Throughout the 1270's and 1280's King Edward I of England was engaged in a correspondence with a succession of Popes - 6 in 10 years - over the Holy Land. Ever since he had been forced to abandon Acre in the 9th Crusade - Edward was the only man not to agree to Baibar's terms - the English King had always intended to return but in his talks with the Papacy he had insisted that domestic affairs had to be settled first.
Those domestic affairs involved the conquest and pacification of the Welsh and by 1284 this was pretty much accomplished. During his occupation with the Welsh, Edward had repeatedly stressed that his brother - Edmund Crouchback - was an experianced Crusader who would make a suitable substitute as the leader of a Crusader Army in his place but the Papacy had refused. Only Edward, they said, was a leader of international renown and pretiege enough to rally Christendom behind the cause.
With the Welsh pacified, King Edward now agreed to take the cross and to support his new Crusade he could expect significant financial support from Rome. Pope Martin IV had raised £130,000 for the venture but Edward knew from his first Crusade that this sum would not be enough - Edward's first Crusade had cost £100,000 and been a failure, despite the increase to his own reputation that followed. To raise further funds the Pope suggested another three year tax while Edward suggested a ten year one instead and they were in deadlock.
But this was not the main problem for a new Crusade. That came in the form of in-fighting amungst the Christian rulers of Europe.
Charles of Anjou- King of Sicily - had acquired Albania and the title as King of Jerusalem in his persuit of a Mediterranean Empire and looked to take Constantinople. But in this persuit he had come down hard on his Sicilian subject with demands for money and troops and in 1283 they rose up in rebellion against him. Had they been alone he could have quashed this rebellion but they were supported by King Peter of Aragon who sought to enforce his wifes claim on the island. In response Philip III of France was dragged into the conflict in support of his nephew Charles and declared war on Aragon
The Papacy was not happy. Sicily was their island and only the Pope could decide who ruled it and the Pope wanted Charles of Anjou to be its King. Peter was excommunicated and the Pope gave his support and blessing to Philip and the French and directed them to overthrow Peter. Pope Martin had even gone so far as to designate it as a Crusade.
Both sides now turned to England. Edward was on old friend of Peter and had been arranging the marriage of their eldest children for years while as Duke of Aquitaine he was Philip's swornf man and Philip called on his support in both that capacity and as his cousin. Edward had been able to use the Welsh as an excuse not to pick sides but with them pacified he had to do something so instead of interveening militarilly he offered to arbitrate.
This offer was turned down by Philip and the latest in a long line of debates over Edward's responsibilites as lord of Gascony began.
Neither the death of Charles of Anjou or Pope Martin were enough to avoid war and the French crossed the Pyrenees. This would have been the end of Edward's dreams of Crusade but a month or so later the news arrived, Philip III was dead, died with his army as it was wracked with disease. A lucky break for King Peter, who lasted only six more weeks before he, himself, died.
This left the young Philip IV and Alfonso III in the place of their fathers and Philip IV wasted little time in bringing the King of England in as arbitrator.
The main issues were over Sicily and the imprisonment of Charles of Salerno. Edward secured the relase of Charles of Salerno by an excahnge of hostages - initiatilly French, the changed to members of his own court until echanged for members of Charles of Salerno's Duchy - and £50,000 - £30,000 of which came from Edward's coffers - but the issue of Sicily was delayed because of the death of Pope Honorus IV and was not settled until long after Edward had left the Continent. He had secured the release of Charles of Salerno and created an avenue for negotiations between Aragon and the Papacy, and that was enough.
Edward's dreams of crusade were resurrected and even while he was attempting to assert the rights he and most of his countrymen believed the English King held over the Scots he dreamed of returning to the Holy Land.
His dreams were once more dashed by the French. A naval clash between Normans on one side and the Gascons and English on the other (probably instigated by Charles of Valois - who had been proclaimed King of Aragon before the French invasion and never actually held court there but refused to relinquish his cliam to the title despite having no hope of taking the throne and blamed Edward's intervention for robbing him of this title) gave the French the pretext to close around Gascony and look to take control.
Edward sought to smooth the matter over and sent official political ambassadors and his brother to appeal for negotiation. Philip IV refused to negotiate in insulting terms - refusing to recognized Edward's right as King for negotiation, recognizing him only as a vassal - while Edmund recieved Philip's blessing as family - he was both Philip's cousin and step-father-in-law - to work out a deal with Philip's wife, mother and mother-in-law to avoid conflict and come to suitable terms for both sides.
The deal was agreed that Edward would relinquish his lands in Gascony voluntarilly along with handing hostages from the region to French costdy then he would submit to a public dressing-down which soon after would be reveresed, his disgressions againsrt France forgiven and his lands restored.
But in this Edward, Edmund and the Royal ladies were decieved. Philip and the French court had no intention of honoring this agreementand when Edward forfilled his part of the bargin Philip used the pretext that the Duke of Aquitaine had failed to answer a summons from the French King to declare his lands forfiet. This led to war between England and France but the French King had been using funds raised for the Crusade to build himself a mighty fleet, thus the French conspiracy was complete and the English were left scrambling to responde.
Though Gascony was later restored to Edward's control by Papal intervention the betrayal of his cousin, the French King, had thown Edward's own kingdom into dissary as Welsh and Scottish rebellions broke out while English troops were mustered to go to the rescue of Gascony and civil war threatened as Edward sought funds and manpower.
But more than anything else the dreams the English King had long held for Crusade were crushed one again. Years later, after he had pacified the Scots between 1305 and 1306 Edward resurrected his dreams of Crusade only to have them dashed once more by the uprising of Robert the Bruce and his own failing health.
So, basically, what if Edward had managed to launch his Crusade at any time between 1284 and 1306? Would it have been doomed to failure no matter what or would the Christian states of Europe somehow manage to pull together to regain some of the land that had been lost?
Those domestic affairs involved the conquest and pacification of the Welsh and by 1284 this was pretty much accomplished. During his occupation with the Welsh, Edward had repeatedly stressed that his brother - Edmund Crouchback - was an experianced Crusader who would make a suitable substitute as the leader of a Crusader Army in his place but the Papacy had refused. Only Edward, they said, was a leader of international renown and pretiege enough to rally Christendom behind the cause.
With the Welsh pacified, King Edward now agreed to take the cross and to support his new Crusade he could expect significant financial support from Rome. Pope Martin IV had raised £130,000 for the venture but Edward knew from his first Crusade that this sum would not be enough - Edward's first Crusade had cost £100,000 and been a failure, despite the increase to his own reputation that followed. To raise further funds the Pope suggested another three year tax while Edward suggested a ten year one instead and they were in deadlock.
But this was not the main problem for a new Crusade. That came in the form of in-fighting amungst the Christian rulers of Europe.
Charles of Anjou- King of Sicily - had acquired Albania and the title as King of Jerusalem in his persuit of a Mediterranean Empire and looked to take Constantinople. But in this persuit he had come down hard on his Sicilian subject with demands for money and troops and in 1283 they rose up in rebellion against him. Had they been alone he could have quashed this rebellion but they were supported by King Peter of Aragon who sought to enforce his wifes claim on the island. In response Philip III of France was dragged into the conflict in support of his nephew Charles and declared war on Aragon
The Papacy was not happy. Sicily was their island and only the Pope could decide who ruled it and the Pope wanted Charles of Anjou to be its King. Peter was excommunicated and the Pope gave his support and blessing to Philip and the French and directed them to overthrow Peter. Pope Martin had even gone so far as to designate it as a Crusade.
Both sides now turned to England. Edward was on old friend of Peter and had been arranging the marriage of their eldest children for years while as Duke of Aquitaine he was Philip's swornf man and Philip called on his support in both that capacity and as his cousin. Edward had been able to use the Welsh as an excuse not to pick sides but with them pacified he had to do something so instead of interveening militarilly he offered to arbitrate.
This offer was turned down by Philip and the latest in a long line of debates over Edward's responsibilites as lord of Gascony began.
Neither the death of Charles of Anjou or Pope Martin were enough to avoid war and the French crossed the Pyrenees. This would have been the end of Edward's dreams of Crusade but a month or so later the news arrived, Philip III was dead, died with his army as it was wracked with disease. A lucky break for King Peter, who lasted only six more weeks before he, himself, died.
This left the young Philip IV and Alfonso III in the place of their fathers and Philip IV wasted little time in bringing the King of England in as arbitrator.
The main issues were over Sicily and the imprisonment of Charles of Salerno. Edward secured the relase of Charles of Salerno by an excahnge of hostages - initiatilly French, the changed to members of his own court until echanged for members of Charles of Salerno's Duchy - and £50,000 - £30,000 of which came from Edward's coffers - but the issue of Sicily was delayed because of the death of Pope Honorus IV and was not settled until long after Edward had left the Continent. He had secured the release of Charles of Salerno and created an avenue for negotiations between Aragon and the Papacy, and that was enough.
Edward's dreams of crusade were resurrected and even while he was attempting to assert the rights he and most of his countrymen believed the English King held over the Scots he dreamed of returning to the Holy Land.
His dreams were once more dashed by the French. A naval clash between Normans on one side and the Gascons and English on the other (probably instigated by Charles of Valois - who had been proclaimed King of Aragon before the French invasion and never actually held court there but refused to relinquish his cliam to the title despite having no hope of taking the throne and blamed Edward's intervention for robbing him of this title) gave the French the pretext to close around Gascony and look to take control.
Edward sought to smooth the matter over and sent official political ambassadors and his brother to appeal for negotiation. Philip IV refused to negotiate in insulting terms - refusing to recognized Edward's right as King for negotiation, recognizing him only as a vassal - while Edmund recieved Philip's blessing as family - he was both Philip's cousin and step-father-in-law - to work out a deal with Philip's wife, mother and mother-in-law to avoid conflict and come to suitable terms for both sides.
The deal was agreed that Edward would relinquish his lands in Gascony voluntarilly along with handing hostages from the region to French costdy then he would submit to a public dressing-down which soon after would be reveresed, his disgressions againsrt France forgiven and his lands restored.
But in this Edward, Edmund and the Royal ladies were decieved. Philip and the French court had no intention of honoring this agreementand when Edward forfilled his part of the bargin Philip used the pretext that the Duke of Aquitaine had failed to answer a summons from the French King to declare his lands forfiet. This led to war between England and France but the French King had been using funds raised for the Crusade to build himself a mighty fleet, thus the French conspiracy was complete and the English were left scrambling to responde.
Though Gascony was later restored to Edward's control by Papal intervention the betrayal of his cousin, the French King, had thown Edward's own kingdom into dissary as Welsh and Scottish rebellions broke out while English troops were mustered to go to the rescue of Gascony and civil war threatened as Edward sought funds and manpower.
But more than anything else the dreams the English King had long held for Crusade were crushed one again. Years later, after he had pacified the Scots between 1305 and 1306 Edward resurrected his dreams of Crusade only to have them dashed once more by the uprising of Robert the Bruce and his own failing health.
So, basically, what if Edward had managed to launch his Crusade at any time between 1284 and 1306? Would it have been doomed to failure no matter what or would the Christian states of Europe somehow manage to pull together to regain some of the land that had been lost?
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