Walter of Montbéliard
Walter von Montbéliard , also Walter von Mömpelgard (French: Gautier de Montbéliard ; † 1212 ), was a crusader, official in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and temporarily regent of the Kingdom of Cyprus . He was a younger son of Amadeus II / I. († 1195), Lord of Montfaucon , Count of Montbéliard .
His date of birth is unknown, but it should not have been before 1150, as the poet Robert de Boron in his service had dedicated the Estoire dou Graal to him before 1190 .
Walter took the cross for the fourth crusade in 1199 , but in 1201 he joined the campaign of his nephew, Count Walter III. from Brienne to the Kingdom of Sicily to fight the Hohenstaufen governors. From there he moved on to the Holy Land before 1205 , where he immediately assumed a leading position among the local Christian feudal nobility. He married Bourgogne de Lusignan, a daughter of King Amalrich I / II. of Cyprus-Jerusalem , by whom he was also appointed Constable (Constable) of Jerusalem , as successor in office to John of Ibelin .
But even to the death of the king on April 1, 1205 gave Walter his office and went to Cyprus , where he his infant brother-King of the Haute Cour the island regent Hugo I. , was chosen. In the following year he married the king to Alice of Champagne , with which he carried out a promise of marriage already negotiated by the couple's fathers. Walter used his position primarily to enrich himself by illegally stealing income from the crown treasure. In 1206 he undertook a large-scale campaign to lift the siege of Antalya by the Rum Seljuks . He allegedly came to the aid of the beleaguered gentleman of Antalya, Aldobrandino, but apparently tried to make himself ruler of the city. The local population rose against his rule and in 1207 made it possible for the rum sultan Kai Chosrau I to move into the city, which Walter had to give up. Similar ambitions also failed in Rhodes .
In 1210 King Hugo I came of age and personally took over the rule of Cyprus. To avoid prosecution, Walter stole large parts of the crown treasure and hastily fled to Acre , where he found a protective exile with his nephew John of Brienne , who had recently been crowned King of Jerusalem. Walter died there in 1212.
From his marriage to Bourgogne de Lusignan he had two children:
- Odo von Montbéliard († around 1247), Prince of Galilee, ruling Bailli of Jerusalem
- Eschiva of Montbéliard († after April 1239), 1st ∞ with Gerard de Montagu († fallen in 1229 near Nicosia); 2. ∞ with Balian from Ibelin-Beirut († 1247)
literature
- Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades (= dtv. 30175). 3. Edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-423-30175-9 .
Web links
- Walter at medieval-genealogie.de
- Gauthier de Montbéliard at fmg.ac (English)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Johann of Ibelin |
Constable of Jerusalem 1205 |
Odo from Montbéliard |
|
Amalrich I (King) |
Regent of Cyprus 1205–1210 |
Hugo I (King) |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Walter of Montbéliard |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gautier de Montbéliard, Walter von Mömpelgard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Constable of Jerusalem, Regent of Cyprus |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 12th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1212 |