Wilhelm von Mesen

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Wilhelm von Mesen ( French Guillaume de Messines , † September 27, 1145 ) was Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem .

As the historian Hans Eberhard Mayer notes, he comes from Mesen (French: Messines) in Flanders and not from Mechelen (French: Malines) as stated in older literature . In older literature, he is incorrectly called Wilhelm von Malines .

Despite his Flemish origins, he lived as a hermit near Tours before traveling to Palestine in 1129 in the wake of Fulk V from Anjou . There he became prior of the Holy Sepulcher . When the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Stephan von La Ferté, died in the spring of 1130, Wilhelm became his successor.

Unlike his predecessor, he did not oppose the respective king of Jerusalem, but instead established good relationships.

After King Baldwin II of Jerusalem had died, he crowned his successor Melisende and her husband Fulko V of Anjou in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on September 14, 1131 .

Since the road between Jerusalem and the nearest seaport Jaffa was still constantly being made unsafe by robbers, the pilgrims attacked and the food supply to Jerusalem was interrupted, William undertook a campaign against the road robbers in 1133 while King Fulk was with his army in the north. He had a castle, Chastel Ernaut, built near Bait Nubā, where the road from Lydda climbs up into the mountains. Around 1135 he had Gibelin Castle built for the same purpose .

In 1137 he led an army with the Holy Cross to relieve Montferrand , where King Fulko was trapped after a defeat against Zengi .

After Fulko's death, he crowned his son and heir Baldwin III in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher . on December 25th, 1143 to the co-king next to Melisende.

When he died in 1145, Fulko of Angoulême , the archbishop of Tire , whom William himself consecrated in 1134/35, succeeded him as Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Hans Eberhard Mayer: The Chancellery of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem. Verlag Hahn, 1996, ISBN 3775257403 , p. 597
  2. ↑ a b Cf. G. Oury: Guillaume de Messines, l'ermite de Fontaines-les-Blanches devenu patriarche de Jerusalem. In: Bullentin de société archéologique de Touraine. 37 (1973), pp. 225-243.
  3. ↑ See Steven Runciman: History of the Crusades. CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3406399606 , p. 483
  4. ↑ See Steven Runciman: History of the Crusades. CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3406399606 , p. 536
  5. ↑ See Steven Runciman: History of the Crusades. CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3406399606 , p. 536
  6. ↑ See Steven Runciman: History of the Crusades. CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3406399606 , pp. 507-509
  7. ↑ See Klaus-Peter Kirstein: The Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem. From the conquest of the Holy City by the Crusaders in 1099 to the end of the Crusader States in 1291. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3428099648 , p. 275
predecessor Office successor
Stephan from La Ferté Patriarch of Jerusalem
1130–1145 		Fulk of Angoulême
personal data
SURNAME Wilhelm von Mesen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Guillaume de Messines; William I of Jerusalem
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Patriarch of Jerusalem
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century or 12th century
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1145