Jean de Brienne

Life and political setting

John came from the Brienne family of Champagne. By marrying Queen Maria he became king of Jerusalem in 1210, and their daughter Isabella carried the dynastic claim forward. His long career later included conflict with Frederick II and service as regent-emperor in Latin Constantinople.

Career during the Crusading era

John joined the Fifth Crusade launched in 1217 and became one of the principal political leaders of the operation against Damietta. He favoured al-Kamil's offers to exchange Jerusalem for withdrawal from Egypt, but the papal legate Pelagius refused them. After the defeat near Mansurah in 1221 John helped negotiate the evacuation agreement.

Documented activity: a chronological record

On September–November 1217, Jean de Brienne appears in the atlas record “Fifth Crusade armies at Acre” at Acre and Galilee. The event is documented through Cambridge History of War, ‘Crusaders and settlers in the East, 1096–1291’, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, ‘Haçlılar’, Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘Crusades’. On May 1218 – 5 November 1219, Jean de Brienne appears in the atlas record “Capture of Damietta” at Damietta. The event is documented through Oliverus Paderbornensis, İbn Vâsıl, TDV İA, ‘Haçlılar’.

On March 1223, Jean de Brienne appears in the atlas record “Meeting of Ferentino and the plan for the Sixth Crusade” at Ferentino. The event is documented through Norman P. Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Fordham Medieval Sourcebook, Evolution of Crusader Privileges 1095–1270, Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘Crusades’.

Allies, opponents and geographical range

Jean de Brienne appears in the same records as II. András, VI. Leopold, al-Kamil, Pelagius, Pope Honorius III, Frederick II, Hermann von Salza. Co-occurrence does not always indicate alliance: the connection may involve command, dynastic rivalry, captivity, negotiation or direct conflict.

The principal geographical range represented in the atlas is Acre and Galilee; Damietta; Ferentino. These places record not only presence but also the supply lines, diplomatic contacts and limits of authority relevant to the biography.

Results of recorded decisions

The “Fifth Crusade armies at Acre” dossier records the consequences of this episode and identifies the source problems that limit a definitive reconstruction. Use this record as a starting point for comparing narrative sources, military practice, captivity, negotiation and the legal treatment of war.

The “Capture of Damietta” dossier records the consequences of this episode and identifies the source problems that limit a definitive reconstruction. Use this record as a starting point for comparing narrative sources, military practice, captivity, negotiation and the legal treatment of war.

The “Meeting of Ferentino and the plan for the Sixth Crusade” dossier records the consequences of this episode and identifies the source problems that limit a definitive reconstruction. Use this record as a starting point for comparing narrative sources, military practice, captivity, negotiation and the legal treatment of war.

Sources and historiography

Latin chronicles and dynastic narratives make the person's role visible, while charters, treaties, letters and Arabic, Greek, Armenian or Syriac accounts provide independent controls. Later heroic portraits are evidence for memory and reception, not contemporary biography.

Names and titles vary between languages; variant spellings and titles should be searched together in catalogues and texts. Approximate dates remain marked as such, and later literary or visual fame is separated from contemporary testimony.