Coat of arms of the House of Brienne (Counts of Brienne)

Walter IV (french: Gauthier (1205–1246) was the

count of Brienne The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château. Counts of Brienne * Engelbert I * Engelbert II * Engelbert III * Engelbert IV * Walter I (? – c. 1090) * Erard I (c. 1090 – c. 1120?) * Walter II ...

from 1205 to 1246.

Life

Walter was the son of Walter III of Brienne and

Elvira of Sicily Elvira of Sicily (died in 1231) was a member of the House of Hauteville who claimed the throne of the Kingdom of Sicily. She is known by an exceptional number of names, including Albinia, Elvira, Maria, Albidina and Blanche. Early life Elvira ...

. Around the time of his birth, his father lost his bid for the Sicilian throne and died in prison. His inheritance of the

Principality of Taranto The Principality of Taranto was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Ap ...

and the

County of Lecce The County of Lecce was a semi-independent Italo-Norman entity in Apulia, in south-eastern Italy, which existed from 1055 until 1463. Its capital was at the city of Lecce, and it was bounded by the territories of Brindisi to the north, Oria and N ...

was confiscated. He took part in the War of the Keys in 1228–1229 in an effort to recover it. While a teenager, Walter was sent to Outremer where his uncle

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 ...

was the ruler of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. In 1221 John gave him the

County of Jaffa and Ascalon The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries comprising the major Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin. History Jaffa was fortified by Godfrey of Boui ...

, and arranged a marriage with Maria (before March, 1215 – ca. 1252 or 1254), daughter of Hugh I of Cyprus, in 1233. Even after his uncle had been forced out of the kingdom by Frederick II, Walter remained one of the most important lords of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He participated in the Crusade of

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 and was among the many French Crusaders captured by the Ayyubids. He was commander of the Crusader army that marched against the forces of

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 ...

at the Battle of La Forbie in 1244. Against the advice of al-Mansur of Homs, his Syrian ally, Walter insisted on taking the offensive, rather than fortifying his camp and awaiting the retreat of the Khwarezmians. In this disastrous battle, the Crusader-Syrian forces were nearly annihilated. Walter was captured, tortured before the walls of

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

, and ultimately turned over to the Egyptians after the Khwarezmian defeat before

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

in 1246. He was imprisoned in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and murdered by merchants whose caravans he had robbed. He was succeeded by his elder son John, who died childless. His younger son Hugh of Brienne settled in Southern Italy and became a partisan of Charles of Anjou, who returned to him the family's county of

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

References

Sources

* *176 {{DEFAULTSORT:Walter 04 Of Brienne 1205 births 1246 deaths Christians of the Crusades Christians of the Barons' Crusade Counts of Brienne House of Brienne