rebuffed Philip's advances. Affronted, Philip left Jerusalem to campaign in Antioch. Additionally, the Ibelin family manoeuvered to have the princess marry one of their own. Baldwin of Ibelin certainly was among the courtiers who called upon the princess, and a relationship may have developed between them. The chronicler Ernoul wrote a romantic passage in which Baldwin was captured and imprisoned in 1179 by Saladin. According to Ernoul, Sibylla wrote to Baldwin suggesting they wed when he was released. Perhaps knowing of the relationship between the princess and his prisoner, Saladin demanded a large ransom. Baldwin himself could not pay the ransom, but was released with the promise to pay Saladin later. Once free Baldwin went to the court of the Byzantine emperor. There he received a grant from Emperor Manuel, the emperor previously receiving confirmation from his niece, the dowager queen Maria Comnena, of the likelihood of the Sibylla-Baldwin match. According to Bernard Hamilton, it could be assumed the emperor was investing in the future good-will of the king-consort of Sibylla. All these plans were wrecked however, when on Easter, 1180, Raymond III of Tripoli (the former regent) and Bohemund III of Antioch entered the kingdom with the intent of choosing a husband for Sibylla themselves.

Baldwin IV's reign

Agnes of Courtenay, now back at court, advised her son to have Sibylla married to the newly-arrived Frankish knight Guy of Lusignan, her client. Guy was brother of her personal constable, Amalric of Lusignan, a rumored lover of hers. Guy offered Agnes his loyalty; in exchange Agnes promoted his interests. By this Agnes hoped to foil any attempt by Raymond and Bohemund, her own political rivals, from marrying her daughter into the rival court faction, led by the Ibelins. At any rate, Baldwin of Ibelin was himself still in Constantinople and unable to wed Sibylla. With pressure mounting to have the Heir Presumptive wed, the marriage was hastily arranged. Sibylla bore her new husband two daughters, Alice and Maria. Initially Baldwin IV vested much authority in Guy, appointing him his regent during times of his own incapacitation. But within a year the king was offended and enraged by Guy's behaviour as regent. Guy overlooked his favourite Raynald of Chatillon's harassment of trade caravans between Egypt and Syria. Raynald of Chatillon threatened the accord between Jerusalem and Egypt. Baldwin IV deposed Guy as regent in 1183 and attempted to have Sibylla's marriage annulled through-out 1184. Though her husband was in disgrace for his behaviour as regent, it does not seem that Sibylla herself was held in disfavour. Ultimately unsuccessful in his attempt to break his sister free of Guy, the king and the factional leaders agreed to a solution advanced by Agnes of Courtenay. Elderly Agnes was herself disgruntled with Guy's behavior, and was willing to reach an accord with her one-time rivals. The king, Agnes, and other court leaders reached an agreement that would place Baldwin V, Sibylla's infant son from her first marriage, on the throne over Sibylla herself, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent. If the infant Baldwin V were to expire, a council was to convene to determine the next monarch: Sibylla or Isabella. Additionally, a clause also allowed for the rulers of England, France, and Germany to have a say in the next monarch. Throughout these internal political conflicts, an even greater external threat was on the horizon: Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria. The kingdom had managed to maintain peace with Saladin until Raynald of Chatillon's attacks on the caravans in 1182. Meanwhile, Agnes died at her estates in Acre, sometime in 1184. Baldwin IV himself expired by early 1185, leaving Sibylla's son as king and Raymond as regent. Baldwin V, never a healthy child, died by early 1186.

Succession

Sibylla attended her son's funeral, arranged by her uncle Joscelin III of Courtenay. For security an armed escort garrisoned Jerusalem. Raymond III, who was jealous to protect his own influence and his political ally, the dowager queen Maria Comnena, left for Nablus to make arrangements to summon the Haute Cour when Sibylla was crowned queen by Patriarch Heraclius. Raynald of Chatillon gained popular support for Sibylla by affirming that she was "li plus apareissanz et plus dreis heis dou roiaume". Sibylla's detractors resurrected the claim that Sibylla was illegitimate and intended to hold a rival coronation for Isabella. However, in 1163 the Latin Church of Jerusalem had ruled Sibylla was a legal heir and successor to her father. Either way, Sibylla's claim held strong as the Haute Cour negotiated to recognize her as queen. Sibylla's position was further strengthened when Isabella's husband and loyal Courtenay ally, Humphrey IV of Toron, left Nablus to swear fealty to Sibylla. Sibylla was crowned alone, as sole Queen. Before her crowning Sibylla agreed with oppositional court members that she would annul her own marriage to please them, as long as she would be given free rein to choose her next husband. The leaders of the Haute Cour agreed, and Sibylla was crowned thereafter. However, to the astonishment of the court, Sibylla took Guy as her "new" husband. Of Queen Sibylla's right to rule, Bernard Hamilton wrote "there is no real doubt, following the precedent of Melisende, that Sibylla, as the elder daughter of King Amalric, had the best claim to the throne; equally, there could be no doubt after the ceremony that Guy only held the crown matrimonial."

Sibylla's reign

Sibylla had shown great cunning and political prowess in her dealings with the members of the opposition faction. She inherited her mother's factional supporters, the Courtenay family (the former dynasty of the County of Edessa) and their allies and vassals, while her rivals were led by the Ibelin family and the dowager queen in Nablus. Queen Sibylla's chief concern was to check the progress of Saladin's armies as they advanced into the kingdom. Guy and Raymond were dispatched to the front with the entire fighting strength of the kingdom, but their inability to cooperate was fatal, and Saladin routed them at the Battle of Hattin on July 4, 1187. Guy was among the prisoners. The dowager queen joined her step-daughter in Jerusalem as Saladin's army advanced. By September, 1187, Saladin was besieging the Holy City, and the queen personally led the defense, along with Patriarch Heraclius and Balian of Ibelin, who had survived Hattin. Jerusalem capitulated on October 2, and Sibylla was permitted to escape to Tripoli with her daughters.

Death

Guy was released from his imprisonment in Damascus in 1188, when Saladin realized that returning him would cause strife in the crusader camp and that Guy was a less-capable leader than certain others who now held sway. The queen joined him when they marched on Tyre in 1189, the only city in the kingdom that had not fallen. Conrad of Montferrat, brother of Sibylla's first husband William, had taken charge of the city's defenses, and denied them entrance, refusing to recognize Guy's claim to the remnant of the kingdom, as Guy had lost the battle of Hattin. After about a month spent outside the city's walls, the queen followed Guy when he led a vanguard of the newly arrived Third Crusade against Muslim-held Acre, desiring to make that town the seat of kingdom. Guy besieged the town for two years (see Siege of Acre). There, during the standstill in July or August, possibly July 25, 1190, Sibylla died of an epidemic which was sweeping through the military camp. Her two infant daughters had also died of the same epidemic some days earlier. (Acre was afterwards conquered in July 1191, mostly by troops brought by Philip II of France and Richard I of England.) Bernard Hamilton wrote "had Sibylla lived in more peaceful times she would have excercised a great deal of power since her husband's authority patently derived from her," and that only the conquest by Saladin brought her rule to a speedy end. A largely fictionalized version of Sibylla is played by Eva Green in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven.

Sources


- Bernard Hamilton, "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in Medieval Women, edited by Derek Baker. Ecclesiatical History Society, 1978. Category:1160 births Category:1190 deaths Category:Kings of Jerusalem Category:Queens regnant

William of Tyre

William of Tyre (c. 1130 - 1185) was archbishop of Tyre and an historian of the Crusades and the Middle Ages.

Early life

William was born in Jerusalem around 1130, one of the second generation of children born to the children of the original European Crusaders in the new Kingdom of Jerusalem. His parents were probably French or Italian in origin, possibly Normans from Sicily. He had a brother named Ralph who was probably a merchant in the kingdom, and the family was certainly non-noble. As a child he was educated in Jerusalem, especially in Latin but also perhaps in Greek and Arabic, and it is possible that one of his fellow pupils was the future king Baldwin III. He entered the church at an early age, and around 1146 went to Europe to continue his studies. He studied liberal arts and theology in Paris and Orleans for about ten years, with professors who had been students of Thierry of Chartres and Gilbert de la Porrée; he also spent time studying under Robert of Melun and Adam de Parvo Ponte, among others. For six years, he studied theology with Peter Lombard and Maurice de Sully. Afterwards, he studied civil law and canon law in Bologna, with the "Four Doctors", Hugolinus de Porta Ravennate, Bulgarus, Martinus Gosia, and Jacob de Boraigne. At an unknown location he also studied the classics with Hilary of Orleans, and mathematics ("especially Euclid") with William of Soissons.

Religious and political life in Jerusalem

After his return to the Holy Land in 1165 he became canon of the cathedral at Acre, and in 1167 was appointed archdeacon of the cathedral of Tyre by King Amalric I. In 1168 he was sent on a diplomatic mission for Amalric to the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, to finalize the treaty made between the two rulers for a joint campaign against Egypt. In 1169 he visited Rome to answer accusations made against him by Frederick, the archbishop of Tyre; the charge is unknown but was perhaps related to William's rather large income as archdeacon, which he presumably gained through his friendship with the king. On his return from Rome in 1170 he became the tutor of Amalric's son and heir, Baldwin IV. It was William who discovered that Baldwin suffered from leprosy, although the diagnosis only became certain as the boy neared puberty. Around this time William began writing his history of the kingdom, under the patronage of Amalric. Unfortunately Amalric died prematurely in 1174, and Baldwin IV succeeded as king. Raymond III of Tripoli, regent for the young king, named William chancellor of Jerusalem, as well as archdeacon of Nazareth. On June 6, 1175, William became archbishop of Tyre, gaining control over the most important matters of both Church and State. In 1177 he performed the funeral services for William of Montferrat, Baldwin IV's brother-in-law, when the Patriarch of Jerusalem was too sick to attend. In 1179, William was one of the delegates from Outremer who attended the Third Council of the Lateran; among the others was Heraclius, archbishop of Caesarea, the bishops of Sebastea, Bethlehem and Tripoli, and the abbot of Mount Sion. However, they were not of sufficient weight to persuade the Pope of the need for a new crusade. William was recruited by Pope Alexander III to engage in diplomatic matters with Emperor Manuel. He returned home in 1180, and clearly considered himself the obvious choice for the patriarchate when the ailing patriarch finally died, but in his absence the royal court had become bitterly divided into two factions. By Easter 1180, the King foiled an attempt by Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemond III of Antioch to marry his widowed sister Sibylla to Baldwin of Ibelin, a noble of their party. He did this by marrying her to a Poitevin newcomer, Guy of Lusignan, whose older brother was already an established figure at court. This seems to have hardened the factional lines within the court. When the Patriarch died on 6 October 1180, the contest for his successor was between William and Heraclius of Caesarea. They were fairly evenly matched in background and education, although William had played a larger political role as the King's tutor and chancellor. It seems that, following the precedent of the 1157 patriarchal election, the King delegated the decision to his mother, Agnes of Courtenay, now wife of Reginald of Sidon. She chose Heraclius, since William was closer to Raymond of Tripoli, then in disfavour. As Hamilton has noted, there is no reason to credit the rumours that Heraclius was Agnes's lover as more than a reflection of the grudges held by the defeated party. William remained archbishop of Tyre and chancellor of the kingdom, and the King and Raymond were reconciled. Heraclius possibly excommunicated William in 1184, but this may have been an invention of the 13th century writer who first claimed it. In any case his importance had ceased by the accession of Baldwin V in 1185, by which time he was probably in failing health. The date of William’s death was given as September 29, but the year is unknown; there was a new chancellor in May of 1185 and a new archbishop of Tyre by October of 1186, so 1185 seems to be the most reasonable date.

Works

William himself reports that he wrote an account of the Lateran Council which he attended, as well as a Historia or Gesta orientalium principum dealing with the history of the Holy Land from time of Muhammad until 1184. However, neither of these works have survived. His great work is a chronicle of twenty-three unfinished books. The work begins with the conquest of Syria by Omar, but most of it deals with the advent of the First Crusade and the subsequent political history of the Kingdom of Jeursalem. Although he used older, unnamed sources, the work is also valuable as a primary source itself. It was widely translated and circulated throughout Europe after William's death. It is unknown what title William himself gave it, but the most usual title given to it in recent history is Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum. This was translated as History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea in the standard English edition by Babcock and Krey, published in 1943. The Latin original was published in various places including the Patrologia Latina and the Receuil des historiens des croisades, but the now standard Latin version was published as Willelmi Tyrensis Archiepiscopi Chronicon in 1986, edited by R. B. C. Huygens. The work was translated into Old French and had many anonymous additions made to it in the 13th century, including the so-called chronicle of Ernoul.

Sources


- A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943
- Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and his Heirs, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Willemi Tyrensis Archiepiscopi Chronicon, ed. R. B. C. Huygens. Turnholt, 1986.
- Peter W. Edbury and John G. Rowe, William of Tyre: Historian of the Latin East. Cambridge University Press, 1988.

External links


- [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tyre-cde.html Excerpts from the Historia]
- [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tyre-damascus.html Fiasco at Damascus 1148]
- [http://colet.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/navigate?/projects/artflb/databases/efts/PLD/IMAGE1/.5452 Latin version] from the Patrologia Latina Category:Crusade literature Category:Medieval historians Category:1130 births Category:1185 deaths

Reynald of Châtillon

Raynald of Châtillon (also Reynald or Reginald of Chastillon) (c.1125-July 4 1187) was a knight who served in the Second Crusade and remained in the Holy Land after its defeat. There he ruled as Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160. He was a younger son of Henry, lord of Châtillon, from the middle-ranking noble family of Champagne that had produced Eudes of Châtillon, Pope Urban II. Raynald had joined the Second Crusade in 1147 to seek his fortune. He entered the service of Constance of Antioch, whose first husband had died in 1149. She married Raynald in secret in 1153, without consulting her liege lord, Baldwin III of Jerusalem. Neither King Baldwin nor Aimery of Limoges, the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, approved of Constance's choice of a husband of such lower birth. In 1156 Raynald claimed that the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus had reneged on his promise to pay Raynald a sum of money, and vowed to attack the island of Cyprus in revenge. When the Latin Patriarch of Antioch refused to finance this expedition, Raynald had the Patriarch seized, stripped naked, covered in honey, and left to suffer in the burning sun. When the Patriarch was released, he collapsed in exhaustion and agreed to finance Raynald's expedition against Cyprus. Raynald's forces attacked Cyprus, ravaging the island, and raping and pillaging the inhabitants. The Emperor Manuel I Comnenus raised an army and began a march into Syria. Faced with a much larger and more powerful force, Raynald was forced to grovel, barefoot and shabby, before the emperor's throne for forgiveness. In 1159 Raynald was forced to pay homage to Manuel as punishment for his attack, promising to accept a Greek Patriarch in Antioch. When Manuel came to Antioch later that year to meet with Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem, Raynald was forced to lead Manuel's horse into the city. Soon after this, in 1160, Raynald was captured by the Muslims during a plundering raid against the Syrian and Armenian peasants of the neighbourhood of Marash. He was confined at Aleppo for the next seventeen years. He was ransomed for the extraordinary sum of 120,000 gold dinars in 1176, emerging from his long captivity more bloodthirsty and ambitious than ever. Because his wife Constance had died in 1163, Raynald married another wealthy widow, Stephanie, the widow of both Humphrey III of Toron and Miles of Plancy, and the heiress of the lordship of Oultrejordain, including the castles Kerak and Montreal to the southeast of the Dead Sea. These fortresses controlled the trade routes between Egypt and Damascus and gave Raynald access to the Red Sea. He became notorious for his wanton cruelty at Kerak, often having his enemies and hostages flung from the walls of castle to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. In November 1177, at the head of the army of the kingdom, he defeated Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard; Saladin narrowly escaped. In 1181 the temptation of the caravans which passed by Kerak proved too strong, and, in spite of a truce between Saladin and Baldwin IV, Raynald began to plunder. Saladin demanded reparations from Baldwin IV, but Baldwin could only reply that he was unable to coerce his unruly vassal. The result was a new outbreak of war between Saladin and the Latin kingdom in 1182. In the course of the hostilities Raynald launched ships on the Red Sea, partly for piracy, but partly as a threat against Mecca and Medina, challenging Islam in its own holy places. His pirates ravaged villages up and down the Red Sea, before being captured by the army of Al-Adil I only a few miles from Medina. Although Raynald's pirates were taken to Cairo and beheaded, Raynald himself escaped to the Moab. Saladin vowed to behead Raynald himself, and at the end of the year Saladin attacked Kerak, during the marriage of Raynald's stepson Humphrey IV of Toron to Isabella of Jerusalem. The siege was raised by Count Raymond III of Tripoli, and Raynald was quiet until 1186. That year he allied with Sibylla and Guy of Lusignan against Count Raymond, and his influence contributed to the recognition of Guy as king of Jerusalem, although Raymond was the better candidate. Later in 1186 Raynald attacked a caravan in which Saladin's sister was travelling, breaking the truce between Saladin and the Crusaders. King Guy chastised Raynald in an attempt to appease Saladin, but Raynald replied that he was lord of his own lands and that he had made no peace with Saladin. Saladin swore that Raynald would be executed if he was ever taken prisoner. In 1187 Saladin invaded the kingdom, defeating the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin. The battle left Saladin with many prisoners. Most prominent among these prisoners were Raynald and King Guy, both of whom Saladin ordered brought to his tent. The chronicler Imad al-Din, who was present at the scene, relates: : Saladin invited the king [Guy] to sit beside him, and when Arnat [Raynald] entered in his turn, he seated him next to his king and reminded him of his misdeeds. 'How many times have you sworn an oath and violated it? How many times have you signed agreements you have never respected?' Raynald answered through a translator: 'Kings have always acted thus. I did nothing more.' During this time King Guy was gasping with thirst, his head dangling as though drunk, his face betraying great fright. Saladin spoke reassuring words to him, had cold water brought, and offered it to him. The king drank, then handed what remained to Raynald, who slaked his thirst in turn. The sultan then said to Guy: 'You did not ask permission before giving him water. I am therefore not obliged to grant him mercy.' After pronouncing these words, the sultan smiled, mounted his horse, and rode off, leaving the captives in terror. He supervised the return of the troops, and then came back to his tent. He ordered Raynald brought there, then advanced before him, sword in hand, and struck him between the neck and the shoulder-blade. When Raynald fell, he cut off his head and dragged the body by its feet to the king, who began to tremble. Seeing him thus upset, Saladin said to him in a reassuring tone: 'This man was killed only because of his maleficence and perfidy'. King Guy was spared and was taken to Damascus for a time, then allowed to go free. Many of the Crusaders considered Raynald a martyr, although all evidence shows him to have been a plunderer and a pirate who had little concern for the welfare of the Kingdom. The successes of the Kingdom were almost singlehandedly undone by Raynald's recklessness and selfishness. Raynald and Constance had two daughters: Agnes, who married king Bela III of Hungary; and Alix, who married Azzo V d'Este. A largely fictionalized version of Raynald is played by Brendan Gleeson in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven.

Sources


- Maalouf, Amin. Crusades Through Arab Eyes, 1985
- Reston, James. Warriors of God: Richard the Lion-Heart and Saladin in the Third Crusade, 2001. Category:1120s births Category:1187 deaths Category:Princes of Antioch Category:Knights ja:ルノー・ド・シャティヨン

Military order

A military order is a Christian order of knighthood that is founded for crusading, i.e. propagating and/or defending the faith (originally only Catholic, after the reformation sometimes Protestant), either in the Holy Land or against Islam (Reconquista) or pagans (mainly Baltic region) in Europe, but may become 'secularised' later.

History

Christian military orders appeared following the First Crusade. The foundation of the Templars in 1118 provided the first in a series of tightly organised military forces which protected the Christian colonies in the Middle East, as well as fighting non-Christians in Spain and Eastern Europe. The principle feature of the military order is the combination of military and religious ways of life. Some of them like the Knights of St John and the Knights of St Thomas also cared for the sick and poor. However they were not purely male institutions as nuns could attach themselves to a convent of the orders. One significant feature of the military orders is that clerical brothers could be, and indeed often were, subordinate to non-ordained brethren.
- Joseph von Hammer in 1818 compared the Christian military orders, in particular the Templars, with certain Islamic models such as the shiite sect of Assassins. In 1820 Jose Antonio Conde has suggested they were modelled on the ribat, a fortified religious institution which brought together a religious way of life with fighting the enemies of Islam. However popular such views may have become, others have criticised this view suggesting there were no such ribats around Palestine until after the military orders had been founded. Yet the innovation of fighting monks was something new to Christianity..
- The role and function of the military orders has sometimes been obscured by the concentration on their military exploits in Syria, Palestine, Prussia, and Livonia. In fact they had extensive holdings and staff throughout Western Europe. The majority were laymen. They provided a conduit for cultural and technical innovation, for example the introduction of fulling into England by the Knights of St John, or the banking facilities of the Templars.

List of true Military orders

(The starting dates given are for militarisation)
- 1120 Knights Templar, the model
- 1136 Knights of St John (Knights Hospitaller, or later Knights of Rhodes and Knights of Malta)
- 1142 Knights of St Lazarus
- 1158 Order of Calatrava
- 1170 Order of Santiago
- 1173 Castilian Order of Montjoie Absorbed by Order of Calatrava 1221
- 1176 Portuguese Order of Aviz
- 1193 Teutonic Order
- 1202 Livonian Brothers of the Sword by 1237 it had been.
- 1227 Knights of St Thomas
- 1216 Order of Dobrin (Bracia Dobrzyńscy) absorbed by the Teutonic Order in 1228
- 1261 Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- 1270s Order of Santa Maria de Espana
- 1290s Order of San Jorge de Alfama = Order of St. George of Alfama was amalgamated with the Aragonese Order of Montesa
- 1323 Order of Christ -Assets of Knights Templar ; first Grand master from Order of Aviz
- 1317 Order of Montesa- First members comes from Order of Calatrava ; Knights Templar's assets in Kingdom of Aragón.
- 1408 Order of the Dragon (Ordo Draconis)
- 1459 Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem

External links


- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10304d.htm "Military Orders" in Catholic Encyclopedia]

See also


- Catholic Order
- Congregation (religious)

Literature


- Forey, Alan John, The military orders : from the twelfth to the early fourteenth centuries, Basingstoke : Macmillan Education, 1992. Category:Military orders Category:Christianity Category:Orders of knighthood ja:騎士修道会

Ascalon

Ashkelon or Ashqelon (Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן; Standard Hebrew Ašqəlon; Tiberian Hebrew ʾAšqəlôn; Arabic عسقلان ; Latin Ascalon) was an ancient Philistine seaport on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea just north of Gaza. Ashkelon is also the name of a modern city in the western Negev, in the Southern District of Israel in Israel, which was formed out of the Arab town of Al Majdal in the 1950s. 2003

History of the ancient city

Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in ancient Canaan, one of the "five cities" of the Philistines, north of Gaza. Archeological excavations begun in 1985 led by Lawrence Stager of Harvard University are revealing the site with about 50 feet of accumulated rubble from successive Canaanite, Philistine, Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Crusader occupation. In the oldest layers are shaft graves of pre-Phoenician Canaanites. The city was originally built on a sandstone outcropping and has a good underground water supply. It was relatively large as an ancient city with as many as 15,000 people living inside walls a mile and a half (2.4 km) long, 50 feet (15 m) high and 150 feet (50 m) thick. Ashkelon was a thriving Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 BCE) city of more than 150 acres (607,000 m²), with commanding ramparts including the oldest arched city gate in the world, eight feet wide, and even as a ruin still standing two stories high. The thickness of the walls was so great that the mudbrick Bronze Age gate had a stone-lined tunnel-like barrel vault, coated with white plaster, to support the superstructure: it is the oldest such vault ever found. The Bronze Age ramparts were so capacious that later Roman and Islamic fortifications, faced with stone, followed the same footprint, a vast semi-circle protecting Ashkalon on the landward side. On the sea it was defended by a high natural bluff. Within the huge ramparts, in the ruins of a sanctuary, a votive silver calf was found in 1991. During the Canaanite period, a roadway more than 20 feet in width ascended the rampart from the harbor and entered a gate at the top. Nearby, in the ruins of a small ceramic tabernacle was found a finely cast bronze statuette of a bull calf, originally silvered, 4 inches (100 mm) long. Images of calves and bulls were associated with the worship of the Canaanite gods El and Baal (the "lord," whose name was translated into Hebrew as "Moloch"). Calf worship was execrated repeatedly by Old Testament prophets, a proscribed Canaanite religious practice that the Hebrews only too easily fell into. Besides the Golden Calf of Exodus, Hosea inveighs against kissing calf-images (Hosea 13:2). The Philistines conquered Canaanite Ashkelon about 1150 BCE. Their earliest pottery is similar to pottery found at Mycenae in mainland Greece, adding weight to the hypothesis that the Mycenaeans and Philistines were among the "Sea Peoples" that upset cultures throughout the eastern Mediterranean at that time. Ashkelon became one of the five Philistine cities that were constantly warring with the Israelites and the kingdom of Judah. According to Herodotus, its temple of Venus was the oldest of its kind, imitated even in Cyprus, and he mentions that this temple was pillaged by marauding "Scythians" during the time of their sway over the Medes (653-625 BC). When this vast seaport, the last of the Philistine cities to hold out against Nebuchadnezzar finally fell in 604 BCE, burnt and destroyed and its people taken into exile, the Philistine era was over. Ashkelon was soon rebuilt. It was an important Hellenistic seaport, the birthplace of Herod the Great who rebuilt and enriched the city and it continued to flourish in the Roman and Byzantine periods. During the Crusades, Ashkelon (which was known to the Crusaders as Ascalon) was an important fortress. Although Fatimid forces were defeated at the Battle of Ascalon by the Crusaders in 1099, the city itself was not taken. In 1150 it was fortified with fifty-three towers by its Egyptian Fatimid rulers, to defend it against marauding Crusaders, but to no avail, for it fell three years later, after a months-long siege, to Baldwin III of Jerusalem. It was then added to the County of Jaffa, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries. Saladin retrieved the strategic port for Islam after the Battle of Hittin, July 4, 1187, but with the Third Crusade a few years later, Saladin systematically demolished Ascalon lest it fall once more into the hands of the infidel. Indeed Richard the Lion-Hearted built a fort upon the ruins. Finally in 1270, the Mamluk sultan Baybars demolished Ascalon for the last time, filling in its harbor and leaving it desolate.

History of the modern city

The Arab town of Al Majdal (, ; also spelled Majdal and Migdal) was described as a large village in the 16th century. By the time of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, it had grown into a substantial town of about 11,000 residents. It was especially famous for its large weaving industry. Soon after Israel declared its independence, the Egyptian army occupied a large part of Gaza including Majdal. During the next few months, the town was subject to repeat Israeli attacks including air-raids and shelling. All but about 1000 of the town's residents had fled by the time it was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav on November 4, 1948. General Yigal Allon ordered the expulsion of the remaining Arabs but the local commanders did not do so and the Arab population soon recovered to more than 2000 due mostly to refugees slipping back. During the next year or so, the Arabs were held in a confined area while a secret debate took place about their fate. Some, such as General Moshe Dayan and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wanted them expelled, while others, such as the left-wing minority party Mapam and the Israeli labor union Histadrut, wanted them to remain. The government decided that the Arabs should be expelled, but that they would not be expelled without their consent, which last the government might have conceded because of growing international pressure. A carrot-and-stick campaign was carried out. Positive inducements included favorable currency exchange, and negative inducements included "black propaganda" and harrassment such as night-time raids. Eventually most of the Arabs agreed to leave, though it was alleged that many never gave their consent. The majority were taken on trucks to the Gaza Strip where they joined their fellows in the refugee camps there. By October 1950, only 20 Arab families remained; most of whom later moved to Lydda or Gaza. The Israeli national master plan of June 1949 designed Al Majdal as the site for a regional urban center of 20,000 people. Mass repopulation of the vacated Arab houses by Jewish immigrants or demobilised soldiers began in July 1949 and by December the Jewish population had increased to 2,500. During 1949, the town was renamed Migdal Gaza, and then Migdal Gad. Soon afterwards it became Migdal Ashkelon. In 1953 the nearby neighborhood of Afridar was incorporated and the current name Ashkelon was adopted. By 1961, Ashkelon ranked 18th amongst Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000. Current population numbers 117,000. Ashkelon is currently a thriving city which has a newly built sports complex and a culture hall, making it currently the 8th largest city in Israel. In 2005 the world's largest water desalination plant opened at Ashkelon.

References


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See also

The name of the shallot derives from the name of this ancient city.

External links


- [http://www.ashkelon.muni.il/Open.asp City of Ashkelon web site] (in Hebrew)
  - [http://www.ashkelon.muni.il/htmls/english/MainMenu.asp The city English page] (Don't miss the "Site Map" button)
- [http://www.ashkelon-marina.co.il/ Ashkelon Marina]
- [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0101/feature4/ National Geographic January 2001, "Ashkelon, ancient city of the sea"]
- [http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/PROJ/ASH/NN_Spr95/NN_Spr95.html David Schloen, "Recent discoveries at Ashkelon"]
- An [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Ashkelon+and+%22Lawrence+Stager%22&btnG=Google+Search Advanced Google search] (for Ashkelon and exact phrase Lawrence Stager) returns plenty of interesting hits. Category:Crusades Category:Cities in Israel Category:Torah places Category:Sea Peoples

Steven Runciman

Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman (7 July, 1903 - 1 November, 2000) was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages. He was born in Northumberland. Both of his parents were Members of Parliament for the Liberal Party, and his paternal grandfather, Lord Runciman, was a shipping magnate. A King's Scholar at Eton College, he was an exact contemporary and close friend of George Orwell. In 1921 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge as a history scholar and studied under J.B. Bury, becoming as Runciman later commented, "his first, and only, student." His work on the Byzantine Empire earned him a fellowship at Trinity in 1927. After receiving a large inheritance from his grandfather, Runciman resigned his fellowship in 1938 and began traveling widely. From 1942 to 1945 he was Professor of Byzantine Art and History at Istanbul University, in Turkey, where he began the research on the Crusades which would lead to his best known work, the History of the Crusades (whose three volumes appeared respectively in 1951, 1952, and 1954). Runciman was an old-fashioned scholar, uninterested in applying sociology or historiography to his accounts of the past. He was also an old-fashioned English eccentric, known, among other things, as an aesthete, raconteur, enthusiast of the occult, and friend of aristocrats and political leaders in many countries. He died in Radway,