The Christian Doctrine of "Just War" and its Impact on the Crusades

 Some people today believe that war is incompatible with Christianity. Yet this was not the case at the end of the eleventh century when the First Crusade was launched. Although Christianity never had a concept similar to Islamic jihad, St. Augustine articulated the concept of ‘just war’ in the early fifth century. This theory provided the ideological underpinning for the crusades. The summary below is an excerpt from "The Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades: Kingdoms at the Crossroads of Civilizations."

The theory of "Just War" was a theological defense of wars declared by Christian leaders to oppose aggression and oppression. St. Augustine was explicit in condemning wars of religious conversion and also prohibited the use of ‘excessive force,’ but that was the theory. In practice, medieval Christians viewed wars against pagans as legitimate wars. This included the wars against the Vikings in Britain and Ireland, the wars of Charlemagne against the Saxons, and, of course, the war of the Visigoths against the ‘Moors’ (Muslims) in Spain. All these wars were perceived as ‘defensive’ and specifically as a defense of Christendom. Thus, by the eleventh century, Western Europe had a tradition that honored, glorified and even sanctified Christian fighting men, who fought non-Christians.

When Pope Urban II, in response to the request from Emperor Alexis, appealed to knights under his jurisdiction (i.e. knights of the Church of Rome) to go east to liberate Jerusalem, he built upon these traditions. His appeal stressed the fundamental elements of just war (fighting oppression and aggression) by drawing attention to the suffering of fellow-Christians in the Muslim-occupied Near East and by stressing the threat posed by the pagan Seljuks to the New Rome, Constantinople. Yet, Pope Urban expanded on this familiar theme by adding to his appeal the need to liberate Jerusalem.

In contrast to Jerusalem’s peripheral place Islam, Jerusalem was at the very center of Christianity. Islamic scholars might debate about theoretical spiritual ties to Jerusalem, yet it is certain that Mohammed never set foot there. Jesus, on the other hand, had lived and died there. More important, the defining event of Christianity, Christ’s resurrection, occurred in Jerusalem. While the Muslims had Mecca and Medina as their primary and secondary holy sites, for Christians (and Jews) Jerusalem was the unquestioned central and paramount holy site of their respective religions. Period.

It was undoubtedly to inspire men to undertake such an enormously dangerous operation across such vast distances that Pope Urban introduced a startling innovation. He offered spiritual rewards to those who undertook to free Jerusalem from Muslim rule. Contrary to popular myth, Urban did not promise the remission of all sins — certainly not for ‘killing Muslims.’ Nor did he sanction genocide or forced conversions. On the contrary, church documents explicitly state that participation in an armed expedition to liberate Jerusalem would replace already assigned penance for confessed sins. Furthermore, the church carefully conferred benefits only on those who undertook the armed pilgrimage out of piety — but not on those who sought honor or wealth. Yet regardless of what the theologians thought they were offering, many people undoubtedly believed that the armed expedition to Jerusalem would bring them spiritual salvation. 

 

 

The Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades: Kingdoms at the Crossroads of Civilizations is available on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is also the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades:

 

                         

The Dar al-Islam on the Eve of the Crusades

 To understand the dynamics, opportunities and risks that confronted the crusaders when they ventured into the Holy Land in 1099, an appreciation of the Islamic world the crusaders confronted is essential. This dynamic world had evolved through history.  Below is a quick sketch of key events and factors shaping the Dar al-Islam in 450 years prior to the First Crusade.

By the time the first crusaders arrived in the Middle East to re-take Jerusalem and re-establish Christian rule over the territories known in the West as "the Holy Land," Arab domination of the Levant had lasted roughly 450 years. More important, driven by religious fervor, the Arabs had conquered North Africa, most of the Iberian peninsula, the islands of the Mediterranean, and had spread Islam to the Caucuses and Persia as well. (For a timeline of Muslim conquests see: Jerusalem Forgotten?)

Alongside these military victories, Arab elites adopted and spread a new Islamic culture. This culture awakened a surge of creativity and produced great works of art, literature, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. In urban centers such as Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus there were centers of learning and education, as well as great hospitals, including teaching hospitals where medical practitioners were trained. Great mosques, palaces, fortresses and markets were built. Indeed, the 9th and 10th centuries are often viewed as a "golden age" of Islamic culture.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, however, a number of factors began to undermine and shatter that Arab dominance and with it the confidence that had fostered the flourishing of intellectual and artistic achievements. Indeed, the diversity of peoples now united in the Dar al-Islam make the crusader term "Saracen" (which literally just means "easterner") a justifiable description of their foes. Historians noted that the crusaders, in spite of their various origins, were more homogeneous than their opponents, who were deeply divided racially, linguistically, and culturally. In addition to the Arabs, there were now Turks, Persians, Berbers, and Kurds living in the "abode of Islam" (the literal translation of Dar al-Islam).

Arguably even more disruptive to Islamic society of the twelfth century was the dangerous strength of two Shia states in the heart of the Middle East. The largest and most successful was the Fatimid Caliphate, established in Cairo in 969, which had rapidly spread its influence across North Africa and the Levant. The Turks, recent converts to Islam, pushed the Fatimids back into Africa -- but at the price of seizing political control of the Caliphate of Baghdad. Thereafter and for the next two hundred years, the Caliphs of Baghdad were virtual prisoners of their protectors.

Meanwhile, a smaller and more fanatical Shia sect established itself in the mountains of what is now Lebanon: the Assassins. Sunni Muslim leaders felt actively threatened by both of these Shia states, and wars against the Shia generally commanded more popular support than wars against the Christians because the Shias were viewed as heretics, while the Christians were simply misguided.

Yet, this was not the only threat or conflict of the period. Historian Nabih Amin Faris summarizes the situation like this:

The twelfth century witnessed struggles between Moslems and Franks, between Sunnites and Shiites, between Sunnite caliph and Sunnite sultan, between Sunnite princes in the various urban centers and those in the outlying districts, between ambitious dynasts and predatory viziers, and between the mass of the population, mostly Arabs, and the foreign elements, mostly Turks. Each of these struggles was sufficient to disrupt the normal course of life and to ravage the general good of society. Together, they wrought havoc throughout the empire, rendered communications unsafe, increased lawlessness and gave rise to various forms of brigandage. [1]

Indeed, Faris notes further that, when in AD 1111 the sultan of Baghdad at last answered the pleas for assistance from the Moslem states facing Frankish incursions, "his troops, in the words of a Moslem chronicler, 'spread havoc and destruction throughout the land, far exceeding anything which the Franks were wont to do.'"

The constant conflicts shattered the economy and disrupted trade. Trade with the Far East stagnated and declined at the same time that the Mediterranean came increasingly under Christian domination. Not surprisingly, declining security and prosperity had an impact on intellectual and artistic development. It was a period of preservation, copying and compiling rather than creative innovation. 

Particularly damaging to intellectual pursuits was the fact that the rise of strong Shia states made Sunnis alarmed about “heresy.” Just as the fear of “heresy” in Christianity led to the introduction of the Inquisition, the fear of heresy in Islam likewise led to a more rigid orthodoxy among the majority Sunnis. The space for theological discourse and discussion narrowed significantly. Furthermore, because the Muslim states were theocracies, they conflated heresy and treason.

The trends toward greater orthodoxy and intellectual stagnation which affected the elites, arguably had an even more profound impact on the most vulnerable segments of society. According to Faris (p. 16), "...Arab women had lost the greater part of their freedom and dignity. ....[and] the system of total segregation of the sexes and stringent seclusion of women had become general" even before the 12th century, but it was in the 12th century that non-Muslim communities became subjected to increased discrimination. Non-Muslims were expelled from government employment, including employment in hospitals, and forced to wear distinctive clothing. It is important to remember that non-Muslims may still have represented a majority of the population or at a minimum a very large minority in those parts of the Middle East that had been part of the Byzantine Empire before the Muslim invasions of the 7th century. 

Added to all these man-made difficulties, the 12th century also saw repeated epidemics of small-pox, plague and malaria, as well as earthquakes and famines. 

Visitors from Muslim Spain reported that the Muslim subjects of the crusader kings were on the whole better off than their brothers in the Muslim states around them. Food for thought.

[1] Faris, Nabih Amin. "Arab Culture in the Twelfth Century" in Zacour, Norman P. and Harry W. Hazard. A History of the Crusades Volume Five: The Impact of the Crusades on the Near East. University of Wisconsin Press, 1985, 4.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades:

 

                         

Dr. Schrader's comprehensive study of the crusader states is available in hard back or ebook on amazon.com. 

 

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Find out more at: https://www.helenapschrader.com/crusades.html

 

Medieval Jihad

  The concept of jidad predated the crusades by more than four hundred years. Before one can begin to understand the crusades, it is necessary to first understand jihad as it was understood and practiced in the Middle Ages. Below is a short explanation.

Jihad is the theology that justified all Muslim conquest throughout the Middle Ages.

Although Islamic scholars also recognize “internal” jihad, the struggle against sin and the striving for a more perfect Islamic life on the personal level, the external jihad against non-believers was recognized as legitimate — and was practiced — from the earliest days of Islam.

Islam divides the world into two houses or camps: The dar al-islam (usually translated as the Abode of Islam) and the dar al-harb (the Abode of War). Thus, in the name of peace, all regions still in the dar al-harb must be conquered and eliminated until the entire world lives harmoniously together in the happy house of the dar al-islam.

Indeed, many medieval Islamic scholars argued that it was impossible and wrong even to make truces with non-Islamic powers. Practical politics got in the way of such purity, and Islamic states found it increasingly convenient to make truces with non-believers. This led to acknowledgement that there was a grey area between the dar al-islam and the dar al-harb, namely the dar al-’ahd — the Abode of the Treaty.

Nevertheless, such treaties were always viewed as temporary conveniences. Throughout the crusader period, for example, it was widely believed that the absolute longest period of time a truce between a Muslim and non-Muslim power could last was 10 years, 10 months and 10 days. In short, the very concept of permanent peace between Muslims and non-Muslims was rejected as contrary to Sharia Law in this period.

After the death of Muhammad conquests in the Arabian Peninsula were undertaken in the name of jihad. In the name of jihad, the conquests continued:

·       634–644 Muslim conquests of Egypt, Libya, Persia and Syria

·       637 Muslim conquest of Jerusalem

·       649 Muslim attacks on Cyprus

·       678 First Muslim siege of Constantinople

·       698 Muslim capture of the Christian city of Carthage

·       711–713 Muslim conquest of most of the Iberian Peninsula

·       713 Muslim conquest of Corsica

·       717 Second Muslim siege of Constantinople

·     732 Muslim invasion of Southern France stopped on the Loire River by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours Oct. 10.

·       825 Muslim conquest of Crete

·       827–902 Muslim conquest of Sicily

·       837 First Muslim raids on mainland Italy

·       888 Muslims establish a base for raiding on the coast of France

·     997 Muslims pillage the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in Northern Spain

·    1086 Muslim conquest of Christian Antioch

Naturally, jihad also justified all the campaigns against the crusaders and the crusader states.

To find out what these wars were like, you need to look at individual campaigns, particularly theaters of war such as North Africa, Spain, the Byzantine Empire, the Crusader States, etc.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades. Find out more at: https://www.helenapschrader.com/crusades.html

 

                         

Dr. Schrader's comprehensive study of the crusader states is available in hard copy or ebook on amazon.com. 

 

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Swansong of the House of Ibelin

 By the mid-thirteenth century, the House of Ibelin, had many branches and through marriage was interrelated with nearly all the prominent families of Outremer. Although from 1259 to the end of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, no Ibelin held the position of baillie or regent, the family was neither obliterated nor powerless.  Yet it was undoubtedly in decline.

Balian of Arsur (son of John of Arsur) was constable of the kingdom from 1268 to 1277, and Baldwin d’Ibelin was constable of Jerusalem in 1286. Although Balian of Beirut’s heir, John of Beirut, never played an important role in the kingdom, Jaffa’s younger son, Balian of Jaffa, was a chamberlain of the kingdom 1283-1285. This, however, was the last known Ibelin to hold an office in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

In Cyprus, the family remained powerful for considerably longer, while three sons of Jaffa and two of his daughters settled in Armenia. In Cyprus, Ibelins held the post of constable from 1247-1256 (Guy d’Ibelin, son of John of Beirut), 1286 (Baldwin d’Ibelin, father unknown) and 1302 (Philip d’Ibelin, and brother of the ruling queen). Jaffa’s eldest son James established himself as a legal expert in Cyprus and was extremely successful in pleading cases in the courts, although the legal treatise he wrote is not regarded as highly as his father’s work. Philip d’Ibelin, a son of Guy d’Ibelin, held the powerful position of seneschal for Henry II and remained loyal to him during the revolt of 1306. Other Ibelins found themselves on the other side, and the family weathered the dynastic crisis of 1306-1310 well.

Meanwhile, the daughters of the house were marrying into the royal family on a nearly regular basis. Isabella d’Ibelin, the daughter of Guy d’Ibelin (the youngest son of John of Beirut), married Hugh III. Eschiva, a granddaughter of Balian of Beirut, married Guy de Lusignan and was the mother of Hugh IV, who himself married first a Marie d’Ibelin, and later, an Alice d’Ibelin.

The Ibelins remained powerful noblemen in Cyprus until the war with the Genoese, 1373-1374. The Genoese beheaded the last titular lord of Arsur, a direct descendant of the first Ibelin lord of Arsur, son of John of Beirut. Another Ibelin, Nicholas, probably still a child, was sent as a hostage to Genoa and never heard from again. Although descendants of the House of Ibelin may have survived in Armenia or through the female line (and wherever the name Balian surfaces, an Ibelin connection can be suspected), the last male known to bear the name of Ibelin disappeared from the historical record in 1374.

Like the crusader states themselves, the House of Ibelin faded from prominence and memory to be remembered only occasionally by historians, novelists and filmmakers.

 

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is also the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades. Helvis and Meg are characters in The Last Crusader Kingdom.

                         

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The House of Ibelin: John, Count of Jaffa

 Without doubt, the most famous of the fourth generation of Ibelins — and arguably the best-known Ibelin today — was John of Jaffa, the son of Philip. His fame derives not from deeds of arms and high politics, but rather from a book commonly known as the ‘Assises of Jerusalem’, described as one of the great works of thirteenth-century thought.[i] This was his final legacy, written at the end of an eventful life.

John was born in Cyprus two years before his father became regent, and the first fourteen years of his life were probably ones of wealth and privilege. All that abruptly ended when, in February 1229, Emperor Frederick II sent the Sicilian Count of Cotron to lay waste to the Ibelin’s lands. In fear for their lives, John’s mother, Alice de Montbéliard, fled with her children in a small boat, encountering such storms, they all nearly drowned. Having barely escaped death at sea, John arrived in Syria to find the emperor had already given orders to disseize him of his estates. He had not yet come of age, much less taken any action against the emperor; his crime was simply being an Ibelin.

Unsurprisingly, he became a staunch supporter of his uncle, the Lord of Beirut. In 1232, aged seventeen, he was present at the debacle at Casal Imbert and was wounded in the engagement. The experience did not dull John’s ardour for the Ibelin cause; shortly afterwards, he sold properties in Acre to help finance the expedition to Cyprus. He took part in the campaign that ended with the Ibelin victory at Agridi and was tasked by his uncle of Beirut with rounding up the imperial troops still at large.

Throughout the next decade, he was in regular attendance at the High Court of Cyprus, where he was one of the most powerful lords. In 1237, King Henry of Cyprus married the sister of the Armenian King Hethoum, and John married a second sister of Hethoum sometime before 1242. This made John the brother-in-law of both the King of Armenia and the King of Cyprus. For the rest of his life, John moved in exalted circles and was viewed in East and West as a nobleman of the first rank.

Meanwhile, he evolved into a legal scholar. He was probably the author of the proposal, signed by his cousin Balian, proposing Simon de Montfort as imperial baillie of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was active in devising legal justifications for his cousin’s attack on Tyre. His account of the incident is a case study in creative legality. He even found ‘legal’ explanations for his cousin’s cynical refusal to surrender Tyre to the regent the Ibelins had created, something Peter Edbury rightly calls ‘transparent hypocrisy’. Notably, he played no role in military actions.

When Alice of Champagne died in 1246, John d’Ibelin’s sophisticated legal reasoning warranted declaring King Henry of Cyprus the rightful regent of the still absent Conrad of Hohenstaufen. King Henry, however, could not be treated as a mere figurehead. He had been the reigning monarch of Cyprus for fourteen years. He was 29 years old and brother-in-law of the Armenian king. Henry of Cyprus could not be ignored or dismissed the way Ralph of Soissons had been.

However, King Henry showed no real interest in Jerusalem; he was content to name deputies to rule for him on the mainland. The first of these was Balian of Beirut. At about the same time, Henry granted Tyre to Philip de Montfort, made Balian’s younger brother John of Arsur the Constable of Jerusalem, and enfeoffed his brother-in-law John with the County of Jaffa and Ascalon as well as the traditional Ibelin lordship of Ramla and Mirabel, both of which had been restored to the Kingdom of Jerusalem through treaties concluded with the Ayyubids at the close of the Barons’ Crusade.

Henceforth, John took great pride in his title of ‘count’. In keeping with the spirit of the times, John engaged in lavish displays of pageantry designed to enhance his honour. King Louis IX’s seneschal Jean de Joinville writes of the landing of King Louis’ army on the shore before Damietta, noting:

To left of us, the Comte de Jaffa … was about to land; he made the finest show of any as he came towards the shore. His galley was covered, both under and above the water, with painted escutcheons bearing his arms, which are or with a cross ‘gules patee’. He had at least three hundred rowers in his galley; beside each rower was a small shield with the count’s arms upon it, and to each shield was attached a pennon with the same arms worked in gold.

 

As the galley approached, it seemed as if it flew, so quickly did the rowers urge it onwards with the powerful sweep of their oars; and what with the flapping of the pennons, the booming of the drums, and the screech of Saracen horns onboard the vessel, you would have thought a thunderbolt was falling from the skies. As soon as this galley had been driven into the sand as far as it would go, the count and his knights leapt on shore, well equipped, and came to take their stand beside us.[ii]

But for all his fine display, John was soon seriously in debt. The cost of restoring and maintaining the defences of his county — the southernmost in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and a frequent target of Saracen raids — was exorbitant. In the succeeding decades, as the Mongols, Khwarizmians and Mamluks increasingly threatened the Frankish kingdom, other secular lords gave large portions of their lands to the military orders, but John of Jaffa stubbornly hung on to his county.

In the decade after the departure of King Louis, Jaffa was periodically called to serve as baillie of the kingdom but does not appear to have been terribly keen to hold the position. He took this office in 1255 but surrendered it to his cousin of Arsur in 1258. The War of St. Sabas had seriously damaged the fabric of the country, and the Mongols successively attacked the trade routes that fed the kingdom’s economy. The Count of Jaffa was forced to conclude truces with the resurgent Saracens. Notably, these were private truces for Jaffa alone, a clear indication of the disintegration of central authority noted earlier. In this period, Jaffa’s wife and the mother of his six (or possibly nine) children returned to her native Armenia, taking most of her children. At about the same time, John was admonished by the pope for carrying on an affair with Cyprus’ young dowager queen, Plaisance of Antioch. It is hard to know which of these events was the cause and which the effect.

In the difficult years of 1258-1266, Jaffa wrote his opus magnum. We catch a glimpse of the author in the preface:

I pray the Holy Trinity that I may receive the grace of the Holy Spirit so as to bring this book to such perfection that it will be to the honour of God and to the profit of my soul and the government of the people of the kingdom of Jerusalem… . I pray, entreat and demand in the name of God that they who read should not use anything here falsely so as to deprive anyone of their rights, but that they use it to defend their rights or those of others as need arises.[iii]

 John died in 1266. He was succeeded very briefly by his son James before Jaffa fell to the Mamluk Sultan Baybars in 1268. 

The two daughters of this generation, Isabella, the daughter of the Lord of Beirut, and Maria, the daughter of Philip, became nuns.

 

---

[i] Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Feudal Nobility and the Kingdom of Jerusalem 1174 – 1277 (New York: Macmillan Press, 1973), 230.

[ii] See note 24, Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 204.

[iii] John, Count of Jaffa, quoted in John of Jaffa, His Opponents, and His Fiefs, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 128, no. 2 (1984): 134-63, http://www.jstor.org/stable/986227.

 

John is a minor character in the early books of the Rebels of Outremer Series, but will play a more important role in the later books.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is also the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades. Helvis and Meg are characters in The Last Crusader Kingdom.

                         

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The House of Ibelin: The Wolflings, Balian of Beirut's Brothers

 John d’Ibelin, the “Old Lord” of Beirut was blessed with five sons who grew to adulthood. They were collectively referred to as the “wolflings” in some contemporary satirical literature. The story of the first born, Balian, was told last week, but much less is known about his younger brothers described below.

 

Baldwin, Seneshal of Cyprus, 1208(?) - 1266

The Lord of Beirut’s second son Baldwin lived in the shadow of his more prominent father and brother. He was knighted with his brother Balian, shared Balian’s fate as a hostage of Emperor Frederick in 1228 and took part in the Battle of Nicosia and the siege of St. Hilarion (1229-1230). He was also one of three Ibelins surprised by the enemy at Casal Imbert in 1232, a debacle caused by the Ibelin’s poor leadership and hubris. Sir Baldwin was wounded in the engagement yet recovered sufficiently to command a division at the Battle of Agridi.

After that, he remained in Cyprus while his elder brother assumed the senior title of Lord of Beirut. For the astonishing stretch of twenty-one years, from 1246 until 1267, he served as Seneschal of Cyprus, a hugely influential position and by no means a nominal title. He took part in King Louis’ crusade and was taken captive at the Battle of Mansoura. Jean de Joinville reveals in his account of this crusade that Baldwin understood Arabic well.[i] Sir Baldwin was ransomed along with Joinville, his brother Guy and his cousin Philip de Montfort. He married Alice, the sister of one of his family’s bitterest enemies, Amaury de Bethsan. They had many children, one of whom, Philip, married the titular heiress of Galilee and is mentioned as Constable of Cyprus in 1302.

Hugh d’Ibelin, 1210 (?) - 1238

Hugh died without heirs sometime in 1239 and did not attain any prominence in his short life. Nevertheless, he is recorded taking part in the siege of St. Hilarion (1229-1230) along with his elder brothers Sirs Balian and Baldwin. He, too, was surprised at Casal Imbert, and his horse was killed under him. He was discovered with a lone companion defending a small house in the town. At the Battle of Agridi, Sir Hugh was given the honour denied elder brother Balian of leading the first division. Sir Hugh was also prominent in the siege of Kyrenia in the following winter. Hugh was granted estates in Cyprus rather than in Syria at his father’s death. He was roughly 28 years old and still single when he died from unknown causes in 1238. 

John d’Ibelin, Lord of ‘Foggia’ and Arsur, 1213 (?) - 1258

John served in the emperor’s household as a squire during the latter’s sojourn in Syria from September 1228 to May 1229. Like his elder brother Balian, he was effectively a hostage for his father’s good behaviour. Young John, however, appears to have ingratiated himself with the Hohenstaufen. Novare claims Frederick liked him so much he tried to induce him to return to the West, promising him the lordship of Foggia in Apulia.[ii] John did not take the emperor’s bait and remained in the Holy Land, although his family was said to call him John ‘of Foggia’ in jest.

John led the Ibelin relief force that ran the imperial sea blockade of the citadel of Beirut in an open boat. With a hundred volunteers (knights, sergeants and squires), he successfully scaled the castle to reinforce the garrison. Thereafter, the garrison ‘defended themselves more vigorously, made a countermine against the miners … recaptured the fosse by force … [and] made many brave sallies and gained somewhat over those without, and burned several engines’.[iii] Whether all that can be attributed to the inspiration and leadership of a youth hardly older than 16 or 17 seems doubtful, but it appears he did not disgrace himself.

On the other hand, he does not rate a mention for his deeds at the subsequent Battle of Agridi or the siege of Kyrenia. At his father’s death, he succeeded to his mother’s lordship of Arsur with the explicit consent of his brothers. The latter suggests that Sirs Balian, Baldwin, Hugh and Guy believed they were adequately endowed with properties and power elsewhere. Notably, except for Sir Balian, all three of John’s other brothers held estates exclusively in Cyprus, a reminder of just how plentiful (and wealthy) the Cypriot estates were — despite being mostly invisible in history because they did not bestow the titles used by the chroniclers.

In 1240, John took part in the Barons’ Crusade, getting involved in the rout near Gaza, but escaping capture with his cousins Balian de Sidon and Philip de Montfort. In 1241, he commenced fortification of his castle at Arsur, and two years later, was involved in the capture of Tyre.

In 1246, he was named Constable of Jerusalem and baillie at Acre. He stepped down on the arrival of King Louis of France, possibly to take part in the Seventh Crusade, but was persuaded to take up the position again roughly a year later. Significantly, he initially succeeded in convincing the warring Pisans and Genoese to conclude a truce but was less successful in the next intra-Italian war. Nevertheless, John retained the respect of his peers and died in 1258, serving once again as Baillie.

John married Alice of Caiphas and had several children, including his son and heir Balian. 

Guy, Constable of Cyprus, 1216 (?) – 1255 (?)

Guy was one of the Ibelins caught (almost literally) with their pants down during a night attack on Casal Imbert in early 1232. Given his age of roughly 16, however, Guy’s role in the debacle could hardly have been great. He was possibly still a squire, and even if newly knighted, was not in command. Furthermore, Guy is not recorded at the subsequent battle of Agridi or the siege of Kyrenia, suggesting that he was very young and, perhaps after the debacle at Casal Imbert, his father felt he needed more training rather than more responsibility. 

At his father’s death in 1236, like his elder brother Baldwin and Hugh, he was given properties in Cyprus rather than in Syria. He did not participate in the Barons’ Crusade, remaining in Cyprus instead. By 1247, he was constable there, which explains why he commanded a force of 120 knights in the Seventh Crusade. In 1250, he was taken captive with St. Louis. One of his fellow prisoners, Jean de Joinville, called him ‘one of the most accomplished knights I have ever known’ – and more significantly — ‘and one who most loved the islanders in his care’.[iv]

Joinville also tells of another incident. After the Mamluks had murdered the Ayyubid Sultan and cut his heart from his still warm body, the Christian prisoners expected to be slaughtered. Baldwin d'Ibelin translated what the Mamluks were saying among themselves and confirmed they were discussing whether to decapitate the captive crusaders. There was only one priest aboard Joinville's galley, and he was overwhelmed by men seeking to confess. So, Joinville tells us, ‘Guy d'Ibelin knelt down beside me, and confessed himself to me. “I absolve you”, I said, “with such power as God has given me”. However, when I rose to my feet, I could not remember a word of what he told me’.[v]

In the event, the Mamluks found the potential ransoms too tempting to throw away and entered negotiations instead. Guy d'Ibelin was one of the noblemen who witnessed the discussions. King Louis and the Mamluks came to terms, and after many delays and some chicanery, were eventually set free. Guy returned to Cyprus.

Long before this crusade, Guy had married Philippa Barlais, the daughter of the Ibelin’s arch-enemy during the civil war. Edbury notes that Barlais’ estates were forfeited to the crown for his treason against King Henry in 1232. With this marriage, the Ibelins probably obtained those lands while restoring them to Barlais’ daughter, who could not be held responsible for her father’s treason. The couple had ten children, and one of their daughters, Isabella, married Hugh de Lusignan, who reigned in Cyprus as Hugh III. 

---

[i] Jean Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, trans. Margaret Shaw (London: Penguin Books, 1963), 252.

[ii] Novare, The Wars of Frederick II against the Ibelins in Syria and Cyprus, 87.

[iii] Novare, The Wars of Frederick II against the Ibelins in Syria and Cyprus, 133.

[iv] See note 24, Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 248.

[v] See note 24, Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 253.

Balian’s brothers, particularly Baldwin, are characters in the Rebels of Outremer Series.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is also the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades. Helvis and Meg are characters in The Last Crusader Kingdom.

                         

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