Assembly of Étampes and the crusade route

Background

After Vézelay the French king and barons had pledged to join the expedition, but its route, transport and the government of the kingdom in the king's absence were still undecided. Meanwhile Bernard of Clairvaux had brought Conrad III of Germany into the crusade. King Roger II of Sicily offered to carry the French army by ship; Roger, however, was an open enemy of Byzantium.

The assembly and its decisions

At the assembly held at Étampes around 16 February 1147, the Sicilian envoys and letters from the Byzantine emperor Manuel I were considered together. The assembly chose the overland route through Hungary and Byzantium, which Conrad's German army would also follow. Rejecting the Sicilian offer reflected both a wish to avoid direct conflict with Byzantium and the difficulty of moving a large army by sea.

Suger's name came to the fore for the government of the kingdom. By a decision Bernard also supported, Suger and Count Ralph of Vermandois would be regents in the king's absence. The assembly also discussed the taxes to be raised from the church and the king's subjects to finance the expedition.

Outcome and significance

The choice of the land route made the French army dependent on Byzantine supplies and permission to pass, and exposed it to Seljuk attacks in Anatolia. The losses suffered and the accusations against Byzantium at the end of the expedition led French circles to think that rejecting the Sicilian offer had been a mistake.

Suger's regency, by contrast, is regarded as a successful period of government that kept France stable in the king's absence.

Sources and debates

Odo of Deuil describes the meeting in most detail. Suger's letters and the life of Suger by the monk William shed light on the regency. The exact date of the meeting and its participants are not entirely clear in the sources.