Barons' Crusade

Barons' Crusade Part of the Crusades Date 1239–1241 Location Acre, Jaffa, Gaza Result Kingdom of Jerusalem returned to largest size since 1187 Territorial changes Christians negotiated return of Jerusalem, Ascalon, Sidon, Tiberias, most of Galilee,[1] Bethlehem, and Nazareth Belligerents Kingdom of France Kingdom of England Ayyubids of Damascus Ayyubids of Egypt Commanders and leaders Theobald I of Navarre Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy Amaury of Montfort  (POW) Peter Mauclerc Henry of Bar  † John of Mâcon  † Richard of Cornwall Simon de Montfort William II Longespée As-Salih Ismail An-Nasir Dawud As-Salih Ayyub

Crusades Reconquista Sardinian Mahdia First People's 1101 Northern Wendish Livonian Prussian Norwegian Balearic Venetian Second Swedish First Second Third Third 1197 Fourth Albigensian Children's Fifth Sixth Bosnian Barons' Seventh Shepherds' 1251 Eighth Ninth Aragonese Shepherds' 1320 Smyrniote Alexandrian Savoyard Despenser's Barbary Nicopolis Hussite Varna Otranto  Book:The Crusades  Portal:Crusades

The Barons' Crusade, also called the Crusade of 1239, was in territorial terms the most successful crusade since the First. Although the crusaders did not achieve any glorious military victories, they used diplomacy to successfully play the two warring factions of the Muslim Ayyubid dynasty (As-Salih Ismail in Damascus and As-Salih Ayyub in Egypt) against one another for even more concessions than Frederick II gained during the more well-known Sixth Crusade. For a few years, the Barons' Crusade returned the Kingdom of Jerusalem to its largest size since 1187.

The crusade is sometimes discussed as two separate crusades: that of Theobald I of Navarre which began in 1239, and the separate host of crusaders under the leadership of Richard of Cornwall, which arrived after Theobald departed in 1240. Despite relatively plentiful primary sources, scholarship until recently has been limited, due at least in part to the lack of major military engagements.

Background

At the end of the Sixth Crusade in February 1229, Frederick II and Al-Kamil signed a 10-year truce. Using diplomacy alone and without without major military confrontation, Frederick was given control of Jerusalem, Nazareth, Sidon, Jaffa, and Bethlehem. However, the treaty was set to expire in 1239, which endangered Christian control of the territories. Additionally, the Sixth Crusade was wildly unpopular among the native Christian leaders because the excommunicate Frederick left them defenseless, allied with their Muslim enemies, and attempted to gain control over the Holy Land for the House of Hohenstaufen rather than restore the territories to the local Christians of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Therefore in 1234, Pope Gregory IX proclaimed that a new crusade should arrive in the Holy Land by 1239 to ensure Christian control. About a year later, in December 1235, Gregory attempted to redirect this planned crusade away from the Holy Land to instead combat the spread of Christian heresy in Latin Greece and to defend the Latin Empire of Constantinople, but he was unsuccessful.

The Crusade

Theobald of Champagne's host

Theobald I of Navarre gathered an impressive list of European nobles at Lyons, including: Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy; Amaury VI of Montfort; Robert de Courtenay the Grand Butler of France (not to be confused with Robert I, Latin Emperor, also from Courtenay); and Peter I, Duke of Brittany. They were accompanied by a number of counts of secondary rank, including: Guigues IV of Forez, Henry II, Count of Bar, Louis of Sancerre, Jehan de Braine the Count of Mâcon, William of Joigny, and Henry of Grandpré. They departed France in August 1239, with most sailing from Marseilles and a smaller number departing from Frederick II's ports in southern Italy. Theobald reached Acre on 1 September; he was soon joined by those crusaders who were scattered by a Mediterranean storm in transit.

Theobald spent much time dallying at pleasant Acre (where he wrote a poem to his wife) before moving on Ascalon, where he began the construction of a castle. In November 1239, the crusading Peter of Brittany attacked An-Nasir Dawud's caravan which was moving up the Jordan to Damascus. An-Nasir was incensed, and marched on Jerusalem, which was almost undefended. He occupied the city, and the garrison of the citadel surrendered on 7 December. An-Nasir did not attempt to hold Jerusalem, however, but merely destroyed the fortifications and withdrew to Al Karak.

Whilst marching the crusader army to Ascalon, a contingent of 400 knights led by Henry of Bar and Amaury of Montfort chose to engage Muslim forces at Gaza on 13 November 1239. The contingent was defeated before Theobald's forces could arrive to rescue them; Henry was killed, and Amaury was among several hundred crusaders taken prisoner.^[2]

Theobald negotiated with the Ayyubids of Damascus and Egypt, who embroiled in a civil war at the time. He finalized a treaty with the As-Salih Ismail, Emir of Damascus in the north, against As-Salih Ayyub, in the south, whereby the Kingdom of Jerusalem regained Jerusalem itself, plus Bethlehem, Nazareth, and most of the region of Galilee with many Templar castles, such as Belfort and Saphet.^[3] He also negotiated a truce with the Egyptians.^[4] Some contemporary sources even imply that the whole of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean was put back in crusader hands. Theobald returned from Palestine in mid-September 1240, before Richard of Cornwall arrived, because he did not wish to be present during any more debating over the leadership and direction of the enterprise. Souvenirs that he brought back to Europe included the rose called "Provins" (Latin name rosa gallica 'officinalis', the Apothecary's Rose) from Damascus, transporting it "in his helmet"; a piece of the true cross; and perhaps the Chardonnay grape which in modern times is an important component of champagne.

Richard of Cornwall's host

On 10 June 1240 Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall left England with a smaller host of crusaders. This group consisted of roughly a dozen English barons and several hundred knights, including William II Longespée. They made their way to Marseilles in mid-September, and landed at Acre during the autumn passage on 8 October. Simon de Montfort, younger brother of the captured Amaury, was also part of this group but seems to have traveled separately.

Richard and this second crusading host saw no combat, but they did complete the negotiations for a truce with Muslim leaders made by Theobald just a few months prior during the first wave of the crusade. They rebuilt Ascalon castle, which had been demolished by Saladin. Notably, Richard handed over custody of it to Walter Pennenpié, the imperial agent of Frederick II in Jerusalem (instead of turning it over to the local liege men of the Kingdom of Jerusalem who strongly opposed to Frederick's rule). On 13 April 1241 they exchanged Muslim prisoners with Christian captives (most notably Simon's older brother Amaury) who had been seized during Henry of Bar's disastrous raid at Gaza five months earlier. They also moved the remains of those killed in that battle and buried them at the cemetery in Ascalon. His work done, Richard departed at Acre for England on 3 May 1241.

Aftermath

Although the Barons' Crusade returned the Kingdom of Jerusalem to its largest size since 1187, the gains would be dramatically reversed merely a few years later. On July 15, 1244 Jerusalem was reduced to ruins and its Christians massacred by Khwarazmians from northern Syria, new allies of the Sultan of Egypt As-Salih Ayyub. A few months later, in October, As-Salih and the Khwarazmians achieved a major military victory at the Battle of La Forbie, which permanently crippled Christian military power in the Holy Land.

References

Sources