Hugues de Revel (died 1277 in the Holy Land) was an English knight who became the twentieth Grand Master of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

, serving from 1258 to 1277 as the successor to

Guillaume de Chateauneuf Guillaume de Chateauneuf (died c. 1258, in Acre, Israel, Acre) was the nineteenth List of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, serving first from 1242–1244 as the successor to Pierre de Vieille-Brio ...

. He was succeeded by Nicolas Lorgne.

Origins

Born before 1222, by some accounts he was a son of Richard Reynell, a Somerset squire whose father was Richard Reynell (died before 1213),

Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

in 1191–4. This attribution is cast in doubt by recent research which suggests that the younger Richard's only heir was a daughter Sabina.

Administration of the Order

Hugues de Revel was Châtelain of the

Krak des Chevaliers Krak des Chevaliers, ar, قلعة الحصن, Qalʿat al-Ḥiṣn also called Hisn al-Akrad ( ar, حصن الأكراد, Ḥiṣn al-Akrād, rtl=yes, ) and formerly Crac de l'Ospital; Krak des Chevaliers or Crac des Chevaliers (), is a medieva ...

from 1243 to 1248 and Grand Commander of the Order from 1251 to 1258. In the latter position, he succeeded

Jean de Ronay Jean de Ronay (died 11 February 1250, Mansurah, Egypt) was knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem who was appointed Grand Commander of the Knights Hospitaller by the Grand Master Guillaume de Chateauneuf in 1243 or 1244. He served as inte ...

. Upon the death of Guillaume de Chateauneuf in 1258, Hugues de Revel was elected Grand Master of the Order. His first act was dated 9 October 1258. As soon as he was elected, he had to face the consequences of the

War of Saint Sabas The War of Saint Sabas (1256–1270) was a conflict between the rival Italian maritime republics of Genoa (aided by Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre, John of Arsuf, and the Knights Hospitaller) and Venice (aided by the Count of Jaffa and Ascal ...

Bohemond VI of Antioch Bohemond VI (–1275), also known as the Fair, was the prince of Antioch and count of Tripoli from 1251 until his death. He ruled while Antioch was caught between the warring Mongol Empire and Mamluk Sultanate. In 1268 Antioch was captured by t ...

, wanting to take revenge on the

Embriaco The Embriaco were a prominent Genoese family, who played an important role in the history of the Crusader states. It also gave consuls, admirals and ambassadors to the Republic of Genoa. The family ruled the city of Byblos (in present-day Leba ...

lords of

Gibelet Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...

, attacked them and found his allies, the Templars and his opponents William II of Botron and the Hospitallers. The death of Bertrand Embriaco, son of Hugues de Gibelet, put an end to the conflict but the Templars with the brothers of Saint-Lazare and Saint-Thomas attacked the Hospitallers, but this ended in a resounding victory of the Hospitallers and the almost complete massacre of the Templars. The Templars and the Hospitallers were able to overcome their differences in 1262, mainly with the extinction of the claims of Margat and Sidon. Revel strengthened the Hospitaller domain by acquiring the Benedictine abbey on Mount Tabor, but the consent of the Archbishop of Nazareth was not obtained until 1263. He had direct relations with the Mamluk Sultan

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...

in 1263, 1266 and 1267–1268. The siege of the Templar fortress of Safied by the Mamluk army led the Hospitallers to negotiate a separate truce for the

and the fortress of

Margat Margat, also known as Marqab ( ar, قلعة المرقب, ''Qalaat al-Marqab'', lit=Castle of the Watchtower), is a castle near Baniyas, Syria, which was a Crusader fortress and one of the major strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller. It is locat ...

in 1267, but Baybars' armies seized the Krak in 1271, which did not prevent Revel from negotiating a truce the same year. Hugues de Revel attached his name to the modification of the statutes of the Order during the general chapters of 1268, 1270, 1274 and 1276 as the compilations of sentences, the "esgarts", and customs, the "usances", fixed between 1239 and 1271 were most certainly made at the instigation of Revel. The success of the administrative activity of Revel is largely due to the treasurer Joseph de Chauncy who officiated from 1248 to 1271 before being called by

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

. Hugues de Revel died between the second half of 1277 and the first half of 1278. His successor Nicolas Lorgne exercised his magisterium on 16 June 1278. ReynellArms

Epigraphy from de Revel's magistracy

Jean de Valenciennes was twice delegated by

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

to obtained the release of a large number of prisoners of the Seventh Crusade's Battle of Fariskur, including de Revel's predecessor

. Previous assertions that he was either a Frankish knight or a lord of Haifa who died in 1270 have been shown to be incorrect. Instead, he has been identified as a canon who lived in Acre. His grave is mystifying as the epitaph remains unfinished and is not preceded by a cross. There are proposed explanations that have been offered. Lack of funds could have caused the stonecutter to leave the engraving unfinished. Or the executors decided to return the corpse to the

County of Hainaut The County of Hainaut (french: Comté de Hainaut; nl, Graafschap Henegouwen; la, comitatus hanoniensis), sometimes spelled Hainault, was a territorial lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire that straddled what is now the border of Belg ...

for final burial, leaving the incomplete epitaph.

References

Bibliography

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External links