2787

After October 17. Acre. A brother of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem* narrates the course of the crusade of King Louis IX of France after the fall of Damietta. He describes the Christian advance into the interior of Egypt once the Nile flood had subsided; the encampment by the river; the crossing, at a place revealed by a Saracen (Sarracenus), by the king and his brothers the count of Artois (Atrabatensis comes), the count of Poitou (Pictavensis comes) and the count of Anjou (Andegavensis comes), the brothers of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar, leaving the brothers of the Hospital of St Mary of the Germans, the duke of Burgandy (dux Burgundiae), the count of Brittany (comes Britanniae) and others to guard the camp; the battle of Mansurah, during which the count of Artois (Atrabatensis comes) escaped, although this is later corrected, and Willelmus Longa Spata died a martyr. The brother of the Hospital of St John continues his narrative with the blockade of the Christians, the capture of the king and the rest of the army on 6 April, the insults to the ancient standards, the oriflamme (oloflamma) and the bauceant (baleanum), and the escape to Damietta of the legate, the patriarch of Jerusalem with some bishops and the duke of Burgundy (dux Burgundiae), who was sick. He summarizes the losses suffered by his Order and others. In the last engagement all the conventual brothers died, with the exception of the vicemagister et frater Johannes de Bonay, 4 who were taken prisoner and 1 who was taken with King Louis. Only 3 Knights Templar survived, although badly wounded, as the brother has been told while drafting his letter in Acre. The scouts (exploratores) sent by the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem into Egypt have not returned. In the battle of Mansurah, the count of Artois (comes Atrabatensis), about whom the brother of the Hospital of St John is critical, was killed, William (Willelmus) Longa Spata was martyred, and none of his company escaped, except for dominus Alexanderus Giffard, who was badly wounded and was later taken with the king or killed. Later in the letter this report is corrected: the vicemagister Johannes de Bonay was killed, together with the Order’s draparius. The truce made with the Egyptians was to last for 10 years, on, condition that the king of France paid 100,000 marcae argenti and that prisoners held by both sides since the battle of Le Forbie (bellum Gazaras, 1244) should be released; among these were the magister and brothers of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. Damietta was to be returned with all the arms and provisions in it. The Christians would hold Jaffa, Azothum, Caesarea, Castrum Peregrinum, Haifa, Caymotum, Nazareth, Saphotum, Beelford, Tyre, Canan Turoriis, which the Saracens (Sarraceni) occupied while the king was at Damietta, and Sidon, all of which the Christians held before the king’s arrival. The brother asks for prayers for the brothers of the Hospital of St John who had died. He believes that there were as many as 140 of them. He ends by criticizing prelates, and in particular a Dominican friar, who advised against accepting much better terms – the truce agreed in 1241 by Earl Richard of Cornwall (comes Ricardus), together with Jerusalem, Ascalon and Tiberias – while the army was camped at Mansurah. He criticizes the pope, who had refused to follow the good advice of the Emperor Frederick, advice that he hopes will still be followed. He has sent a shortened version of this letter to his brothers in France, but he is transmitting this longer version [to his unknown correspondent] and will write again if there are new developments.