Battle of Agridi
| date | June 15, 1232 |
|---|---|
| place | Agirta (Ağırdağ) / Cyprus |
| output | Victory of the Cypriots over the imperial ones |
| consequences | End of imperial rule in Cyprus |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Johann der Alte von Ibelin |
Richard Filangieri |
| Troop strength | |
| 233 knights 50–60 infantrymen |
2000 mounted men |
| losses | |
|
not clear |
not clear |
The Battle of Agridi was a military clash in the medieval Crusader Kingdom of Cyprus , which, as part of the so-called Lombard War, decided a power struggle between the local feudal nobility under the leadership of the House of Ibelin and the governors of Emperor Frederick II . It took place on June 15, 1232 at the place Agridi, today's Agirta ( Turkish Ağırdağ ), de jure located in the Kyrenia district of the Republic of Cyprus . The place is de facto in the internationally not recognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and belongs to its Girne district .
Agridi was the greatest battle in Outremer's entire history of the Crusades , in which Christians faced one another.
background
Since 1229, the established feudal nobility of the kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus, which arose in the course of the Crusades, found themselves in a civil war against the ruling governor of Emperor Frederick II , who claimed the rulers in both kingdoms. In Jerusalem as the father of the legal but underage King Conrad II and in Cyprus as the liege lord of the also underage King Heinrich I. The powerful barons of the kingdoms gathered in the Haute Cours took the government into their own hands and appointed the rulers from among their ranks their underage kings. In Cyprus it was the influential and highly respected Baron John of Ibelin , known as "the old gentleman", who, as Lord of Beirut, was also one of the most important barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and had a high level of authority among his peers.
When the emperor appeared in person in the Levant during his crusade in 1228, he forced the government of the barons to be replaced and instead appointed his own followers as governors in both Cyprus and Jerusalem. He ignored the customary legal habits in Outremer, which turned the barons against him. But it was only after the emperor left for Italy in the spring of 1229 that the Barons Outremers rose up against the imperial governors who had stayed behind. By the summer of 1230, the old Ibelin succeeded in driving the imperial rulers out of Cyprus, and the young King Henry I and the Haute Cour immediately recognized him as regent of the country. Then the Cypriot knighthood crossed over to the mainland to continue the fight there. The barons suffered a defeat at Casal Imbert in May 1232 against the governor Richard Filangieri , who had arrived in 1231 . Filangieri now crossed with his troops to Cyprus, where he quickly captured all the important places on the island. Only the castle of Dieu d'Amour successfully resisted the imperial, commanded by the two sisters of the king.
To avert the impending loss of Cyprus, the Ibelins went to sea with 233 knights on March 30, 1232 in Acre on Genoese ships. In Sidon they took on the eldest son of old Ibelin, Balian , and then turned to Cyprus. In a night attack, the outnumbered Ibelins succeeded in taking the port of Famagusta on June 6th , which Filangieri with 2000 men was unable to defend. The imperial family initially withdrew to Nicosia , but soon had to withdraw due to the hostility of the population and let the Ibelins move into the city. Filangieri turned with his forces against Dieu d'Amour to advance their siege. After the Cypriot troops recovered, they in turn began the march to Dieu d'Amour to relieve the castle.
The battle
Old Ibelin and his comparatively small army advanced on June 15, 1232 towards the enemy. Filangieri and his supporters were not only superior in terms of troops, they were also in a geographically advantageous position, as they occupied an important hill at Agridi, via which Dieu d'Amour could be reached. Filangieri posted two contingents of his army under the orders of the brothers Walter and Berard von Manupello, who were supposed to intercept the enemy at the pass of Agridi, while he himself wanted to continue the siege of the castle.
In front of the pass, Johann the Old from Ibelin had his troops line up. His eldest son Balian wanted to lead the vanguard, but his father rejected this request, as Balian was excommunicated due to a canonically illegitimate engagement with a cousin who, incidentally, could follow the action from the nearby Buffavento Castle . Instead, the vanguard was entrusted to the third eldest Hugo and son-in-law Anseau de Brie . Baldwin took command of the second row, Johann von Caesarea the third row . Old Ibelin himself led the rearguard with the young king. A large number of the Cypriot knights had to fight on foot because they lacked horses. However, this should give them an advantage, as the rocky, uneven ground was not suitable for horses.
Regardless of this, Walter von Manupello and his battalion launched the first cavalry attack against the Cypriots, which he attacked on their flank. He hoped to break up their ranks, but the Cypriots held their position thanks to a strict discipline and unity issued by Ibelin. Walter von Manupello then withdrew with his men, whereupon Berard von Manupello and his contingent started a frontal attack on the advance guard of the Cypriots. He too failed to break through and instead got caught up in hand-to-hand combat. Since the horses of the imperial family quickly exhausted themselves under the heavy armor of their riders and the hilly terrain, the Cypriots fighting on foot succeeded in knocking them off their horses relatively easily. Anseau de Brie eventually killed Berard von Manupello himself.
After Filangieri had learned of the negative course of the battle, he withdrew another contingent from the siege in order to lead it personally against the enemy. While he was moving towards them, Balian von Ibelin used this to break away from the formation with a handful of knights against his father's will and to attack the unguarded encampment of the imperial. Filangieri recognized the danger and broke off his attack on the opposing army in order to defend his camp, whereby Balian found himself in an unfavorable position again, as he was clearly inferior to the enemy with his few knights. Old Ibelin responded to the threat to his son by rushing to his aid with the entire rear guard. Apparently deeply impressed by this, and in the face of Manupello's obvious refusal to intervene again, Filangieri decided to flee.
This sealed the victory of the Cypriots, as the remaining besiegers of Dieu d'Amour followed their fleeing leader. They holed up in Kyrenia Castle . Walter von Manupello fled to Gastria , but the Templars ruling there denied him entry. Johann von Ibelin-Jaffa , who pursued him, finally took him prisoner.
consequences
For the Cypriots, the victory at Agridi represented the decisive turning point in their fight against the imperial ones. After the battle, the rule of Henry I and his barons was restored over the entire island, except for the castle of Kyrenia, where Filangieri had rescued himself. After a ten-month siege, the imperial family finally gave up this last post in April 1233, and Filangieri fled to the mainland. The so-called Lombard War was thus decided in Cyprus, the imperial authority was never able to gain a foothold here, although it was not until the Council of Lyons in 1247 that the Pope released the Cyprus crown from any vassal duty to the emperor.
On the mainland, in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the war stagnated in the following years. The imperial ones established themselves here in Tire , while the opposition of the barons gathered in Acre. Only in July 1243 could Tire be conquered and the rule of Emperor Frederick II in Outremer finally ended.
literature
- Peter Jackson: The End of Hohenstaufen Rule in Syria , In: Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research (BIHR) , 59 (1986)
- David Jacoby: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Collapse of Hohenstaufen Power in the Levant , In: Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 40 (1986)
- John L. La Monte (translator), Merton J. Hubert (arr.): The Wars of Frederick II against the Ibelings in Syria and Cyprus. Columbia University Press, New York 1936 (English translation of the "Chronicle" of Philip of Novara ).