Balian of ibelin biography of christopher
In this highly readable history, Christopher MacEvitt makes an outstanding contribution to crusades scholarship. Noting that most histories of the crusades rely on Latin/Frankish and Saracen sources but almost completely overlook the works of native Orthodox Christians, MacEvitt has undertaken a study of how these sources depict the crusaders and the states they established. His conclusion, based on a meticulous analysis of the sources, is that &#;the segregationist vision of the Frankish Levant is deeply flawed&#;.&#; (Christopher MacEvitt, The Crusades and the Christian World of the East: Rough Tolerance, University of Pennsylvania Press, , p. ) He goes on to note that &#;the Frankish aristocracy allowed conduct and beliefs that would have been unacceptable in Christian Europe.&#; (MacEvitt, p) Finally, he concludes the book by stressing that &#;&#;the eventual defeat of the Frankish principalities of the Levant can no longer depend on the argument that their fall was caused by their lack of roots in their new home, or because of the antagonism of the people they ruled.&#; (MacEvitt, p. )
The evidence MacEvitt marshals to support his theses is not only overwhelming, it is well-presented. MacEvitt&#;s understanding of Armenian and other native Christian societies, helps place crusader actions in a new context. He explains in clear and understandable terms the differences between the various Christian sects in the region, and helps the reader comprehend the complexity of dealing with them in a period when language divisions did not follow theological ones.
Rather than relying solely on theory and church commentary, MacEvitt produces concrete examples of behavior that demonstrates beyond a doubt that the Frankish population of Outremer intermingled, intermarried and cooperated extensively with the native Christians of the region. This was not just a matter of Frankish and native Christian communities visiting the same bazaars and taver
THE CRUSADER KINGDOMS
In the surprise attack at Casal Imbert, the Cypriot/Ibelin army had lost roughly 30 knights and the bulk of their horses and equipment. More important, the Genoese had lost their ships. Thus, while Filangieri struck in Cyprus, King Henry had no means of responding. Filangieri had brilliantly taken advantage of his enemy’s concentration of forces in one place, to attack in another. Christian crusader For other people with the same name, see Balian of Ibelin (disambiguation). Balian III of Beirut (died ) was the lord of Beirut, the second of his family, from , and a son of the famous "Old Lord" John of Ibelin, by his second wife Melisende of Arsuf. From his father he assumed the leadership of the nobility in the War of the Lombards, fought against the agents of Emperor Frederick II. He was a warrior from an early age. At the Battle of Agridi in , though he was supposed to be in the rearguard with his father and the King of Cyprus, he instead went to the front, beside either Hugh of Ibelin and Anceau of Brie, commanders of the first and second battles. At the battle, Balian won fame defending a pass from the Lombards. A story is told in the Gestes des Chiprois that Balian once struck a Lombard knight so hard that he himself was dismounted. Balian led his family in besieging Tyre in He also had the support of Philip of Novara and Philip of Montfort and he employed mercenaries and galleys in the endeavour. Balian of Ibelin, lord of Beirut married Eschiva de Montfaucon, daughter of Walter of Montbéliard and Bourgogne de Lusignan of Cyprus and they had issue: Balian of Ibelin ( &#; 29 September ) was the Lord of Arsuf from until the early s (probably ), when he leased it to the Knights Hospitaller. He was the son and successor of John, Lord of Arsuf and Constable of Jerusalem. At the time when he leased/rented it to the hospital, his fief of Arsuf was worth six knights' fees and twenty sergeants'; the Hospital took up his obligations with the exception of the servise de cors. He was married to Plaisance of Antioch from until their divorce in , after which he moved from Antioch to Tripoli. He was created Constable of Jerusalem like his father had been in and held that post until his death. Hugh III of Cyprus and Jerusalem appointed Balian bailiff, effectively regent, of the kingdom upon returning to Cyprus in October Hugh's claim to the royal title, however, was disputed by Charles I of Naples, who sent Roger of Sanseverino to Acre as his bailiff in Balian initially refused to admit Roger into the citadel until papers signed by Charles, Mary of Antioch, and Pope John XXI were produced and the Knights Hospitallers and John of Versailles, Patriarch of Jerusalem, had refused to intervene. To avoid war, he allowed Roger in and Charles was proclaimed king. He died on 29 September , the day being known from a single copy of the Annales de Terre Sainte. He was succeeded by his son John, titular Lord of Arsuf (–), who married Isabella of Ibelin, daughter of Balian seneschal of Cyprus.
Yet Filangieri had underestimated the Cypriot King. Henry had come of age on the same day that he had to flee from Casal Imbert in his nightshirt. He now proved that he had been no puppet of the Ibelins. Had he been merely their prisoner up to now, he would have abandoned their cause and turned to Filangieri to help him crush his former jailers. Instead, he used his increased stature as king to make significant concessions to the Genoese, securing their continued support, and in order to obtain revenue and fighting men through the bestowal of fiefs in Cyprus upon Syrian knights. In just one month, the Cypriot/Ibelin army was sufficiently reequipped to return to Cyprus — in Imperial ships.
The latter had been tied up in Acre idle. Henry and the Lord of Beirut appealed to the anti-Imperial Patriarch of Jerusalem, arguing that Filangieri in occupying Cyprus had committed a grave sin that threatened the safety of the Holy Land. The point was that Filangieri had attacked a Christian monarch without justification. While the Patriarch sympathized, he demurred, saying he could not interfere in secular affairs. However, he also noted that he would not stop anyone from seizing the ships. At once, the pro-Ibelin mob rushed down to the harbour, where they managed to seize 13 of the large Imperial "salanders" (apparently warships), while the remaining Imperial ships managed to escape by slipping anchor and sailing away.
In these "confiscated" ships, the Cypriot/Ibelin knights, turcopoles and sergeants sailed for Cyprus at the very end of May or the first days Balian, Lord of Beirut
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Balian of Arsuf
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