year: 1249
text: February 1-28. G[uillaume de Cros] bishop of Limassol confers the sum of 20 pounds on the chapter of Clermont for masses on his behalf on the anniversary of his death.
February 1-28. G[uillaume de Cros] bishop of Limassol confers the sum of 20 pounds on the chapter of Clermont for masses on his behalf on the anniversary of his death.
sources: Claverie, ‘Une source négligée’, pp. 164-65
year: 1249
text: March 17. Lyons. Innocent IV writes to Brother Bartolomeo da Fossanova of the Cistercian Order, the chaplain of the patriarch of Jerusalem and papal legate (Robert de Nantes), entrusting him with the care and spiritual and temporal administration of the church of Hebron, which is deprived of a pastor, until the patriarch provides otherwise for the church on the pope’s mandate.
March 17. Lyons. Innocent IV writes to Brother Bartolomeo da Fossanova of the Cistercian Order, the chaplain of the patriarch of Jerusalem and papal legate (Robert de Nantes), entrusting him with the care and spiritual and temporal administration of the church of Hebron, which is deprived of a... more
sources: Innocent IV, Les registres, 2:59, no. 4422
year: 1249
text: March 23. Lyons. Pope Innocent IV writes to the patriarch of Jerusalem, relating that the pope ought to show benevolence concerning the desires of the vicar and community of the city of Marseille (Massilienses). Since, as he was told on their behalf, several people harass them in many ways relating to their goods in the addressee’s parts and elsewhere, the pope orders the addressee to protect them from undue molestation, forcing molesters with ecclesiastical censure, appeal put aside. Valid for three years.
March 23. Lyons. Pope Innocent IV writes to the patriarch of Jerusalem, relating that the pope ought to show benevolence concerning the desires of the vicar and community of the city of Marseille (Massilienses). Since, as he was told on their behalf, several people harass them in many ways relating... more
sources: Mayer, Marseilles Levantehandel, pp. 197-98, no. 13
year: 1249
text: March 24. Lyons. Innocent IV writes to the [cardinal-]bishop of Tusculum (Frascati) and papal legate (Eudes de Châteauroux), relating that he received a humble request on behalf of the noble woman Melisende (Mellisent), widow of Prince B[ohemund IV] of Antioch and daughter of the late King A[imery] and Queen Y[sabella] (Isabella I) of Jerusalem: since, as she asserts, she is linked to C[onrad], son of the former emperor F[rederick] and heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, via a closer line of consanguinity than all the other relatives that he has in those parts, and both de iure and by the ancient custom of the kingdom the person closest to the heir must have the lordship (dominium) and the regency (baiulatum) of the kingdom in the heir’s absence, she asked that the pope have the addressee put her in possession of this lordship and regency and defend her in that position, removing any illicit detainer. The pope thus orders the addressee to investigate and learn diligently the truth in this matter, and if it is so, to do what is just, if it can be done without argument (de plano) or scandal, using ecclesiastical censure against those who contradict. Otherwise he shall tell the pope in a letter what he does or what can be done.
March 24. Lyons. Innocent IV writes to the [cardinal-]bishop of Tusculum (Frascati) and papal legate (Eudes de Châteauroux), relating that he received a humble request on behalf of the noble woman Melisende (Mellisent), widow of Prince B[ohemund IV] of Antioch and daughter of the late King A[imery... more
sources: Paris, BnF, lat. 4039, f. 35r-v, no. 435. Innocent IV, Les registres, 2:60, no. 4427
year: 1249
text: March 31. On the island of Cyprus. Bishop Odo (Eudes de Châteauroux) of Tusculum, papal legate, (episcopus Tusculanus, Sedis Apostolicae legatus), writes to pope Innocent IV, after he had already sent him a previous report. He describes the arrival of the viscount (Geoffrey VI) of Châteaudun and other knights to the island, tensions among the Latins gathered there, the death of some nobles including the count [John] of Montfort. He also describes the contents of letters from the masters of the Hospitaller and Templar orders to Louis IX regarding the Muslim world and Latin-Muslim contacts (RRR 2713 and 2720). Envoys from Armenia and Antioch requested aid from the king (RRR 2721) and he sent balistarii. The king received envoys from Mongolia with letters, which Odo provides in Latin translation (RRR 2680). The questions which the king asked the envoys are listed as are their responses. The king sends them back with three Latin envoys, Andres, John and William. Odo says he converted 57 Muslim captives and engaged in theological discussions with Greeks. He describes the Pisan-Genoese conflict and a party sent there to try and settle it. Odo ends the letter indicating that the King decided to invade Egypt in mid-April and asks the pope to pray for their success.
March 31. On the island of Cyprus. Bishop Odo (Eudes de Châteauroux) of Tusculum, papal legate, (episcopus Tusculanus, Sedis Apostolicae legatus), writes to pope Innocent IV, after he had already sent him a previous report. He describes the arrival of the viscount (Geoffrey VI) of Châteaudun and... more
sources: Spicilegium, ed. D’Achery, 3: 624-28; RRH 1174. English translation in Jackson, The Seventh Crusade, pp. 74-83
year: 1249
text: March. [Nicosia]. [Cardinal-]Bishop Odo (Eudes de Châteauroux) of Tusculum (Frascati), papal legate, writes to all those who will see this letter, relating that it was his duty to carry out a visitation of the church of Nicosia, involving preaching, exhortation, correction, and reform. He first preached and exhorted the audience, then bound Archbishop E[ustorge de Montaigu] (Eustorgius) and the chapter and clerics of Nicosia by oath to inform him truthfully about what needed correction or reform. Thus via an examination the legate found the following in need of reform or correction. (I) The entire church of Cyprus neglected to hold episcopal synods twice yearly for correcting offenses and developing morals, and annual provincial councils for church business and hearing important cases, so the archbishop and bishops of the Kingdom of Cyprus shall hold these henceforth, or else be held accountable for their past neglect as well. (II) Contrary to the stipulations of the [Fourth] Lateran Council that each cathedral shall have a master of grammar and each metropolitan cathedral a master of theology, little or nothing of this has been applied in Cyprus. This is a sin and ignorance is the mother of all errors, but it is worse for a place so far away from schools that poverty, fear, and danger make it more difficult to travel for education. The legate orders the archbishop of Nicosia and his suffragans to rectify this immediately. (III) The archbishop, bishops, and their vicars are forbidden from resorting to excommunication too easily. (IV) The archbishop and bishops are to cease installing completely illiterate master chaplains in their churches, and from now on they should be at least somewhat educated. Their positions are to be permanent, unless they give just cause for removal, and their salaries are to be increased by 40 white besants for Nicosia and 25 in the other churches. (V) Capable and permanent priests are to be installed in the other parishes of the cities and dioceses, and they are to be paid in full the customary incomes at the required times. Each parish shall have fitting ornamentation, books, and a silver chalice. Since there are few Latin parishes in the diocese of Nicosia, the archbishop shall establish a new one in his casale of Fandia (Aphania) or nearby as he sees fit. (VI) Dignitaries, canons, those with assizes, and other clerics shall be paid in full, on time, without difficulty. (VII) When prelates resign or die, it is difficult to find anyone knowledgeable about the church’s possessions, incomes, and rights, so the archbishop and bishops shall examine their churches’ possessions, incomes and rights within two months, write them down separately, and give a written copy with their seal to their chapters to be kept secured in their archives, keeping themselves a sealed copy. (VIII) The archbishop and bishops shall attend more diligently to spiritual matters than in the past, no longer putting the temporal before the spiritual. (IX) Since the church of Nicosia once had a dean (although this had been doubted), and the church needs one, from now one it shall have one, with the income of two canons and the care of the souls of the chapter and clerics of the church, but without jurisdiction in disputes. He shall rank just below the archbishop in the chapter and the choir and will look after the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church. He shall reside continually in the church, under oath. If the one elected is not a priest, he shall swear to be promoted within a year. He shall do homage to the archbishop, who shall confirm and install him, but the chapter shall elect him. (X) Long ago, when the [Nicosia] church’s income was much lower, there were sixteen canons, but gradually through negligence this number was reduced, although the income rose significantly. The church shall henceforth have twelve canons, who shall receive nothing unless they reside in the church, except, with the archbishop’s permission and the chapter’s consent, if they are away studying, are held captive by enemies, or are away on church business or the business of the chapter if they have a dispute with the archbishop, in which case only the chapter’s consent is required. The archbishop and bishops shall have one or two canons with them, as is canonical. When a canon dies, his successor shall receive the same income in full. (XI) Canons who fail to fulfil their duty in something shall be fined six denarii each time, and those with assizes shall be very strictly corrected for such infractions and for missing hours. (XII) The ordinary of the Mass of the church of Nicosia is defective and often performed with confusion, so the ordinary shall follow that of a great secular church of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On common days in Matins readings shall be done from the middle of the choir, not from the pulpit, from which those in the choir hear little or nothing. (XIII) Since at one time a provincial council of the church of Cyprus established that the canons of Nicosia or their vicars shall do week services in their church, although this has been neglected, this shall be obeyed henceforth. A canon shall be able to serve through a vicar who is not a canon, since according to the custom of the church of Nicosia and of churches in the Kingdom of Jerusalem a canon shall [only] be assigned to a particular service by special assignment. (XIV) Cathedral dignitaries shall have two non-assized clerics in their houses, canons just one, who shall be their associates and increase the number of those serving in the church. (XV) No one shall enter the choir after the first Gloria Patri of the first Psalm and no one shall leave before the end of that hour without good reason. No one shall speak in the choir except concerning the current service. No one shall be barefoot in choir or wear an unbecoming habit. The cantor shall correct transgressions of the above by those in minor orders, but the dean shall correct those in major orders. The other rights and honours of the cantor observed thus far shall be preserved. (XVI) The seal of the chapter shall be guarded with two keys assigned to two separate members, which keys can be reassigned by the chapter when it wishes. (XVII) The legate reports the damnable and scandalous practice in the church of Nicosia that when a procession for the dead is requested, money or security deposits or pledges are demanded first. The legate has been told that, for tolling bells, digging graves, contracting engagements and marriages, and baptizing children, the cleric violently grabs one or more besants’ worth of candle wax that the layfolk have brought for the occasion. These practices are strictly prohibited, and nothing shall be demanded for these or similar things, which shall be done freely and willingly. If laymen do not observe this, they shall be compelled to do so, according to the statute Ut fuerit rationis. (XVIII) When the body of the Redeemer is brought to a sick person, a light should be carried before it in reverence, but the church of Nicosia has no fixed funds for this purpose and on occasion one has to beg for the church to have candles for this. The legate orders that sufficient wax be devoted to this purpose before the wax is distributed in the church. (XIX) Formerly, new canons swore to keep the secrets of the chapter and uphold the church’s rights, but this has been neglected for a long time, and the legate orders that those canons who did not swear shall now take the oath and new canons shall henceforth swear it. A canon shall not be required to defend the church’s rights to his detriment or alone, but only in good faith with the majority or saner part of the chapter. (XX) Formerly, the silk garments placed on the funeral beds of the dead who were to be buried in the church of Nicosia or its cemetery became part of the church’s decoration. This was changed recently, and the legate wants the old custom to be restored. (XXI) Although the whole Church should honour God’s saints, special veneration is due in the places where those saints died. Since it is written that several saints died in Cyprus, namely Barnabas, Epiphanius, Hilarion, Nicanor, Titicus (Tychicus), Iason, Spiridion (Spyridion), Aymon, Alexander, Potamius, and Nemesius, and the legate has learned that only three of these receive nine readings in the church of Nicosia, the legate orders that nine readings shall be performed on the feast day of each of the above martyrs or confessors in all churches of the Latins in Cyprus, as is proper. (XXII) To prevent errors when priests serve the host, when a chaplain appointed by Archbishop E[ustorge] celebrates Mass for the archbishop and his predecessors and an assized occasionally celebrates the Mass for the dead in the church of Nicosia, they shall have a subdeacon or acolyte assigned to each of them to serve during mass for weeks at a turn, using a table or a list. (XXIII) The archbishop and chapter shall receive copies of the above with the legate’s seal, one to be kept by the archbishops, the other by the chapter. The above shall also be transcribed into a large book of the church of Nicosia, at the end or the beginning, so that everyone of the church will have easy access to and awareness of the text.
March. [Nicosia]. [Cardinal-]Bishop Odo (Eudes de Châteauroux) of Tusculum (Frascati), papal legate, writes to all those who will see this letter, relating that it was his duty to carry out a visitation of the church of Nicosia, involving preaching, exhortation, correction, and reform. He first... more
sources: Schabel, Synodicum Nicosiense, pp. 160-73, text E
year: 1249
text: April 30. With the agreement of his wife Marguerite dame de Cesaire and his sister Heilehuis, John l’Aleman (Johan l’Aleman) sire de Cesaire makes a sealed sale of his lands near Acre, consisting of the casalia of Beitegen, returning 400 Saracen besants a year, Seisor, returning 700 besants, Nef, returning 600 besants, la Haseinie, returning 100 besants, Mergecolon, returning 2,000 besants, and Gelon, returning 200 besants, to the Hospital of St Mary of the Germans, represented by frere Everart de Saine, grant comandeor de l’ospitau de nostre dame des Alemans et en leu de maistre. In exchange for these revenues, totalling 4,000 Saracen besants a year, Johan is granted Nabatige, which returns 1,600 Saracen besants a year, together with a rent of 2,400 Saracen besants of Acre weight, which will be paid to him annually by the Order’s treasury in Acre or in its castle of Monfort, payable in sums of 600 Saracen besants 4 times a year. Payments can only be suspended in times of pestilence, invasion of the kingdom (la terre dou seingnor dou reiaume de Jerusalem ou de celui qui sereit son bail ou reaume et en lue de lui) and destruction of these particular lands in warfare. The penalty for a delay in these payments, promised by the brothers of St Mary of the Germans on their arms and habit (sur luer ames et par luer habit) will be 1,000 Saracen besants, guaranteed by the pledging of the Order’s casale of La Bace, which adjoins Casal l’Inbert. Johan will still owe service to the crown of Jerusalem (la seignorie dou reaume de Jerusalem) of 3 and a third chevaliers. Guarantors: of his homes, Hayme l’Aleman his cousin; Jaque Vidau; Michel le fiz sire Raou de Bazele; and some (unnamed) homes of the lordship of his cousin, Garnier l’Aleman.
April 30. With the agreement of his wife Marguerite dame de Cesaire and his sister Heilehuis, John l’Aleman (Johan l’Aleman) sire de Cesaire makes a sealed sale of his lands near Acre, consisting of the casalia of Beitegen, returning 400 Saracen besants a year, Seisor, returning 700 besants, Nef,... more
sources: Strehlke, Tabulae, pp. 78-81, no. 100; RRH 1175
year: 1249
text: c. 1244 – 1249. May 5. Acre. William of Chastel Neuf (Guillelmus de Castro Novo), master of the Hospital, writes to Briton, a knight of Marseille, asking that, because the land of Syria suffers divine judgement and the price of corn is high, he should facilitate the Hospitallers’ procurators in obtaining corn and many ships in whichever passagium for the use of the order and the poor of Christ.
c. 1244 – 1249. May 5. Acre. William of Chastel Neuf (Guillelmus de Castro Novo), master of the Hospital, writes to Briton, a knight of Marseille, asking that, because the land of Syria suffers divine judgement and the price of corn is high, he should facilitate the Hospitallers’ procurators in... more
sources: Delaville Le Roulx, Cart. Hosp. 2:615-16, no. 23-2; RRH 1129a
year: 1249
text: May 12, ind. VI. Limassol. In the tent of the praeceptor Terrae Hierosolymitanae. We, Guillelmus de Sonayo, master of the Temple, Rainaldus the marshal, Stephanus de Alta Turre praeceptor terrae regiminis Hierosolymitani, Jacobus de Montignoso, Marinus nomine (sic) praeceptor Uspri, Ferrandus Spagnolus praeceptor Antiochiae, Josfredus de Mural praeceptor militum, Aimericus Jaureo drapperius, and many other brothers acknowledge that we owe Otone Tornello, Stephano de Guiberto and Guillelmo Gervasio (being absent) 10,000 Saracen besants of Syria which we acknowledge that you have transferred to John lord of Bourbon (Borboni) on our behalf. We promise to pay Otone Tornello, Marino Bachimo, Lanfranco Tornello, Stephano de Guiberto, and Guillelmo Gervasio (being absent) or their procurators 3750 pounds tournois at Paris in the Templar house there at the (time of the) next Lagny fair (i.e. Jan.-Feb. 1250). Witnesses: Gandulfus de Florentia, Julianus Coxia, Obertinus Capud Levantus, Johannes de Dugle, Blancus Lupus, knights of the lord of Bourbon. Sealed with the seal of the house of the Temple.
May 12, ind. VI. Limassol. In the tent of the praeceptor Terrae Hierosolymitanae. We, Guillelmus de Sonayo, master of the Temple, Rainaldus the marshal, Stephanus de Alta Turre praeceptor terrae regiminis Hierosolymitani, Jacobus de Montignoso, Marinus nomine (sic) praeceptor Uspri, Ferrandus... more
sources: Belgrano, Documenti inediti, pp. 61-62, no. 32; RRH 1176. See also RRR 2747
year: 1249
text: †* May – early June. An exchange of letters of defiance between the king of France and the sultan of Egypt.
†* May – early June. An exchange of letters of defiance between the king of France and the sultan of Egypt.
sources: Ibn al-Dawādārī, Kanz al-durar, pp. 366-68; RRH 1177 and 1179. In Professor Peter Jackson’s opinion, conveyed to the editors in correspondence, these letters are fourteenth-century fabrications.