John of Ibelin (, 1215 – December 1266),
count 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 Bouill ...
, was a noted jurist and the author of the longest legal treatise from 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 ...
. He was the son of
Philip of Ibelin,
bailli
A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...
of the
Kingdom of Cyprus
The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Ana ...
, and Alice of Montbéliard, and was the nephew of
John of Ibelin, the "Old Lord of Beirut". To distinguish him from his uncle and other members of the
Ibelin family
The House of Ibelin was a noble family in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. They rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most important families in the kingdom, holding various high offices and with extensive holding ...
named John, he is sometimes called John of Jaffa.
Family and early life
His family was the first branch of Ibelins to have their seat in Cyprus, due to his father's regency there 1218–1227. In 1229 John fled
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
with his family when
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II (German language, German: ''Friedrich''; Italian language, Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Em ...
seized the Ibelin territories on the island. They settled temporarily in northern
Palestine, where the family had holdings. He was present at the
Battle of Casal Imbert in 1232, when his uncle John the "Old Lord of Beirut" was defeated by
Riccardo 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 Frederick ...
, Frederick's lieutenant in the east. Around 1240 he married Maria of Barbaron (d. 1263), the sister of
Hethum I of Armenia
Hethum I (Armenian: Հեթում Ա; 1213 – 21 October 1270) ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (also known as "Little Armenia") from 1226 to 1270. He was the son of Constantine of Baberon (d. 1263) and Princess Alix Pahlavouni of Lampron (a ...
and sister-in-law of King
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 10 ...
. In 1241 he was probably responsible for drafting a compromise between the Ibelins and the emperor, in which
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...
would govern the kingdom. This proposal was never implemented and Simon never came to the Holy Land; the Ibelins continued to quarrel with the representatives of the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
s, and in 1242 they captured
Tyre from their rivals. John participated in the siege.
Participation in the Crusades
![SempadLetter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/SempadLetter.JPG)
Shortly thereafter, sometime between 1246 and the beginning of the
Seventh Crusade, John became count 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
Ascalon and
lord of Ramla.
Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
was an old holding of the Ibelins, but Jaffa and Ascalon had belonged to others, most recently to the murdered
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 i ...
, whose son
John, Count of Brienne
John, Count of Brienne (c. 1235 – c. 1260) was the eldest son of Walter IV of Brienne and Marie of
Cyprus.
He inherited the County of Brienne
The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château.
Coun ...
(king Henry's nephew) was supplanted by this Ibelin acquisition. This probably occurred when king Henry, John's first cousin, became regent of Jerusalem, and distributed continental lands to his Cypriot barons to create a loyal base there. Jaffa was by now a minor port and Ascalon was captured from 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
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
s in 1247.
In 1249 John joined the Seventh Crusade and participated in
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 ...
's capture of
Damietta
Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...
. Louis was taken prisoner when Damietta was recaptured, but John seems to have escaped the same fate. Louis was released in 1252 and moved his army to Jaffa. Louis' constable and chronicler
Jean de Joinville
Jean de Joinville (, c. 1 May 1224 – 24 December 1317) was one of the great chroniclers of medieval France. He is most famous for writing the ''Life of Saint Louis'', a biography of Louis IX of France that chronicled the Seventh Crusade.''V ...
portrays John very favourably; he describes John's coat-of-arms as "a fine thing to see...''or'' with a cross ''pateé gules''". John was by now an extremely famous lord in the east, corresponding also with
Henry III of England
Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...
and
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
, who had confirmed Henry I's grant to John.
Henry I died in 1253, and Louis IX left for France in 1254, leaving John as bailli of Jerusalem. John made peace with
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
and used the forces of Jerusalem to attack Ascalon; the Egyptians besieged Jaffa in 1256 in response. John marched out and defeated them, and after this victory he gave up the
bailliage
A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on ...
to his cousin John of Arsuf.
Meanwhile, the
Genoese and
Venetian trading communities 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 ...
came into conflict, in 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 ...
." John supported the Venetians. In order to bring some order back to the kingdom, John and
Bohemund VI of Antioch summoned Dowager Queen
Plaisance of Cyprus to take over the regency of the kingdom for the absentee king,
Conradin
Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke ...
. Nevertheless, the Venetians defeated the Genoese in a naval battle in 1258 and the Genoese left Acre. With Plaisance and Hugh in Acre, the Ibelin family began to decline in importance, but around 1263 John began a scandalous affair with Plaisance, possibly prompting
Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time hav ...
to send an official letter in protest, ''
De sinu patris
''Audi filia et'' and ''De sinu patris'' were two letters written by either Pope Urban IV (1165–1264) or Pope Clement IV (1200–1268). They are undated, but were probably written during the 1260s, separately chastising one noblewoman and ...
''. John's wife and children were believed to have been living apart from him at the time. Maria was visiting her family in Cilicia in 1256 and 1263, and died after visiting her father,
Constantine of Baberon Constantine of Baberon (died c. 1263) was a powerful Armenian noble of the Het‛umid family. He was the son of Vassag and the father of King Het‛um I, who ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from 1226 to 1270. Constantine played a pivotal rol ...
, on his own deathbed.
John could do little while
Baibars, the Mamluk
sultan of Egypt, fought with the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
in Palestine. Baibars may have reduced Jaffa to vassalage, and certainly used its port to transport food to Egypt. John's truce with Baibars did not last, and he himself died in 1266. By 1268 Baibars had captured Jaffa.
Treatise
From 1264 to 1266, John of Ibelin wrote an extensive legal treatise, now known as the ''Livre des Assises'', the longest such treatise known from the Levant, dealing with the so-called
Assizes of Jerusalem
The Assizes of Jerusalem are a collection of numerous medieval legal treatises written in Old French containing the law of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and Kingdom of Cyprus. They were compiled in the thirteenth century, and are the largest c ...
and the procedure of the ''
Haute Cour
{{Expand French, Haute Cour (France), date=November 2015, topic=gov
In France, the Parliament sitting in High Court (''Haute Cour'') is the jurisdiction responsible for pronouncing the impeachment of the President of the Republic "if he should fa ...
'' It also included details about the ecclesiastical and baronial structure of the Kingdom, as well as the number of knights owed to the crown by each of the kingdom's vassals.
[Edbury, pg. 106.]
Marriage and children
With Maria of Armenia (sister of
Hethum I, King of Armenia
Hethum I ( Armenian: Հեթում Ա; 1213 – 21 October 1270) ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (also known as "Little Armenia") from 1226 to 1270. He was the son of Constantine of Baberon (d. 1263) and Princess Alix Pahlavouni of Lampron (a ...
and daughter of
Constantine of Baberon Constantine of Baberon (died c. 1263) was a powerful Armenian noble of the Het‛umid family. He was the son of Vassag and the father of King Het‛um I, who ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from 1226 to 1270. Constantine played a pivotal rol ...
), John had the following children:
* James (c. 1240– July 18, 1276), count of Jaffa and Ascalon 1266, married Marie of Montbéliard c. 1260
* Philip (d. aft. 1263)
*
Guy (c. 1250–February 14, 1304), titular count of Jaffa and Ascalon 1276, married his cousin Marie, Lady of Naumachia c. 1290
* John (d. aft. 1263)
* Hethum
* Oshin
* Margaret (c. 1245– aft. 1317), Abbess of
Notre Dame de Tyre
Notre Dame de Tyre or Our Lady of Tyre ( hy, Հայկական Սուրբ Աստուածածին եկեղեցի), or simply as Armenian church ( tr, Ermeni Kilisesi) is a monastic church in Nicosia, Cyprus. It is located in the Arab Ahmet quarter ...
, Nicosia
* Isabelle (c. 1250– aft. 1298), married Sempad of
Servantikar
Sarvandikar ( hy, Սարվանդիքար), also spelled ''Sarvanda k'ar'' ( tr, Savranda). It was the Frankish castle of ''Savranda'' and is officially known today as Savranda Kalesi. The site is a medieval castle in the former Armenian Kingdom ...
c. 1270
* Marie (d. aft. 1298), married firstly Vahran of Hamousse, secondly Gregorios Tardif October 10, 1298
Notes
References
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See also
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Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller Manorialism, seigneuries. According to the 13th-century jurist John of Ibelin (jurist), John of Ibelin, the four highest crown vassals (referre ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:John of Ibelin
1215 births
1266 deaths
Christians of the Sixth Crusade
Christians of the Seventh Crusade
Counts of Jaffa and Ascalon
13th-century jurists
House of Ibelin