Walter V, Count of Brienne

Gautier V, Count of Brienne
Seal of Gauthier
Born	c. 1275 Brienne-le-Château
Died	15 March 1311(1311-03-15) Battle of Halmyros
Noble family	House of Brienne
Spouse(s)	Jeanne de Châtillon
Issue Walter Isabella
Father	Hugh of Brienne
Mother	Isabella de la Roche

Gautier or Walter V of Brienne (c. 1278 – 15 March 1311) was born in Brienne-le-Château, Aube, Champagne, France. He was the son of Hugh, Count of Brienne and Lecce, and Isabella de la Roche, daughter of Guy I de la Roche, Duke of Athens. He was the heir of the Brienne claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem and of Cyprus, as well as to Taranto and Sicily.

Walter spent his youth as a hostage in Sicily, in the castle of Agosta. On the death of his father Hugh in 1296, Walter inherited the titles of Count of Brienne, Conversano and Lecce.

Like his father, he took up arms in the service of Naples, but was captured in an ambush at Gagliano in 1300. He was freed in 1302 with the signing of the Treaty of Caltabellotta.

The death of his mother's first cousin, Guy II of la Roche, in 1308 brought him the Duchy of Athens. There he found himself hard pressed by the Despot of Epirus, the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and the Lord of Vlachia (Thessaly), John II Doukas. In 1310, he hired the Catalan Company, then ravaging the Byzantine Empire, to fight the Byzantine Greeks encroaching on his territory.

After the Company had successfully reduced his enemies, he attempted to expel the Company from Athens with their pay in arrears. The Company refusing this, Walter marched out with a strong force of French knights from Athens, the Morea and Naples and Greek foot from Athens. Walter's army met the Catalans at the Battle of Halmyros (located either near Halmyros in Thessaly or near Orchomenos in Boeotia) on 15 March 1311. The Catalans won a devastating victory, killing Walter and almost all of his cavalry, and seizing his Duchy of Athens, excepting only the Lordship of Argos and Nauplia.

The Catalan Company nominated one of the surviving knights, Roger Deslaur, as their leader and new Duke of Athens by conquest.

In the year 1306 he married Jeanne de Châtillon and had two children:

Walter VI of Brienne (1302–1356), his successor as Count of Lecce and Conversano, as well as the titular Duke of Athens
Isabella of Brienne (died 1360), married Gautier III, seigneur d'Enghien and claimed her brother's title to Lecce and Conversano on his death.

References

Cawley, Charles, Latin Lordships in Greece, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
The Chronicle of Ramón Muntaner, translated into English by Lady Goodenough http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/muntaner_goodenough.pdf

French nobility
Walter V, Count of Brienne House of Brienne Born: c. 1278 Died: 15 March 1311
Preceded by Guy II	Duke of Athens 1308–1311	Succeeded by Roger Deslaur disputed by Walter VI of Brienne
Preceded by Hugh	Count of Brienne 1296–1311	Succeeded by Walter VI

Dukes of Athens
De la Roche dynasty (1205–1308)	Othon Guy I John I William I Helena Angelina Komnene (regent) Guy II
Brienne–Enghien dynasty (1308–1311/94)^§	Walter I Joanna of Châtillon Walter II Isabella Sohier Walter III Louis
Catalan Domination (1311–1388)	Roger Deslaur Manfred William II^‡ John II^‡ Frederick I^‡ Frederick II^‡ Maria^‡ Peter (IV) of Aragon^‡
Acciaioli dynasty (1388–1395, 1402–1458)^†	Nerio I Antonio I Nerio II Antonio II Claire with Bartolomeo Contarini Francesco I Francesco II
^§from Walter I's death in 1311 titular, but recognized in Argos and Nauplia ^‡Also Dukes of Neopatras ^† Venetian control in 1395–1402

Counts of Brienne
House of Brienne	Engelbert I Engelbert II Engelbert III Engelbert IV Walter I Erard I Walter II Erard II Walter III Walter IV John Hugh Walter V Walter VI
House of Enghien	Sohier Walter VII Louis I Margaret with John of Luxemburg
House of Luxemburg	Peter I Louis Peter II Anthony I Charles I Anthony II John II Charles II Louise
House of Loménie	Louise de Béon with Henri-Auguste Louis Henri Nicholas Athanase Louis Marie

Counts of Lecce
House of Hauteville (1055–1194)	Raynald Godfrey I Godfrey II Achard II Godfrey III Tancred William
House of Hohenstaufen (1194–1200)	Henry Robert of Biccari
House of Brienne (1200–1205, 1266–1356)	Walter I Hugh Walter II Walter III
House of Enghien (1356–1393)	John of Enghien Peter of Enghien Mary of Enghien
House of Orsini (1393–1463)	Raimondello Ladislaus Mary of Enghien Giovanni Antonio

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