Gauthier IV de Brienne

Notes:

Count of Brienne; Count of Jaffa.

From Leo Van de Pas (citation details below):

Gauthier was born in 1205, the son of Gauthier III de Brienne, prince of Tarente, comte de Brienne, and Elvira (Albiria) of Sicily. Around the time of his birth, his father lost his bid for the Sicilian throne and died in prison. His inheritance of the principality of Tarente and the county of Lecce was confiscated.

Gauthier IV was not a crusader per se, but a baron of Outremer, having emigrated there upon or following his arranged marriage to Marie de Lusignan about 1233. His family had various Italian involvements with Emperor Frederick II through Gauthier's Sicilian mother, and of course strong connections to Outremer with the marriage of his uncle Jean de Brienne to the heiress of Jerusalem.

As count of Jaffa he had a good military reputation over a number of years. However he was involved in the great losses of the kingdom of Jerusalem to the Khorasmians in 1244. One of the commanders of the combined army of the kingdom in the field against the Khorasmians in October 1244, his tactical choices in the field of Herbgiya (a few miles northeast of Gaza) on 17 October 1244 spelled disaster: the defeat of the army of the kingdom of Jerusalem, and the greatest loss in pitched battle since Hattin.

Gauthier was taken prisoner. The Khorasmian army then marched to Jaffa and besieged it, hanging Gauthier on a forked pole, outside the walls, threatening to leave him hanging until Jaffa capitulated. While dangling he shouted to his men not to capitulate, and that he would kill them with his own hands if they did. Jaffa held.

He was eventually taken to Cairo. Joinville tells us that the Sultan handed him over to various commanders who avenged their losses at his hands, presumably by torturing him to death at an unknown date, but thought to be between 1247 and 1251. His cousin Marguerite had his remains taken from Cairo and removed to Acre for burial.

Gauthier married Marie de Lusignan about 1233. Marie (daughter of Hugues I de Lusignan, King of Cyprus and Alix de Champagne) was born in 1215; died after 1251. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Hugues was born about 1236; died on 9 Aug 1296 in Sicily.

Notes:

Prince of Tarente, Count of Brienne, Duke of Apulia, Count of Lecce, and titular King of Sicily 1201-1205.

"In 1200 Gauthier married the sister and heiress of the deposed King Guglielmo III of Sicily. Her precise name is unclear but has been given variously as Elvira or Albinia, but also as Maria, Albiria and Blanche. At the time of their marriage, she and her family were exiles in France, trying to find allies to reclaim the kingdom of Sicily from the young King Fadrique (the future Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor, son of Heinrich VI, who deposed Guglielmo, had him blinded and castrated, and took him to Germany where he died). As her husband, Gauthier was recognised by Pope Innocent III as prince of Taranto, duke of Apulia, and count of Lecce. After the Battle of Agnella in 1201, he took the title of King of Sicily. In 1204 he was besieged in the fortress of Terracino by Diepold von Vohburg and lost an eye to an arrow, but he broke the siege and put Diepold to flight. On 11 June 1205 he was ambushed by Diepold while besieging him at Sarno, and was mortally wounded. Gauthier died imprisoned by the Germans on 14 June 1205, and was buried at the church of St. Maria della Foce in Sarno. Later in 1205 Gauthier's widow gave birth to his son Gauthier, who became known as Gauthier IV 'le Grand' de Brienne, comte de Brienne, count of Jaffa; he received only the county of Brienne, his Sicilian inheritance having been confiscated because of his father's rebellion." [Leo van de Pas, citation details below]

Gauthier married Elvira de Lecce in 1200 in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France. Elvira (daughter of Tancred, King of Sicily and Sibilla d'Aquino) died after 1216. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Albiria, Albinia, Maria, and Blanche.

Notes:

Count of Brienne. He was a French general in the Third Crusade, most notably at the siege of Acre.

Erard married Agnès. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"[Jean de Brienne's] mother's name was Agnès, but she may have been a second wife of his father after the death of the first - who was from the Montfaucon family, but not definitely named Agnès. The mother of Jean may have been a daughter of Guillaume III, count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre by Ida of Sponheim." [Peter Stewart, SGM, 10 June 2020]

Notes:

From Leo van de Pas:

Tancred was born in 1135, the illegitimate son of Roger, duke of Apulia, and Bianca di Lecce, daughter of Accardo, conte di Lecce. He inherited the title of 'Count of Lecce' from his grandfather, and is consequently often referred to as Tancred of Lecce. He was crowned king of Sicily in January 1190 in succession to Guglielmo II who had died the previous year.

He was supported by the chancellor Matteo d'Ajello and the official class, while the rival claims or Roger II's daughter Costanza and her husband Heinrich VI, king of the Romans, were supported by most of the nobles. Tancred was a good soldier, though his tiny stature earns from Peter of Eboli the nickname 'Tancredulus.' But he was ill-supported in his task of maintaining the Norman kingdom, faced with general apathy and threatened by a baronial revolt, and in addition, Richard 'the Lionheart', at Messina in 1190, threatened him with war.

Heinrich VI, skilfully winning over Pisa, Genoa and the Roman Commune, isolated Tancred and intimidated Pope Celestine III, who on 14 April 1191 crowned him Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. However Heinrich failed to capture Naples in August and retired north, leaving garrisons along the frontier of the Regno. Tancred now sought to win over the towns by extensive grants of privileges, and at Gravina (in June 1192) he was recognised by the pope, whose ineffectual support he gained by surrendering the royal legateship over Sicily. In 1192 and 1193 he commanded personally and with success against the Apulian barons, but his death at Palermo (on 20 February 1194) a few days after that of Roger, his son and joint-king, made Heinrich's path clear.

Tancred's wife Sibilla d'Aquino maintained a regency for her second son Guglielmo III, but on Heinrich's final descent, Naples surrendered almost without a blow in May 1194, and the rest of the Regno followed. Sibilla and the loyal Margarito of Brindisi, the great admiral of Sicily, prepared to defend Palermo, but the citizens admitted the emperor on 20 November 1194. Tancred's family, and Margarito, fell into Heinrich's hands. Claiming that a conspiracy on behalf of Guglielmo had been detected, he had the young Guglielmo blinded and castrated while all those nobles present at Tancred's coronation were burnt alive. Guglielmo seems to have died in Germany in 1198.

Tancred and Sibilla had a daughter usually called Elvira or Albiria, who married Gauthier III de Brienne, prince of Tarente, comte de Brienne. At the time of their marriage, she and her family were exiles in France, trying to find allies to reclaim the kingdom of Sicily from the young King Fadrique (the future Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor). Their son Gauthier IV would have progeny to continue the line of counts of Brienne.

Tancred married Sibilla d'Aquino. Sibilla (daughter of Rainaldo d'Aquino and Cecilia di Medania) was born about 1153; died on 27 Mar 1204. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 27 Mar 1205

Notes:

Also called Sibylla of Acerra.

Notes:

Count of Brienne. Crusader.

Gautier married Adelais of Baudemont. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called, on some occasions, Hubelina. Peter Stewart's 6 Feb 2011 post to SGM demonstrates that Adelais and Hubelina have to have been the same person, and that contrary to some claims, she was the only known wife of Gautier II.

Notes:

Duke of Apulia.

Roger married Bianca de Lecce. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rainaldo married Cecilia di Medania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Count of Brienne. Crusader.

Erard married Alix in 1110. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Dame de Ramerupt. Mentioned 1108.

Notes:

Seigneur de Baudement et Braine. Seneschal of Champagne.

André married Agnès of Braine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lady of Braine.

Notes:

Also Count of Sicily, Duke of Calabria, Duke of Apulia.

Roger married Elvira of Castile in 1120. Elvira (daughter of Alfonso VI, King of Leon, Castile, and Galicia and Isabel) was born about 1097; died in 1135. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Count of Lecce.

Notes:

Count of Aquino.

Notes:

Count of Acerra. Mentioned c. 1134.

Notes:

Count of Brienne.

Gauthier married Eustache de Bar-sur-Seine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sire de Ramerupt et d'Arcis-sur-Aube.

André married Adèle. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Count of Sicily.

Roger married Adelaide de Savona in 1090. Adelaide (daughter of Manfredo de Savona) was born about 1075; died on 16 Apr 1118. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Regent of Sicily.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 30 Jun 1109, Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Alfonso married Isabel. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]