Balian I Grenier was the

Count of Sidon The Lordship of Sidon (french: Saete/Sagette), (Later County of Sidon) was one of the four major fiefdoms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem,According to the 13th-century writer John of Ibelin one of the Crusader States. However, in reality, it appears ...

and one of the most important lords of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

from 1202 to 1241. He succeeded his father

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

. His mother was Helvis, a daughter of

Balian of Ibelin Balian or Balyan may refer to: People * Balian of Ibelin (disambiguation), a name shared by several members of the Ibelin family from the crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus * Balian Buschbaum (born 1980), German pole vaulter * Roger Balian, ...

. He was a powerful and important representative of the native aristocracy during the three Levantine crusades of the first half of the thirteenth century. During the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, brother of Sala ...

, Balian advised the troops of

Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II ( hu, II. András, hr, Andrija II., sk, Ondrej II., uk, Андрій II; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 ...

against sallying into the deserted regions of his county of Sidon, regions almost under Saracen control. The Hungarians refused to listen, however, and many were massacred during a Turcoman ambush. During the

Sixth Crusade The Sixth Crusade (1228–1229), also known as the Crusade of Frederick II, was a military expedition to recapture Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actua ...

, Balian supported

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Frederick II for the throne of Jerusalem. He negotiated with Giordano Filangieri, brother of

Richard Filangieri Richard (Riccardo) Filangieri (''c''.1195–1254/63) was an Italian nobleman who played an important part in the Sixth Crusade in 1228–9 and in the War of the Lombards from 1229–43, where he was in charge of the forces of Frederi ...

, sent by Frederick in 1228 to represent his authority in

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

until the emperor could make the trip in person. Balian was the chief native ally of the crusaders at the time when they were not well received by the locals. He supported the Emperor and his Germanisation, but tried, as with the previous crusade, to prevent a bloodbath. In 1229, Frederick left Balian in charge of Tyre and in 1231 he gave him the co-regency (bailiwick) of the kingdom with

Garnier l'Aleman Werner of Egisheim (died after 1231) was a German Crusader, better known by his French name of Garnier l’Aleman (''Werner the German''). Life Belonging to a German noble family from Egisheim in Alsace, he is first recorded in Acre in the entour ...

. During

Barons' Crusade The Barons' Crusade (1239–1241), also called the Crusade of 1239, was a crusade to the Holy Land that, in territorial terms, was the most successful crusade since the First Crusade. Called by Pope Gregory IX, the Barons' Crusade broadly embod ...

Theobald I of Navarre Theobald I (french: Thibaut, es, Teobaldo; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famous ...

in 1239, Balian joined a group of defiant barons at least part of the way to Gaza where a battle was fought between crusader and

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

forces. Balian was probably part of a group led by Hugh of Burgundy which departed before the actual battle. The remaining group of the crusaders charged the Egyptians, was routed, resulting in the capture of

Amaury VI of Montfort Amaury de Montfort, Lord of Montfort-l'Amaury, (1192 – 1241) was the son of Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester and Alix de Montmorency, and the older brother of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. Amaury inherited his father's Fre ...

and the death of

Henry II of Bar Henry II of Bar in French ''Henri II de Bar'', in German ''Heinrich II von Bar'' (1190–13 November 1239) was a Count of Bar who reigned from 1214 to 1239. He was son of Count Theobald I of Bar and his first wife, Ermesinde of Bar-sur-Seine. Hen ...

. If Balian was part of the group which stayed and fought, he would have been among the relatively small number of survivors not to be captured by the Muslims. Balian later received the castle of Shaqil Arnun, which his father had defended by a ruse from

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

in 1190, from the sultan

As-Salih Ayyub Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (5 November 1205 – 22 November 1249), nickname: Abu al-Futuh ( ar, أبو الفتوح), also known as al-Malik al-Salih, was the Ayyubid Kurdish ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249. Early life In 1221, as-S ...

. He died in 1240 or, according to

Philip of Novara Philip of Novara (c. 1200 – c. 1270) was a medieval historian, warrior, musician, diplomat, poet, and lawyer. born at Novara, Italy, into a noble house, who spent his entire adult life in the Middle East. He primarily served the Ibelin famil ...

, 1241. He was betrothed to Marguerite of Brienne (seduced by Frederick II), daughter of

Walter III, Count of Brienne Walter III of Brienne (french: Gautier, it, Gualtiero; died June 1205) was a nobleman from northern France. Becoming Count of Brienne in 1191, Walter married the Sicilian princess Elvira and took an army to southern Italy to claim her inheritanc ...

, older brother of

John of Brienne John of Brienne ( 1170 – 19–23 March 1237), also known as John I, was King of Jerusalem from 1210 to 1225 and Latin Emperor of Constantinople from 1229 to 1237. He was the youngest son of Erard II of Brienne, a wealthy nobleman in Champag ...

), ultimately marrying Ida de Reynel. His son Julian succeeded him in Sidon, the greater part of which had been recovered by Balian.

Sources

* Setton, Kenneth M. (general editor)
A History of the Crusades: Volume II — The Later Crusades, 1189 – 1311
'. Robert Lee Wolff and Harry W. Hazard, editors. University of Wisconsin Press: Milwaukee, 1969. {{DEFAULTSORT:Grenier, Balian 1241 deaths Christians of the Crusades Christians of the Fifth Crusade Christians of the Sixth Crusade Christians of the Barons' Crusade Lordship of Sidon Year of birth unknown