Walter III Brisebarre
Walter III Brisebarre was a 12th-century Frankish nobleman who ruled successively as the lord of Beirut, lord of Transjordan, and lord of Blanchegarde in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Walter was the son of Guy I Brisebarre, lord of Beirut, and Lady Marie.[1] He had two younger brothers, Guy and Bernard.[2] He succeeded his father as lord of Beirut in 1156 or 1157.[3] Beirut was one of the greatest fiefs of the kingdom, owing 21 knights to the crown.[4] Walter was married to Helena of Milly, the elder daughter of the lord of Transjordan, Philip.[5] Philip outlived his only son, Rainier, some time after 1161.[6] When in late 1165 he resigned his lordship to join the Knights Templar,[7] his only surviving children were two daughters, Helena and Stephanie.[6] According to the contemporary custom, Helena and Walter stood to inherit from her father the entire lordship of Transjordan.[8] Transjordan, which owed 40 knights, was an even greater fief than Beirut.[4]
Walter and his brothers were taken prisoners by Nur ad-Din at the Battle of Harim in 1164, and their mother apparently took charge of Beirut.[9] According to the Lignages d'Outremer from the late 13th century, they could not afford ransom because they were spendthrifts.[10] Their mother was not able to raise enough money, so she offered to take their place as a hostage until the debt had been paid. King Amalric prohibited his subjects from lending money to the Brisebarres after their release. This forced them to accept the king's offer to pay the ransom in return for their exchange of Beirut for the much smaller fief of Blanchegarde. Walter's mother was then freed, but died only a month later.[5] 12th-century charters, however, show that Walter exchanged Beirut not for Blanchegarde but for a money fief in the vicinity of Acre.[5][11] The historian Bernard Hamilton infers that King Amalric wished to prevent the union of two great lordships.[6]
Through his marriage with Helena of Milly, Walter became lord of Transjordan in 1166.[11] The couple had one child, a daughter named Beatrice. Helena died by 18 November 1167. Walter remained lord, but only as the bailli for Beatrice, who was a minor.[6] Beatrice died by 24 February 1174,[12] and the lordship passed to her aunt Stephanie.[8] Hamilton presumes that King Amalric granted the lordship of Blanchegard to Walter to compensate for the latter's loss of Transjordan. Blanchegarde was only a small fief, however, owing eight knights.[8]
The principal beneficiary of Walter's mifortune was Miles of Plancy, who married Stephanie and became the new lord of Transjordan.[8]
Walter died between 1179 and 1186. His brother Bernard succeeded him as lord of Blanchegarde.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Mayer 1990, pp. 869.
- ^ Hamilton 1992, pp. 140–141.
- ^ a b Mayer 1990, pp. 868.
- ^ a b Hamilton 1992, p. 141.
- ^ a b c Hamilton 2000, p. 91.
- ^ a b c d Hamilton 1992, p. 142.
- ^ Hamilton 2000, pp. 91–92.
- ^ a b c d Hamilton 2000, p. 92.
- ^ Fulton 2024, p. 36.
- ^ Tibble 1989, p. 62.
- ^ a b Fulton 2024, p. 37.
- ^ Hamilton 1992, p. 143.
Bibliography
[edit]- Fulton, Michael S. (2024). Crusader Castle: The Desert Fortress of Kerak. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-3990-9129-9. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
- Hamilton, Bernard (1992). "Miles of Plancy and the fief of Beirut". The Horns of Ḥaṭṭīn. Proceedings of the Second Conference of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East. Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi. ISBN 978-965-217-085-9. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
- Hamilton, Bernard (2000). The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521017473.
- Mayer, Hans Eberhard (1990). "The Wheel of Fortune: Seignorial Vicissitudes under Kings Fulk and Baldwin III of Jerusalem". Speculum. 65 (4). University of Chicago Press: 860–877. doi:10.2307/2863565. ISSN 0038-7134.
- Tibble, S. (1989). Monarchy and Lordships in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1291. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822731-1. Retrieved 10 January 2025.