Lombard war
| date | May 1229 to July 1243 |
|---|---|
| place | Palestine , Lebanon , Cyprus |
| output | End of the reign of Emperor Frederick II in Jerusalem and Cyprus |
The Lombards War was a civil war in the kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus in the 13th century. It was carried out by the local feudal nobility of these countries under the leadership of the House of Ibelin against the government claimed by Emperor Frederick II and took on the character of a constitutional conflict.
At its core, this dispute was a conflict between two opposing social systems. A centralized monarchical omnipotence already practiced by the emperor in his kingdom of Sicily on the one hand, compared to the traditional and firmly established feudal order of the crusader states on the other hand, which the entirety of the vassals who were represented in the so-called Haute Cour had a say in granted to the government and jurisdiction of the country alongside the sovereign.
The Ibelin supporter Philipp von Novara , who comes from Lombardy , compared this conflict in his chronicle with the simultaneous struggle of his homeland against the emperor, which is how he gave the conflict in the Levant its name. However, Novara used the synonym "Lombards" or "Longobards" here as a paraphrase for the supporters of the imperial party, while the Italian Lombards Association was actually in hostility to the emperor.
root cause
In 1225, Emperor Friedrich II married the still underage Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem and took over the reign of the Kingdom of Jerusalem for her. The emperor had been preparing for a crusade for years, in which he wanted to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims, and at the same time he intended to settle the political situation there in his favor with his personal appearance in Outremer . However, two events made matters more complicated. In his most recent conflict with the Pope, the emperor was expelled from the Christian community through excommunication in 1227, and Queen Isabella II died in childbed in April 1228, after which her son Conrad II became the nominal king of Jerusalem. But since he was still an infant, an adequate guardianship government had to be set up for him. As the father of the king, Emperor Frederick II claimed, out of sheer self-image, the continuation of the government in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, although the feudal lords represented on the council of the Haute Cour expressed doubts about the legitimacy of this order, according to which an exiled person could not rule over the kingdom. As a result, the barons deposed the governor ( Bailli ) Thomas von Aquino, appointed by the emperor in 1227, and installed a local baron in this office with Odo von Montbéliard .
The situation in the Kingdom of Cyprus was similar to that in the continental Kingdom of Jerusalem. Emperor Friedrich II also claimed the exercise of reign there for the underage King Heinrich I , since this kingdom was a feudum (fiefdom) of the empire . In fact, however, the Baron Johann "the old" of Ibelin ruled in Cyprus , who had the support of his peers represented in the Haute Cour, but without ever having been recognized by the emperor. As lord of Beirut , Ibelin was a powerful prince in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In July 1228, despite his banishment, the emperor set sail with his crusader army towards Levante ( Frederick II's crusade ). When he arrived in Cyprus, he forced old Ibelin to give up the reign, which he temporarily assumed himself. The emperor then crossed over to the mainland with his army, which the Cypriot knighthood had to join. After a diplomatic intrigue with the Sultan of Egypt, al-Kamil Muhammad , he was able to negotiate a peace between Christians and Muslims with him in Jaffa in February 1229 , which included, among other things, the return of the city of Jerusalem to the Christians. In the holy city, the emperor crowned himself with the crown of Jerusalem, which, however, led to renewed annoyance among the local barons, since their rightful king was still Conrad II. In addition, the emperor was still banned and his entry had resulted in the imposition of the interdict over Jerusalem by the Latin patriarch, which is why the self-coronation was not recognized by the barons as an act to legitimize rule. But as long as he was still present in the country, the emperor continued to determine the events. Before he left for his Apulian homeland in May 1229, he deposed Odo von Montbéliard as Bailli and entrusted this office to the local, but sympathetic, Balian von Sidon and Garnier l'Aleman . In Cyprus he set up a five-member Regency Council under the leadership of Amalrich Barlais , who was an old Ibelin enemy.
Revolt against the imperial rule
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 holed up with the person of King Henry I in the Dieu d'Amour castle , where he withstood a siege for a whole year, but then had to surrender in the summer of 1230. John of Ibelin was recognized as regent of the island by both the king and the Haute Cour. 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. Ibelin was able to prevent Filangieri from landing on the coast of Cyprus, who then sailed on to Tire and was initially recognized by the Haute Cour as the deputy 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 managed to occupy the Lower City, but Ibelin's eldest son, Balian , holed up in the castle so well that he held 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 now switched to the side of the opposition, which 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.
Struggles
In the spring of 1232 Ibelin 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 another important concern to strengthen their cause, Ibelin 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 sided with 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. Ibelin 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 of Ibelin and King Heinrich accompanying 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. The old Ibelin, however, 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, Ibelin entered the port of Famagusta and immediately turned against the imperial army, which was 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, the Ibelins and their followers achieved a complete victory over the Imperialists in the Battle of Agridi , Barlais fled to Cilicia and Filangieri holed up in the castle of Kyrenia . Shortly afterwards, Ibelin laid down his reign on Cyprus, which the coming of age King Henry I 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.
Stagnation and crusade
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 order allied with them, the imperial filangieri could only stay in Tire, but were also isolated from the rest of the Christian territories, especially since Antioch , Tripoli and Lesser Armenia remained 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 the old 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, he pronounced the excommunication through the Ibelins and their 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 the old Mr. John of Ibelin died, the leadership of the barons was taken over by his four sons, of whom the two older sons also succeeded him in his possessions in Jerusalem, while the two younger ones remained in the service of the King of Cyprus. The position of the barons improved vis-à-vis the Pope after the emperor was again banned in May 1239 and now got into a longstanding conflict with the church. In August of the same year, the peace negotiated in the Treaty of Jaffa with the Muslims ended, but in September of that year the crusade of the barons under the leadership of Theobald of Champagne arrived in Acre. Despite a heavy defeat in the Battle of Gaza , diplomatic traversal between the Ayyubid princes brought the crusade to a successful end, with the Christians accounting for the largest land gains since 1187. However, this success did not result in internal peace among the Christians, especially since the contradictions of the Lombard war were reflected in the crusade. While the Barons of Accons were still able to exercise the dominant influence on Theobald's crusade, the subsequent crusade of Richard of Cornwall was closer to the imperial cause. Among other things, he had handed over the recovered Askalon Castle to a representative of the cause loyal to the emperor. However, the opposition barons as well as the clergy of the country tried to use the crusade for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In May 1241 they wrote to Emperor Frederick II to ask him to appoint Simon de Montfort as regent of the country. They believed they had found in him an acceptable compromise candidate for them and the emperor, as he was not banned by the pope and was related by marriage to the emperor. In addition, Montfort had strong family support in the holy land with his resident cousin Philipp von Montfort . The emperor rejected this request and continued to hold on to his reign, making a military solution to the conflict inevitable.
End of war
After the crusade was over, the decision in the Lombard War was paved in 1241, when the Templars, in conjunction with the commune, besieged the hospitallers in the city fort of Acre. Richard Filangieri saw the opportunity to manage the capture of Acre at the same time as a relief for the hospitallers, but failed because of the strong city defense. Shortly after this defeat, Filangieri was ordered back to Italy by the emperor, but he left his brother Lothar behind as commandant of Tire. On his departure, however, he was shipwrecked on the coast of Palestine in strong waves and was taken prisoner by the local barons. In the spring of 1242 the emperor reappointed Thomas Aquinas as his Bailli in Outremer, while Filangieri was sent back to his court in chains.
Shortly afterwards, the young King Konrad II reached the age of majority, which means that no formal reign was necessary for him. At a council of the Haute Cour in Acre on June 5, 1242, the barons therefore declared every reign appointed by the emperor to be illegitimate. And since they could not take the feudal oath Konrad because he did not appear personally in his kingdom, the future reign should be determined from the ranks of the Haute Cour. He agreed on the Cypriot king widow Alice of Champagne as the new regent, who was herself a daughter of Queen Isabella I and the closest relative of King Konrad. Then the Ibelins took up the siege of Tire, which Lothar Filangieri had to give up in July 1243. Thomas Aquinas left for Italy without having achieved anything.
This effectively ended the rule of the Hohenstaufen in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, although Konrad and after him his son Konradin continued to be the nominal kings of the country. The government was now exercised by the barons of the country on their behalf until the last Staufer died in 1268.
In Cyprus, the Staufer cause had already failed since their defeat in the Battle of Agridi in 1232, and King Henry I personally led the government ever since, albeit with the participation of his barons in the Haute Cour. In 1247, at the Council of Lyons , the Pope dissolved the Kingdom of Cyprus from vassalage to the Holy Roman Empire and thus from any obligation to the Emperor.
swell
The main source of the Lombard war is the chronicle of Philip of Novara , who came from Lombardy and compared this conflict with the parallel struggle of his homeland against the emperor. Novarra belonged to the immediate environment of the House of Ibelin and fought as a knight in the battle of Agridi, among others. As a scholar of law, he played a role on the Haute Cour at Acre in June 1242. His chronicle was later integrated into the gesture of the Chiprois (deeds of the Cypriots) as its second part and, due to its partiality, must be viewed differently.
Another eyewitness report was provided by the Venetian Marsilio Zorzi, who was sent from his mother city to the Levant in the spring of 1242 to officiate there as the head ( bailo ) of their settlement in Acre. He reached Acre to be able to witness the election of Alice of Champagne as regent of the kingdom. In his function he supported the anti-imperial movement, which brought extended privileges for Venice in Tire after the imperial governor was expelled from this city in 1243. Zorzi remained in office until the spring of 1244. In a final report to his mother city, he described the political events that he witnessed during his tenure.
literature
- Oliver Berggötz: The report of Marsilio Zorzi. Codex Querini-Stampalia IV 3 (1064) (= Kieler Werkstücke. Series C: Contributions to the European history of the early and high Middle Ages. 2). Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1991, ISBN 3-631-43232-1 (At the same time: Kiel, University, dissertation, 1989).
- Peter Jackson: The End of Hohenstaufen Rule in Syria. In: Historical Research. The Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. Vol. 59, No. 139, 1986, pp. 20-36, doi : 10.1111 / j.1468-2281.1986.tb01177.x .
- David Jacoby: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Collapse of Hohenstaufen Power in the Levant. In: Dumbarton Oaks Papers . Vol. 40, 1986, pp. 83-101, doi : 10.2307 / 1291530 .
- Philip de Novare: The Wars of Frederick II against the Ibelins in Syria and Cyprus (= Records of Civilization. 25, ISSN 0080-0287 ). Translated with Notes and Introduction by John L. La Monte. With Verse translated of the Poems by Merton Jerome Hubert. Columbia University Press, New York NY 1936, (English translation of the "Chronicle" of Philipp von Novaras).