Peter of Courtenay (french: Pierre de Courtenay ( – 1249 or 1250 in Egypt) was a French knight and a member of the

Capetian House of Courtenay The Capetian House of Courtenay, also known simply as the House of Courtenay, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet, also known as the Royal House of France. Founded by Peter I of Courtenay, a son of King Louis VI of Fran ...

, a

cadet line In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets—realm, titles, ...

of the royal House of Capet. From 1239 until his death, he was the ruling Lord of ConchesConches is much more likely to be

Conches-sur-Gondoire Conches-sur-Gondoire () is a commune on the Gondoire river in Brie, in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is roughly from Paris. Its remarkable sights include a monastery church of the 12th c ...

in Seine-et-Marne rather than Conches-en-Ouche in Normandy (no family links and too far away from the other fiefs). and

Mehun-sur-Yèvre Mehun-sur-Yèvre (, literally ''Mehun on Yèvre'') is a commune in the Cher department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Cher department The following is a list of the 287 communes of the Cher department of France. ...

Life

Peter was the eldest of five sons of

Robert of Courtenay, Lord of Champignelles Robert of Courtenay (french: Robert de Courtenay), born ( – 1239 Palestine) was lord of Champignelles and grandson of Louis VI of France. Robert de Courtenay was the seventh child of ten children of Peter I of Courtenay (1126 – 1183) ...

and his wife Matilda of Mehun. From his parents he inherited the castle of Conches and Mehun. On 25 August 1248, he sailed with his cousin, King

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 ...

, from Aigues-Mortes to Egypt to fight the Seventh Crusade, during which he died. Most historians think he died during the battle for the city of Al Mansurah on 8 February 1250. On that day, Count

Robert I Robert I may refer to: *Robert I, Duke of Neustria (697–748) *Robert I of France (866–923), King of France, 922–923, rebelled against Charles the Simple *Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c. 846 – c. 930; reigned 911–927) * Robert I Archbishop of ...

of Artois led a vanguard of Crusaders in a spontaneous attack on the city. The vanguard was caught in a trap set by the defending

Mamluks 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'') i ...

and all attackers were killed. However, the chronicler Jean de Joinville maintains Peter of Courtenay died on an earlier date. After the conquest of the Egytion port city of Damietta in June 1249, a large part of the crusader army camped outside the city wall, until they were ready to march to Al Mansurah in the autumn. The Sultan of Egypt offered a reward of one gold solidus for the head of each crusader. During the night, Saracens would sneak into the Crusader camp, kill sleeping Crusaders in their tents, and steal their severed heads. According to Joinville, Peter of Courtenay was the victim of one such attack. However, Joinville may be mistaken. One should consider that he wrote his chronicle decades after the fact, and that Peter de Courtenay is mentioned twice later in the chronicle, in connection with the Battle of Al Mansurah.It is possible that Joinville confused Peter with his cousin Guillaume de Courtenay, Lord of Yerre, who also participated in the Seventh Crusade, and survived (see ''Histoire généalogique de la maison de France'', p. 517)

Marriage and issue

Peter was married to Pétronille (d.1289), a daughter of Gaucher of Joigny and Amicie de Montfort. They had: * Amicie (d. 1275 in Rome; buried in St. Peter's Basilica), Lady suo jure of Conches and Mehun, married in 1262 to Count Robert II of Artois (d. 1302).

Notes and references

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtenay, Peter of, Lord of Conches Peter Lords of France Christians of the Sixth Crusade Christians of the Seventh Crusade 1218 births 13th-century deaths 13th-century French people Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain