Reinhard II of Dampierre

Reinhard II ( French Renard , also Raimund , * around 1175; † April 1234 ) was a French crusader and lord ("Count") of Dampierre-le-Château in Champagne .

Life

Lord of Dampierre, Castellan of Vitry

He was the son of Reinhard I von Dampierre († 1190) and his wife Euphemia. His father was an influential baron and vassal of the Count of Champagne . When he died, Reinhard inherited his title and lands.

He married Helvis, the widow of Heinrich von Rethel († 1190), castellan of Vitry . In the name of Helvis' son from his first marriage, Hugo († 1203), he also served as the castellan of Vitry while he was a minor. With Helvis he had at least two sons, Reinhard III. (* around 1192; † around 1230) and Anselm († 1237), as well as a daughter.

crusade

When his wife died around 1201, he joined forces with his liege lord Theobald III. of Champagne on the Fourth Crusade . In the autumn of 1202 he was with his contingent in Venice , where the crusade army was gathering. The Venetians, who were supposed to transport the crusaders by sea, demanded that the crusaders take the Christian city of Zara in Dalmatia as "payment" for the Republic of Venice (see Siege of Zara ). Displeased about the delay, they set out with a few other French knights and their entourage on their own from Venice to Outremer , in the expectation that the main army would follow them there next spring. They reached southern Italy by land, where they embarked from Brindisi and Otranto . 84 knights traveled with him, including Simon IV of Montfort and Stephan von Le Perche , as well as their entourage.

They landed in Acre in 1202 , where they met some Flemish crusaders who had recently arrived with their own fleet, with which they united to form a small force. The King of Jerusalem, Amalrich II , urgently advised them not to attack the Muslims, they should wait for the arrival of more crusaders, ideally the main army. Rainald von Dampierre was outraged by this advice and openly cursed the king as a coward. While Simon IV of Montfort stayed in Acre, Reinhard persuaded the majority of the knights to move to Tripoli , from where they took up the fight against the Muslims in the service of Bohemond of Tripoli and Antioch . The crusaders advanced north along the coast, past Latakia , whose emir ambushed them. In the battle that followed, the Crusaders were defeated, many killed in battle and the rest captured.

Among the dead was the Seigneur Villaine de Neuilly . Reinhard was captured, as were Guillaume de Neuilly , Bernard de Montmirail and Jean de Villiers . Reinhard was brought to Aleppo and imprisoned there for almost thirty years. He was not released until 1231 after the Hospitallers paid a ransom for him.

return

When he finally returned to France after a long absence, he found his country in disarray. His older son Reinhard III. died in 1230 and the monks of the monastery of Montiers-en-Argonne had usurped much of its lands. Reinhard took legal action against the occupiers and was finally awarded considerable compensation.

Seriously ill he died in April 1234. His son Anselm inherited him.

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ ^{a b c} See T. Evergates, p. 228
2. ↑ See S. Runciman, p. 889
3. ↑ The Venetians later diverted the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople ; he should never reach the Holy Land.
4. ↑ See S. Runciman, p. 877
5. ↑ See L. Maimbourg, p. 283

literature

• Theodore Evergates: The aristocracy in the county of Champagne. 1100-1300. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2007, ISBN 0812240197 .
• Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades. CH Beck, Munich 1978.
• Louis Maimbourg, John Nalson: The history of the Crusade or the expeditions of the Christian princes for the conquest of the Holy Land. Publisher Thomas Dring, London 1685, p. 282 f.

Web links

• Raimund II. At medieval-genealogie.de