John of Brienne John of Brienne s progress, from mid-ranking knightly status to king of Jerusalem and, later, Latin emperor of Constantinople, traces one of the most remarkable careers in the entire medieval period. But how and why did he achieve such heights? This biographical study of aristocratic social and geographical mobility in the Age of the crusades reassesses John s fascinating life, and explores how families and dynasticism, politics, intrigue, religion and war all contributed to John s unprecedented career. John was a major figure in the history of the thirteenth-century Mediterranean, yet very much a product of the workings of the society of his day, and this book reveals how John s life, and its multifarious connections to France, Italy, the German empire and the papacy, can illuminate the broad panorama of the early thirteenth-century world, and the zenith of the crusading movement. guy perry is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Leeds. His research focuses on East West interaction in the central Middle Ages.
John of Brienne King of Jerusalem, Emperor of Constantinople, c.1175 1237
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: /9781107043107 2013 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2013 Printed in the United Kingdom by CPI Group Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Perry, Guy J. M. (Guy Jacob Macdonald), 1982 John of Brienne : king of Jerusalem, emperor of Constantinople, c.1175-1237 /. pages cm ISBN 978-1-107-04310-7 (hardback) 1. John, of Brienne, approximately 1175 1237. 2. Jerusalem History Latin Kingdom, 1099 1291. 3. Istanbul (Turkey) History 1175 1237. 4. Crusades Fifth, 1217 1221. 5. Nobility France Biography. I. Title. D181.J58P47 2013 956.94 0 032 dc23 [B] 2013016196 ISBN 978-1-107-04310-7 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
For my parents
Contents List of illustrations List of maps List of genealogies Acknowledgements Abbreviations and note on text page viii ix x xi xiii Introduction 1 1 Origins and half a life 17 2 Ruling from Acre and Tyre 51 3 The Fifth Crusade 89 4 A decade in the West 122 5 Imperium 157 Conclusion 189 Appendix 1 List of little-known acta closely concerning John of Brienne 195 Appendix 2 King John s letter to the emperor-elect Frederick II, 12 November 1219 198 Bibliography 201 Index 216 vii
Illustrations 1 A miniature from around the 1450s, taken from the Grandes chroniques de France, depicting the coronation of King Louis VIII in 1223, which John attended as king of Jerusalem (BnF, MS Français 6465, fol. 247) Image the Bridgeman Art Library. page 8 2 Nehemiah Kish (left) as Jean de Brienne in Glazunov s ballet Raymonda 2012 Royal Opera House / Tristram Kenton. 9 3 One of John s seals as king of Jerusalem, taken from Sigillographie de l Orient latin, compiled G. Schlumberger, F. Chalandon and A. Blanchet (Paris, 1943), pl. I, no. 3, pl. XVI, no. 7. 54 4 A DAMIATA denier, displaying a reversed legend Image the Bridgeman Art Library. 110 5 The Tomb of King John of Jerusalem in the Lower Basilica, Assisi Image the Bridgeman Art Library. 184 viii
Maps 1 Brienne lordship in their ancestral region, 1158 1210 page 20 2 The Near East during John s reign as king of Jerusalem 53 3 The chronology of King John s tour of the West, 1223 5 126 4 Italy 134 5 The Bosphorus region and beyond during John s reign as Latin emperor 160 ix
Genealogies 1 The main branches of the Brienne family in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries page 16 2 The Champenois succession in the early thirteenth century 38 3 John s Spanish marriage 130 x
Acknowledgements This book has been a long time in the making from reading Runciman one day, to firm idea, to MSt and DPhil, to finished book. As a result, I have a great many people to thank, even if there is only space to mention the few most important by name. First and foremost, I would like to thank my DPhil supervisor, Christopher Tyerman. He, in truth, should get the credit for a lot of what is good in the thesis, and, by extension, in this book. Christopher would not want me to go on and on here about all that he has done to help and support me, but I would like to put on record my incalculable debt to him, nonetheless. I would like to thank Peter Edbury, too not least for guiding me through the tortuous complexities of the continuations of William of Tyre and Ernoul Bernard. Peter also read the whole of the manuscript of this book, sending me a comprehensive list of queries, thoughts and concerns. And that is even before we come onto answering enquiries, sending me copies of texts that I couldn t track down, and so on and so forth. Likewise, amidst a hectically busy schedule, Jonathan Phillips somehow found the time to be fulsomely supportive both of me and my work. He went above and beyond any call of duty to me, and I cannot thank him enough. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the School of History at the University of Leeds, which is where I revised the book for publication. Above all, I would like to express my gratitude to Graham Loud, who I have been replacing temporarily. Graham has provided just the right combination of hands off with advice and support to allow me to flourish. Alan Murray and I, too, have had invaluable long chats about the intricacies of the kings and queens of Jerusalem in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The School of History at Leeds is a cracking department and a splendid place to work; it will certainly go from strength to strength. Looking a little further back in my career, Catherine Holmes and Matthew Kempshall shaped me as a medievalist, and fired my enthusiasm for postgraduate study. They have remained a bedrock to me, throughout xi
xii Acknowledgements my work on the thesis and this book. My graduate advisor, Perry Gauci, and Susan Brigden have likewise done an enormous amount to make Lincoln College, Oxford, so congenial an environment for young historians. Lincoln was home from home to me for many years. I will always be hugely grateful for that, and look back on that time with pleasure. Nicholas Vincent has been quite astonishingly generous with his time and expertise. He not only patiently guided me through my first experiences of archival research, he also gave me a critical kick-start through access to his voluminous notes. I owe Nick much more than can be expressed merely through a bottle of fine wine. Ted Evergates has been my prime port of call for all things Champenois. He provided me not only with the knowledge, but also with the confidence and encouragement, to pursue my own ideas vis-à-vis the Brienne family s roots in Champagne. The following, too, played key roles in shaping parts or aspects of this book, and I am sorry that I lack the space to thank them all at greater length: David Abulafia, Simon Barton, Barbara Bombi, Jean Dunbabin, Guy Geltner, Andrew Jotischky, Martin Kauffmann, Henrietta Leyser, Nick Mayhew, Dan Mitchell, Stephen Mossman, Liz Mylod, Marcello Pacifico, Miles Pattenden, Marcello Pitorri, Jonathan Riley-Smith, Linda Ross, Damian Smith, Tom Smith, Chris Stamatakis, Ida Toth, Jan Vandeburie, Mark Whittow, Chris Wickham, Ian Wood, Philip Wood, and Rachel Wood. I would like to acknowledge and thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council (formerly the AHRB) for its awards, both Masters and Doctorate, that facilitated my graduate studies. The commissioning and editorial team at Cambridge University Press have likewise been tremendously helpful and supportive. Many thanks, too, to my anonymous readers, A and B, who recommended my work for publication. Special thanks, of course, go to my closest friends: they know who they are! I m well aware what they ve had to put up with over the course of the last few years. Greg Whittick read the entire manuscript of this book, from cover to cover; his care and attention to detail are hugely appreciated. Unsurprisingly, Dan and Ed provided me with the epitome of fraternal backing. Pride of place, though when it comes to moral support and encouragement naturally belongs to Anne. This book is dedicated to my parents, as a kind of inadequate thank-you for everything that I owe them.
Abbreviations and note on text BC BnF Catalogue Colbert Fontainebleau Ernoul Bernard MGH PL RHC RHGF RISS2 UKJ Bullarium Cyprium: Papal Letters involving Cyprus, ed. C. Schabel (Nicosia, 2010 12). Bibliothèque nationale de France Catalogue d actes des comtes de Brienne, 950 1356, compiled by H. d Arbois de Jubainville, Bibliothèque de l École des chartes 33 (1872), 141 86. The relevant section of the Colbert Fontainebleau continuation (the main text), in Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: historiens occidentaux (Paris, 1844 95, repr. Farnborough, 1967), II, 304 82. Chronique d Ernoul et de Bernard le Trésorier, ed. L. de Mas Latrie (Paris, 1871). Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Hanover and elsewhere, 1826 ). SS = Scriptores series. Patrologiae cursus completus: series Latina, ed. J. P. Migne (Paris, 1844 64). Recueil des Historiens des Croisades (Paris, 1844 1906). Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France (Paris, 1738 1876). Rerum Italicum Scriptores, 2nd series (Città di Castello and Bologna, 1900 ). Die Urkunden der lateinischen Könige von Jerusalem, comp. H. E. Mayer and J. Richard (Hanover, 2010), in MGH. A quick note on names, dates and footnotes. Turning first to names: when there is a standard English usage, this has been followed. French names are usually anglicised. First names in other languages have generally been xiii
xiv Abbreviations altered to reflect the modern version of the name. Total consistency is arguably undesirable, though, and could not be achieved except at considerable cost. Place names appear either in a broadly recognised form or else simply in their modern one. All calendar dates have been adjusted so that each year begins on 1 January. To save space in the footnotes, well-known documents are normally cited by referring to the most convenient good edition or collection. These in turn will show where the originals are, which have, of course, been consulted wherever possible. Thus, for example, I have used Röhricht s Regesta Regni Hierosolymitani, even though it is now rather out of date, since it represents the easiest way of referring to a range of documents that, admittedly, do not really belong in a register of the kings of Jerusalem. Moreover, only one such edition or collection is normally cited in each case, even if the documents in question appear, or are referred to, in several. Lastly, with regard to pagination: all Arabic numerals after book titles are page numbers, unless otherwise stated.