Werner of Egisheim (died after 1231) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Crusader, better known by his French name of Garnier l’Aleman (''Werner the German''). Belonging to a German noble family from Egisheim in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, he is first recorded in

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

in the entourage of a count Berthold, presumably Berthold, Duke of Merania, who besieged Acre during the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

in 1190. Berthold withdrew by spring 1191 and returned home, but Werner remained in the Holy Land. In May 1206 one Otto von Henneberg issued a certificate with "Wernerus de Egisheim" as a witness. From September 1210 Werner and Philip of Ibelin were responsible for the defence of Acre whilst the rest of the Crusader nobility attended the coronation of

Maria of Montferrat Maria of Montferrat (1192–1212) was the queen of Jerusalem from 1205 until her death. She was the daughter of Isabella I of Jerusalem and her second husband, Conrad of Montferrat. Maria succeeded her mother under the regency of her half-uncle Jo ...

and

John of Brienne John of Brienne ( 1170 – 19–23 March 1237), also known as John I, was the 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 Cham ...

in Tyre. In 1218 he and troops from the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

unsuccessfully tried to defend

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

from an

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

assault.'' L'Estoire de Eracles empereur.'' In: '' Recueil des historiens des croisades. Historiens Occidentaux.'' Band 2. Imprimerie Impériale, Paris 1859
S. 334
Liv. XXXII, Cap. V. Before Frederick II (who took the regency of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

in his son's name) ended his crusade and returned to Italy, he appointed Werner and Balian of Sidon his deputies or

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

s in the Kingdom, with Werner in Acre and Balian in Tyre. Both were replaced as bailiffs in 1231 by marshal

Richard 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 Frederic ...

. Werner married Pavia Embriaco, a daughter of Hugh III Embriaco and Stephanie of Milly. They had three children: *

John Aleman John Aleman (died after 1264) was the Lord of Caesarea (as John II) in the Crusader states, Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, exercising this right through his wife, Margaret of Caesarea from at least 1243 until his death. John was active politically a ...

(died in 1264 or after), Lord of Caesarea (de

iure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...

), married Margarethe Brisebarre, daughter of John of Caesarea; * Hugo (died before 26 March 1241), married Isabella von Adelon (died after 1260), daughter of Daniel I of Adelon; * Helvis, married Baldwin of Longuevaux.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book , title=Christian Society and the Crusades, 1198-1229 , editor-first=Edward , editor-last=Peters , publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press , year=1971 , edition=2nd * Reinhold Röhricht: ''Die Deutschen im Heiligen Lande. Chronologisches Verzeichnis derjenigen Deutschen, welche als Jerusalempilger und Kreuzfahrer sicher nachzuweisen oder wahrscheinlich anzusehen sind (c. 650–1291).'' Wagner, Innsbruck 1894. Christians of the Third Crusade 13th-century deaths 13th-century German nobility