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
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 ...
by the Grand Master
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 ...
in 1243 or 1244. He served as interim
Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1244 to 1250 during the captivity of de Chateauneuf. He died in battle during the
Seventh Crusade.
Biography
In is unknown when de Ronay was born or when he joined the Order. It is known that he was a senior knight in good standing in 1245 when he assumed the position of interim Grand Master during the captivity of
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 died in battle on 11 February 1250, eight months before the release of de Chateauneuf.
The Knights Hospitaller were left leaderless with the capture of de Chateauneuf on 18 October 1244. De Ronay, being the next highest ranking Hospitalier, took the responsibility of the Grand Master ''ad interim''. He was confirmed in this functions, until the return from captivity of the titular superior, by the conventual general assembly of the Hospitallers in 1245.
De Ronay served in as interim Grand Master through the
Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX of France. He was killed in the line of duty at the final encounter of Louis' Crusade, on 11 February 1250 prior to the
Battle of Fariskur.
Battle of La Forbie
After the siege of
Siege of Jerusalem of 15 July 1244 destroyed the Holy City, 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 ...
planned a counterattack. Together with the Hospitaller,
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
and
Knights Teutonic, the allied with the Transjordanian troops of
al-Mansur Ibrahim
Nasir ad-Din al-Malik al-Mansur Ibrahim bin Asad ad-Din Shirkuh, better known as al-Mansur Ibrahim, ( ar, المنصور إبراهيم d. June 28, 1246) was a Kurdish ruler, the ''emir'' ("governor") of the Homs principality from 1240 to 1246 un ...
and
an-Nasir Dā’ūd. This army was placed under the command of
Walter IV of Brienne
Walter IV (french: Gauthier (1205–1246) was the count of Brienne from 1205 to 1246.
Life
Walter was the son of Walter III of Brienne and Elvira of Sicily. Around the time of his birth, his father lost his bid for the Sicilian throne and died in ...
and moved to fight the
Ayyubids
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin h ...
and
Khwarezmians commanded by
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 ...
, future sultan of Egypt.
On 17–18 October 1244, the Crusader troops, which included approximately 1,000 cavalry and 6,000 foot soldiers, engaged in the
Battle of La Forbie
The Battle of La Forbie, also known as the Battle of Hiribya, was fought October 17, 1244 – October 18, 1244 between the allied armies (drawn from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the crusading orders, the breakaway Ayyubids of Damascus, Homs, ...
, were decisively defeated by Baibars. The approximately 800 prisoners included Walter IV of Brienne and Guillaume de Chateauneuf. Only 280 horsemen (including 33 Templars, 27 Hospitallers, 3 Teutonics and the Lord of Tyre,
Philip of Montfort) and a thousand soldiers survived the defeat which marked the end of Christian military power in the Holy Land.
[Burgtorf, Jochen (2006). ''Forbie, Battle of (1244)''. In The Crusades–An Encyclopedia. p. 449.]
Appointment as interim Grand Master
It was then that de Ronay was appointed as the interim Grand Master, as he was the Grand Tutor of the Hospital during the Battle of Forbie. Only the castles of
Safed
Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...
and
Ascalon had defended themselves against the onslaught. Ascalon, guarded by the Hospitallers, resisted Baibars' attack. The Khwarezmians continued to attack Acre and Jaffa. In the fall of 1245, it was the capture of Damascus by Egyptian troops aided by the Khwarezmians that which put Egypt and Syria in the hands 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 ...
. In 1246, Muslim troops began unsuccessful sieges of Ascalon, Acre and the Templar stronghold of
Château Pèlerin
Château Pèlerin (Old French: Chastel Pelerin; la, Castrum Perigrinorum), also known as Atlit Castle and Pilgrim Castle, is a Crusader fortress located near Atlit on the northern coast of Israel, about south of Haifa.
The Knights Templar bega ...
, but
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...
was captured on June 16, 1247, and finally Ascalon fell.
The Seventh Crusade and death
Help was to come from
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 ...
, who took the cross in December 1244, beginning the
Seventh Crusade. He went to sea from
Aigues-Mortes
Aigues-Mortes (; oc, Aigas Mòrtas) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region of southern France. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved. Situated on the junction of the Canal du Rhône à Sète a ...
on 25 August 25, 1248, disembarking in Cyprus on 17 September 1248. He arrived with the queen
Margaret of Provence
Margaret of Provence (french: Marguerite; 1221 – 20 December 1295) was Queen of France by marriage to King Louis IX.
Early life
Margaret was born in the spring of 1221 in Forcalquier. She was the eldest of four daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV ...
and his brothers, the count of Artois and the count of Anjou. At Cyprus awaited them
Henry I of Cyprus
Henry I of Cyprus, nicknamed the Fat (french: Henri de Lusignan; 3 May 1217 – 18 January 1253 at Nicosia) was King of Cyprus from 1218 to 1253. He was the son of Hugh I of Cyprus and Alice of Champagne. When his father Hugh I died on January 1 ...
and the representatives of the military orders, the lieutenant of the Hospitallers ''ad interim'', Jean de Ronay, and the Grand Master of the Templars,
Guillaume de Sonnac
Guillaume de Sonnac (died 6 April 1250) was Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1247 to 1250.
Personal life
Sonnac was born to a noble family in the French region of Rouergue. No date of birth survives for the Grand Master. He was describe ...
.
After landing in Egypt, the Crusader force met with initial successes at the
Siege of Damietta on 6 June 1249 and at the
Battle of Mansurah on 8 February 1250, and it was in the fighting after the latter battle had been decided that de Ronay was killed. It was at the Battle of Fariskur on 6 April 1250 that disaster struck. Louis and many other were captured. Guillaume de Chateauneuf was released eight months later, on 17 October 1250 upon payment of his ransom, and thence returned to the leadership of the Hospitallers.
See also
* ''
Cartulaire général de l'Ordre des Hospitaliers''
*
List of Knights Hospitaller sites
The Knights Hospitaller operated a wide network of properties in the Middle Ages from their successive seats in Jerusalem, Acre, Cyprus, Rhodes and eventually Malta. In the early 14th century, they received many properties and assets previously ...
*
Langue (Knights Hospitaller)
A langue or tongue ( it, lingua) was an administrative division of the Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Order of St. John of Jerusalem) between 1319 and 1798. The term referred to a rough ethno-linguistic division of the geographical dis ...
*
Flags of the Knights Hospitaller
References
Bibliography
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External links
*
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 ...
. French Wikipedia.
*
Liste des grands maîtres de l'ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem. French Wikipedia.
*Eugène Harot
Essai d’armorial des Grands-Maîtres de l’Ordre de Saint Jean de JérusalemSeals of the Grand Masters Museum of the Order of St John.
*Charles Moeller,
Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem
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 military order. It was headqu ...
. ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1910) 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
*
Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 20. (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 12–19.
Coat of armsWith picture of his seal
{{s-end
1250 deaths
Christians of the Seventh Crusade
Knights Hospitaller
Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller
Military personnel killed in action
Year of birth unknown
13th-century French people