The Fifth Crusade represented a cardinal event in early thirteenth-century history, occurring during what was probably the most intensive period of crusading in both Europe and the Holy Land. Following the controversial outcome of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, Pope Innocent III's reform agenda was set to give momentum to a new crusading effort. Despite the untimely death of Innocent III in 1216, the elaborate organisation and firm crusading framework made it possible for Pope Honorius III to launch and oversee the expedition. The Fifth Crusade marked the last time that a medieval pope would succeed in mounting a full-scale, genuinely international crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land, yet, despite its significance, it has largely been neglected in the historiography. The crusade was much more than just a military campaign, and the present book locates it in the contemporary context for the first time. The Fifth Crusade in Context is of crucial importance not only to better understand the organization and execution of the expedition itself, but also to appreciate its place in the longer history of crusading, as well as the significance of its impact on the medieval world.

The Fifth Crusade represented a cardinal event in early thirteenth-century history, occurring during what was probably the most intensive period of crusading in both Europe and the Holy Land. Following the controversial outcome of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, Pope Innocent III's reform agenda was set to give momentum to a new crusading effort. Despite the untimely death of Innocent III in 1216, the elaborate organisation and firm crusading framework made it possible for Pope Honorius III to launch and oversee the expedition. The Fifth Crusade marked the last time that a medieval pope would succeed in mounting a full-scale, genuinely international crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land, yet, despite its significance, it has largely been neglected in the historiography. The crusade was much more than just a military campaign, and the present book locates it in the contemporary context for the first time. The Fifth Crusade in Context is of crucial importance not only to better understand the organization and execution of the expedition itself, but also to appreciate its place in the longer history of crusading, as well as the significance of its impact on the medieval world.

John of Brienne's progress, from mid-ranking knightly status to king of Jerusalem and, later, Latin emperor of Constantinople, traces one of the most remarkable careers in the entire medieval period. But how and why did he achieve such heights? This biographical study of aristocratic social and geographical mobility in the 'Age of the Crusades' reassesses John's fascinating life, and explores how families and dynasticism, politics, intrigue, religion and war all contributed to John's unprecedented career. John was a major figure in the history of the thirteenth-century Mediterranean, and yet very much a product of the workings of the society of his day. This book reveals how John's life, and its multifarious connections to France, Italy, the German empire and the papacy, can illuminate the broad panorama of the early thirteenth-century world, and the zenith of the crusading movement.

John of Brienne's progress, from mid-ranking knightly status to king of Jerusalem and, later, Latin emperor of Constantinople, traces one of the most remarkable careers in the entire medieval period. But how and why did he achieve such heights? This biographical study of aristocratic social and geographical mobility in the 'Age of the Crusades' reassesses John's fascinating life, and explores how families and dynasticism, politics, intrigue, religion and war all contributed to John's unprecedented career. John was a major figure in the history of the thirteenth-century Mediterranean, and yet very much a product of the workings of the society of his day. This book reveals how John's life, and its multifarious connections to France, Italy, the German empire and the papacy, can illuminate the broad panorama of the early thirteenth-century world, and the zenith of the crusading movement.

The Briennes were a highly important aristocratic family who hailed from the Champagne region of north-eastern France, but whose reach and impact extended across Europe and into the Crusader States in the Middle East. It is a highly dramatic and wide-ranging story of medieval mobility, not only up and down the social ladder, but in geographical terms as well. Although the Briennes were one of the great dynasties of the central Middle Ages, this book represents the first comprehensive history of the family. Taking the form of parallel biographies and arranged broadly chronologically, it explores not only their rise, glory and fall, but also how they helped to shape the very nature of the emerging European state system. This book will appeal to students and scholars of medieval France, the Mediterranean world, the Crusades and the central Middle Ages.