John I of Beirut

The Ibelin coat of arms

Johann von Ibelin , called "the old gentleman of Beirut" (French: Jean d'Ibelin, le vieux seigneur de Beyrouth ; * 1177 ; † February / March 1236 in Acre ); was one of the most prominent figures in the history of the medieval crusader states of the 13th century. As Lord of Beirut , he was one of the leading barons of the Latin Orient and temporarily held the position of regent in both the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Cyprus .

Above all, Johann became known as the leader of the opposition to the rule of Emperor Frederick II in the so-called Lombard War in Outremer . His follower and chronicler Philipp von Novara idealized him, albeit one-sidedly, as a knightly, honorable and just feudal lord who opposed the despotic rule of the emperor. At its core, this dispute was a conflict between two opposing social systems. A centralized monarchical omnipotence already practiced by the emperor in Sicily on the one hand, compared to the traditional and firmly established feudal order of the crusader states on the other hand, which all vassals represented in the so-called Haute Cour had a say in the government and jurisdiction of the country alongside the sovereign.

Life

Ascent

Johann was the eldest son of Baron Balian von Ibelin , who became known when Jerusalem was handed over to Saladin in 1187 . His mother was the Byzantine princess Maria Komnena , who was her first marriage to King Amalrich I of Jerusalem and through whom he was a half-brother of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem . This family background gave him a high degree of influence in the political structure of the remaining Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had existed since 1187.

In 1194 Johann succeeded Amalrich II (Amalrich I of Cyprus), who had risen to become co-king, in the office of Connétable . He was enfeoffed by the new king in 1197 with rule over Beirut , which had previously been recaptured from the Saracens by Duke Heinrich I of Brabant during the German crusade . Here he built a defensible castle, the architecture of which also met the needs of comfort. The German envoy Wilbrand von Oldenburg provided a description of the castle in his Itinerarium sancte terre . In 1198 Johann appeared in the Haute Cour as the defender of Rudolf of Tiberias , who was accused of participating in a murder plot against the king. The matter ended with the exile of the accused from the kingdom.

Regent of Jerusalem

King Amalrich II died in April 1205 and that same year also Queen Isabella I, the new queen was her daughter from a previous marriage, Maria von Montferrat . Since the new queen was still immature and unmarried, the Haute Cour chose Johann as the new regent of the kingdom. There was no major fighting between Christians and Muslims during his reign. In 1206 he married his other niece Alice of Champagne to the underage King Hugo I of Cyprus , with which, however, he implemented a relationship already agreed by the couple's fathers. In the following year, Johann himself celebrated his second marriage and married Melisende, through which he came to rule Arsuf .

In 1208 Johann approved the proposal of the Haute Cour to send an embassy to the court of the French King Philip II August , who was to ask for a husband for Queen Maria. The ambassadors were able to return to Outremer in 1210 with Johann von Brienne , whose family had a great crusader tradition, who was married to Queen Maria in September of that year. Since the bridegroom and now King John I was legally entitled to rule over his still underage wife, Johann von Ibelin now had to do without this.

The relationship between the Ibelin family and the new king, who proved to be an energetic ruler, became problematic in the following years. Queen Maria died as early as 1212, after which Johann von Brienne lost the royal rule, but was recognized as the regent of his daughter and now the rightful Queen Isabella II . Probably with him in the dispute over the reign, the Ibelins moved their focus of action to Cyprus by 1217 at the latest , where they had greater influence as Queen Alice's uncle.

Regent of Cyprus

King Hugo I of Cyprus died as early as 1218 after only a short period of reign, formally his widow Alice took over the reign for her underage son, King Henry I. In the following years, Johann younger brother Philipp von Ibelin , who actually acted as Bailli (deputy) for the regent, took over the actual power of government. In 1225 Alice went voluntarily into exile in Tripoli , from where she now acted in rivalry with her uncles; Philip was now able to take over the reign in full with the support of the Haute Cour of the island. In the same year, Philip had Henry I coronated, thus provoking the protest of Emperor Frederick II . King Amalrich I of Cyprus (Amalrich II of Jerusalem) had one day in 1197 his crown from the hand of Emperor Henry VI. opposed and thus his kingdom taken as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire . Emperor Frederick II saw the unauthorized coronation committed by Philip as an interference with his rights as overlord of Cyprus, and the government of the island was not authorized by him and therefore illegal from his point of view.

The emperor's objection initially had no consequences. When Philip died in 1227, Johann was able to succeed his brother in the reign of Cyprus, with the support of the majority of the Haute Cour. Shortly afterwards he was offered the reign of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, because both the Queen and John of Brienne were not in the country. Johann refused this offer with foresight. Because Queen Isabella II was married to Emperor Friedrich II in Apulia and died just a few months later giving birth to her son Konrad . This was now the rightful king of Jerusalem, for whom his imperial father demanded the reign. In the spring of 1228 the emperor had completed his armor for a crusade to the Holy Land, the first advance detachments had already arrived in the Levant, and Alice and her followers had already contacted him.

On July 21, 1228, Emperor Friedrich II landed with his crusader army in the Cypriot port city of Limassol , Johann and King Heinrich I received him with their attendance. At a subsequent banquet, their mutual differences seemed to be settled when the emperor confirmed the young king's dignity and John willingly gave up the reign, which was placed in the hands of a confidante of the emperor. However, when the emperor demanded the transfer of the royal income of Cyprus from the past ten years of reign, an open dispute broke out, because Johann rejected this demand with reference to his own customary legal situation that existed in Cyprus. According to the description of this process in the Chronicle of Novara, the emperor threatened with the entry of Beirut and even had soldiers march in the ballroom to emphasize the fact. Under cover of the following night, Johann was able to escape from the city and holed up in Nicosia , the emperor who followed him locked him up there with his crusader army, but before serious fighting broke out, Johann gave up. He handed over the required income, the castles Kyrenia , Kantara , Buffavento and Dieu d'Amour (today St. Hilarion ) as well as his two older sons as hostage to the emperor and assured him of his support in the fight against the infidels, in return he should will remain in possession of Beirut pending legal clarification after the crusade. The young King Heinrich had to accompany the emperor on the crusade.

Revolt against the imperial rule

The crusader states after 1229 in red.

On February 18, 1229, Emperor Frederick II ended his crusade in Jaffa with a contractual agreement with the Ayyubid Sultan al-Kamil , in which the city of Jerusalem and several castles returned to Christian ownership. After that, the emperor, who had been banned since September 1227, was crowned king in the holy city. This coronation indicated a rule in one's own name in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, disregarding the rights of King Conrad, which is why neither the barons in the Haute Cour, the Latin Patriarchate, the Knights Templar nor the papal Curia in Rome legitimized any rights of rule was recognized. The emperor, on the other hand, openly indicated that the positions of these institutions had no influence whatsoever on his actions, especially since they contradicted his understanding of rule. As a result, general resentment spread among the Outemers feudal nobility.

Before the emperor left the holy land forever in May 1229, he arranged the rulership there in his mind, albeit without having sought a consensus with the Haute Cours. For the Kingdom of Jerusalem he appointed Balian of Sidon (in Tire) and Garnier l'Aleman (in Acre) as his deputy Baillis. In the Kingdom of Cyprus he set up a five-member Regency Council, which was headed by the old Ibelin enemy Amalrich Barlais , and he also saw to it that King Henry was married. No sooner had the emperor left the island than pent-up resentment broke out with him and his governors. The majority of the barons of Cyprus immediately denied the imperial regents their legitimacy and rallied for military resistance behind Johann von Ibelin, on June 24, 1229 they won the battle of Nicosia against the imperial. Barlais entrenched himself with the person of the king in the castle Dieu d'Amour, where he withstood a siege for a whole year, but then had to surrender in the summer of 1230. John of Ibelin was regent of both the king and the Haute Cour Island recognized.

The Lombard War

The overthrow in Cyprus was followed by the reaction of the imperial governors in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Balian of Sidon declared the Ibelin family to lose possession of Beirut, which initially remained without consequences. In the meantime, Emperor Friedrich II and Pope Gregory IX. an agreement was found in the Treaty of San Germano (July 9, 1230), when the emperor was released from the ban and the Treaty of Jaffa was recognized by the Pope. In this way, the Pope was won over to the imperial standpoint with regard to claims to power in the Holy Land. The emperor then appointed his marshal Richard Filangieri as his new governor in Outremer, who set out with a fleet and troops in the spring of 1231. Johann was able to prevent Filangieri from landing on the coast of Cyprus, who then sailed on to Tire and was recognized there by the Haute Cour as ruler of Jerusalem.

But then there was a change on the mainland as well, when Filangieri marched against Beirut to confiscate the city of the greatest imperial enemy. He was able to occupy the lower town, but Johann's eldest son, Balian , holed up in the castle so well that he was able to hold out for almost a year for relief. Filangieri's displeasure at the disregard for the judicial authority of the Haute Cour immediately led to the formation of a fronde against him, because no baron of the kingdom could be deprived of his property without the express consent of the Haute Cour. Even the previously imperial-minded Balian von Sidon and Odo von Montbéliard switched to the side of the barons, who now took their seat in Acre. In this city itself the leading citizens formed an autonomous commune, which, like their Lombard models in northern Italy, positioned itself against the emperor. The Ibelin supporter Philip of Novara, who comes from Lombardy, therefore compared in his chronicle the conflict in the Levant with the simultaneous struggle of his homeland against the emperor.

In the spring of 1232 Johann landed with the entire knighthood of Cyprus, including the king, south of Tripoli on the mainland. First he freed Beirut from the siege and then moved to Acre, the main base of the opposition barons. After his entry to the cheering of the population, he was formally recognized as their leader by the barons of Jerusalem. As a further important concern to strengthen their cause, Johann realized a formal alliance between the nobility and the Acre Commune, which was reflected in his election by the Cour des Bourgeois as mayor of the city. At the same time, he established the actual capital position of Acre, which remained until the end of the kingdom in 1291. Furthermore, the Order of the Knights Templar took the side of the opposition, while the Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights remained loyal to the imperial cause.

During these events Filangieri sought to use Cyprus' inability to defend himself and sent Amalrich Barlais with an army to the island, which devastated it and conquered one castle after the other. Johann immediately sought a decision and let his army march under the leadership of his nephew, Johann , against the capital of the imperial, Tire. But on May 2, 1232 the army was surprised by the Filangieri advancing towards Casal Imbert and put to flight. John's nephew and King Heinrich who accompanied him could only just escape captivity by fleeing to Acre. Filangieri felt himself strong enough through his victory to finally subjugate Cyprus and also crossed over to the island with his troops. But Johann won the support of the Genoese who, after having been granted generous trade privileges in Cyprus, made their ships available for the return of the army to the island.

In May 1232 Johann drove into the port of Famagusta and immediately turned against the imperial army, which was currently besieging the Dieu d'Amour castle, where the king's sisters had holed up. Filangieri was warned of his approach, which is why he was able to send his army to meet him. Nevertheless, on June 15, 1232, Johann achieved a complete victory over the imperial rulers in the Battle of Agridi , Barlais fled to Cilicia and Filangieri holed up in the castle of Kyrenia . Shortly afterwards, Johann resigned his reign on Cyprus, which King Henry I, who had come of age, could take over personally. In April 1233, Kyrenia, the last castle held by the imperial family, was taken and the reign of Emperor Frederick II in Cyprus was finally ended, but Filangieri managed to escape to Tire.

Last years

In the years that followed, the fighting largely came to a standstill and the parties to the conflict took their positions. Apart from the city of Jerusalem and the knightly orders allied with them, the Filangieri imperialists were only able to stay in Tire, but were also isolated from the rest of the Christian territories, especially since Antioch , Tripoli and Armenia were neutral in this conflict. The barons of Jerusalem, however, formed an independent government in Acre with Odo von Montbéliard as regent in the name of King Conrad. Their real leader, however, remained Johann von Ibelin, who was re-elected mayor after his return to the city in June 1233. In August 1234, Archbishop Theodericus of Ravenna arrived in Acre as papal legate with the task of bringing the barons back under the authority of the emperor. When he did not succeed in this, he pronounced excommunication on Johann and his followers and placed an interdict on Acre . However, these measures were withdrawn in September 1235, but further papal mediations were also unsuccessful due to the uncompromising nature of both sides.

In February 1236, Johann and Walter von Brienne led an army composed of knights from Cyprus, Jerusalem, Tripoli and the hospitalites from Krak des Chevaliers against the Ayyubid emirate of Hama . During the fighting for Ba'rin (Montferrand) his horse fell, burying him under itself and seriously wounding him. Johann could still be transported to Acre, where he joined the Knights Templar before he died.

The leadership of the barons was taken over by his two older sons, who also succeeded him in his possessions in Jerusalem, while the two younger sons remained in the service of the King of Cyprus. Seven years after his death, the barons were able to achieve the final victory over the imperial family after they conquered Tire in July 1243 and forced the emperor's governors to withdraw. The reign in Jerusalem then transferred the Haute Cour to John's niece and former rival Alice von Champagne, the emperor's son Konrad remained a recognized king, although he never came to the kingdom. In 1247, Emperor Frederick II was deposed by the Council of Lyon , and in the same year the Pope released the Kingdom of Cyprus from vassalage to the Holy Roman Empire.

Marriage and offspring

Johann was married twice. His first wife was Helen of Nephim, daughter of Raymond II of Nephim. With her he had five sons who all died before him. After Helene died too, around 1207 he married Melisende, widow of Dietrich von Orgue , eldest daughter of Guido von Arsur. Melisende had been mistress of Arsuf since she inherited this rule from her uncle Johann von Arsuf, who died childless. He had the following children with Melisende:

• Balian (* 1209/10; † 1247), Lord of Beirut
• Johann (around 1211 - December 1258), Lord of Arsur, constable of Jerusalem
• Rudolf (Raoul)
• Hugo "the Strong" (* around 1213; † before April 1239)
• Baldwin († February 21, 1267), Seneschal of Cyprus
• Guido (* around 1217, † after May 1255), Marshal and constable of Cyprus
• Isabella, nun

Round table

In 1223 "the old gentleman" Johann organized a big court day in Cyprus on the occasion of his sons, Balian and Balduin being led to the sword, with a major tournament in which most of the knighthood and nobility of the Christian outremer took part. As Philipp von Novara reports, this festivity was entirely under the motto of the stories about King Arthur and his knights that had become popular at this time and were received just as enthusiastically in the feudal society of Outremers as in the courts of Western Europe. To this end, Johann had a special round table set up, at which the participants appeared in the disguise of the Arthurian knights and imitated their adventures in the game. This round table is the first ever written festivity of its kind, which was celebrated at the courts of Europe with much greater effort in the centuries to come.

literature

• Michel Balard : Giovanni d'Ibelin . In: Federico II. Enciclopedia fridericiana . Treccani, Rome 2005.
• John L. LaMonte: John d'Ibelin, the Old Lord of Beirut, 1177-1236. In: Byzantion. 12, 1937, ISSN  0378-2506 , pp. 417-448.
• Steven Runciman : A History of the Crusades. 3 volumes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1951-1954.
• Kenneth M. Setton, Harry W. Hazard, Norman P. Zacour, Marshall Whithed Baldwin, Robert Lee Wolff (Eds.): A History of the Crusades. Volume 2: Robert Lee Wolff, Harry W. Hazard (Eds.): The Later Crusades, 1189-1311. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison WI et al. 2005, ISBN 0-299-04844-6 .
• Wolfgang Stürner : Friedrich II. 1194-1250. 3. Edition in one volume, fully bibliographically updated and expanded to include a foreword and documentation with additional information. Special edition. Primusverlag, Darmstadt 2009, ISBN 978-3-89678-664-7 .

Web links

• Jean Ibelin at fmg.ac (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Lord of Beirut 1197–1236	Balian from Ibelin
Dietrich von Orgue (de iure uxoris with Melisende)	Lord of Arsuf (de iure uxoris with Melisende) 1207–1236	Johann of Ibelin
Amalrich of Lusignan	Constable of Jerusalem 1194–1205	Walter of Montbéliard
King Amalrich II	Regent of Jerusalem 1205–1210	King John I.
Philip of Ibelin	Regent of Cyprus 1227–1228	Amalrich Barlais Gavin by Chenichy Amalrich by Bethsan Hugo by Gibelet Wilhelm von Rivet
Amalrich Barlais Gavin by Chenichy Amalrich by Bethsan Hugo by Gibelet Wilhelm von Rivet	Regent of Cyprus 1229–1232	---