John of Brienne
pencil
Gordon Napier
John of Brienne
(1148-1237)
John (Jean) Count of Brienne was a French noble who came to prominence
in later life. He held the title King of Jerusalem and also became Latin
Emperor of Constantinople.
In 1208 the barons of the vestigial Kingdom of Jerusalem asked Philip
II Augustus to send a French noble to marry Queen Maria and become King
of Jerusalem. Philip sent John of Brienne, despite his being Maria's senior
by 44 years. They married in 1210. John’s coronation in Acre was
arranged and attended by the Grand Master of the Templars, Guillaume de
Chartres. Two years later Maria died, shortly after giving birth to the
union’s only child, the Princess Yolande. John, retaining his title,
took a lead in the Fifth Crusade, fighting alongside the Templars. Unfortunately,
however, ultimate control lay with the Papal Legate Pelagius of Albano,
who steered the enterprise into a disaster. Subsequently John toured Europe
(in the meantime having married and lost another wife, an Armenian princess).
He met with Pope Honorius III and with the Emperor Frederick II, and promised
the Emperor the hand of Yolande in exchange for a guarantee of support
in the Holy Land. Then in Spain John took another young wife, Berengaria
of Castile. Meanwhile Frederick II took Yolande (who herself died in childbirth).
Frederick subsequently sought to deprive John of his title King of Jerusalem,
claiming it for himself. John gained revenge by leading the Guelf armies
against Frederick’s lands in Southern Italy while the Emperor was
engaged in the Holy Land on the Sixth Crusade. In 1229 John was invited
to Constantinople to take the throne as Latin Emperor. John held the throne
for the remainder of his life, and successfully held off Greek forces
from Nicæa who attempted to retake the city.
In this image I portray John at a time possibly after Maria's death. Her regalia sits on the more impressive throne beside his. The Kingdom is at a low ebb, without a true monarch and without its sacred capital. The throne designs here are somewhat fantastical, but incorporate appropriate symbolism and heraldry.