Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre
Encyclopedia
Joscius (died 1202) was Archbishop of Tyre
in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
in the late 12th century.
He was a canon
and subdeacon
of the church of Acre, and became Bishop of Acre
on November 23, 1172. He was a member of the delegation from the Latin church of the Crusader states
at the Third Lateran Council in 1179. While in Europe he also visited France
on behalf of King Baldwin IV
, to negotiate a marriage between Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy
, and Baldwin's sister Sibylla
, but the marriage never took place; Sibylla instead married Guy of Lusignan
the next year.
Joscius succeeded William of Tyre
as Archbishop of Tyre sometime before October 21, 1186, when he is first attested in that position. Meanwhile Sibylla and Guy had become Queen and King of Jerusalem, against the ambitions of Raymond III of Tripoli
, who hoped to have his own supporters succeed to the throne. In Tripoli
, Raymond allied with the Muslim sultan Saladin
against Guy. In April of 1187, Guy, hoping to establish a truce, sent an embassy to Raymond, led by Balian of Ibelin
, Gerard de Ridefort
, Roger des Moulins, Reginald of Sidon
, and Joscius. The embassy was attacked by a portion of Saladin's army, which had entered the Kingdom at Raymond III's fief of Tiberias, and was defeated at the Battle of Cresson
on May 1. Balian and Reginald had stopped at their own castles on the way, but Joscius was present at the battle.
Joscius and Balian continued on to Tiberias where they met Raymond, who was soon reconciled with Guy in the face of this defeat. Saladin's invasion of the Kingdom resulted in the Battle of Hattin
on July 4, at which the entire army of the Kingdom was destroyed; the survivors fled to Tyre, where Conrad of Montferrat
soon took control of the defences of the city, after arriving later that month.
After the fall of Jerusalem
to Saladin in September, Conrad sent Joscius of Tyre to the West in a black-sailed ship, bearing appeals for aid, including propaganda drawings of the horses of Saladin's army stabled (and urinating) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
. Joscius arrived first in Sicily
, where King William II
promised to send a Sicilian fleet to the east; he himself died before he could go on crusade but his fleet helped save Tripoli
from Saladin's attacks. Joscius continued on to Rome
, where news of Hattin supposedly caused Pope Urban III
to die of shock. His successor Gregory VIII
issued the bull
Audita tremendi
, calling for a new crusade
and directed to the major European monarchs. Joscius then went to France
, where news of Hattin had already arrived and Richard, Count of Poitou
, had already vowed to go on crusade. In January of 1188 Joscius met with Henry II of England
, Philip II of France
, and Philip, Count of Flanders
, at Gisors
. He mediated a peace between Henry and Louis, and convinced them to take the cross as well. In England
, Henry promulgated the Saladin tithe
to pay for the crusade; this was perhaps influenced by the 1183 tax in Jerusalem, which Joscius may have mentioned to him at Gisors. Some later English chroniclers, including Matthew Paris
, claim that the Archbishop present at Gisors was William, but this is an error.
After the Third Crusade, Joscius became chancellor of Jerusalem
for Henry II of Champagne
, who had married Queen Isabella of Jerusalem
after Conrad's murder, but had not taken the title of king. Henry was involved in a dispute with the canons of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over the election of a new Latin Patriarch
, and had them arrested until Joscius intervened. Joscius was also present at the foundation of the Teutonic Knights
in 1198, and probably died in 1202.
Archbishop of Tyre
The Archbishop of Tyre was one of the major suffragans of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem during the Crusades and was established to serve the Roman Catholic members of the diocese....
in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
in the late 12th century.
He was a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
and subdeacon
Subdeacon
-Subdeacons in the Orthodox Church:A subdeacon or hypodeacon is the highest of the minor orders of clergy in the Orthodox Church. This order is higher than the reader and lower than the deacon.-Canonical Discipline:...
of the church of Acre, and became Bishop of Acre
Bishop of Acre
The Bishop of Acre was a suffragan bishop of the Crusader Archbishop of Tyre. Acre is present-day Akko.-List of bishops of Acre:*Hugh of le Mans?*c.1150 Frederick, Archbishop of Tyre*William*1172 Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre...
on November 23, 1172. He was a member of the delegation from the Latin church of the Crusader states
Crusader states
The Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and the Holy Land , and during the Northern Crusades in the eastern Baltic area...
at the Third Lateran Council in 1179. While in Europe he also visited France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on behalf of King Baldwin IV
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem , called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. His full sister was Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem and his nephew through this sister was the child-king Baldwin V...
, to negotiate a marriage between Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy
Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy
Hugh III of Burgundy was duke of Burgundy between 1162 and 1192. Hugh was the eldest son of duke Odo II and Marie of Champagne, daughter of Theobald and Mathilda of Carinthia....
, and Baldwin's sister Sibylla
Sibylla of Jerusalem
Sibylla of Jerusalem was the Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon from 1176 and Queen of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1190. She was the eldest daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem and Agnes of Courtenay, sister of Baldwin IV and half-sister of Isabella I of Jerusalem, and mother of Baldwin V of Jerusalem...
, but the marriage never took place; Sibylla instead married Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan was a Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of the prominent Lusignan dynasty. He was king of the crusader state of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194...
the next year.
Joscius succeeded William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
as Archbishop of Tyre sometime before October 21, 1186, when he is first attested in that position. Meanwhile Sibylla and Guy had become Queen and King of Jerusalem, against the ambitions of Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III of Tripoli was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva.-Early life:...
, who hoped to have his own supporters succeed to the throne. In Tripoli
County of Tripoli
The County of Tripoli was the last Crusader state founded in the Levant, located in what today are parts of western Syria and northern Lebanon, where exists the modern city of Tripoli. The Crusader state was captured and created by Christian forces in 1109, originally held by Bertrand of Toulouse...
, Raymond allied with the Muslim sultan Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
against Guy. In April of 1187, Guy, hoping to establish a truce, sent an embassy to Raymond, led by Balian of Ibelin
Balian of Ibelin
Balian of Ibelin was an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century.-Early life:Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, a knight in the County of Jaffa, had been rewarded with the lordship of Ibelin after the...
, Gerard de Ridefort
Gerard de Ridefort
Gerard of Ridefort was Grand Master of the Knights Templar from the end of 1184 until his death in 1189.Gerard of Ridefort is thought probably to have been of Flemish origin, although some nineteenth-century writers suggested an Anglo-Norman background, apparently through misreading his...
, Roger des Moulins, Reginald of Sidon
Reginald of Sidon
Reginald Grenier was Lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Rise to fame:...
, and Joscius. The embassy was attacked by a portion of Saladin's army, which had entered the Kingdom at Raymond III's fief of Tiberias, and was defeated at the Battle of Cresson
Battle of Cresson
The Battle of Cresson was a small battle fought on May 1, 1187, at the springs of Cresson, or 'Ain Gozeh, near Nazareth. It was a prelude to the decisive defeat of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin two months later.-Background:...
on May 1. Balian and Reginald had stopped at their own castles on the way, but Joscius was present at the battle.
Joscius and Balian continued on to Tiberias where they met Raymond, who was soon reconciled with Guy in the face of this defeat. Saladin's invasion of the Kingdom resulted in the Battle of Hattin
Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on Saturday, July 4, 1187, between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of the Ayyubid dynasty....
on July 4, at which the entire army of the Kingdom was destroyed; the survivors fled to Tyre, where Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat was a northern Italian nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the de facto King of Jerusalem, by marriage, from 24 November 1190, but officially elected only in 1192, days before his death...
soon took control of the defences of the city, after arriving later that month.
After the fall of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
On July 4, 1187 the Kingdom's army was defeated at the Battle of Hattin by Saladin and only Balian of Ibelin commanding a small number of soldiers remained in Jerusalem. The Siege of Jerusalem lasted from September 20 to October 2, 1187. On October 2, 1187 Balian of Ibelin surrendered Jerusalem to...
to Saladin in September, Conrad sent Joscius of Tyre to the West in a black-sailed ship, bearing appeals for aid, including propaganda drawings of the horses of Saladin's army stabled (and urinating) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
. Joscius arrived first in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, where King William II
William II of Sicily
William II , called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. William's character is very indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his palace life at Palermo. Yet his reign is marked by an ambitious foreign policy and a vigorous diplomacy...
promised to send a Sicilian fleet to the east; he himself died before he could go on crusade but his fleet helped save Tripoli
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
from Saladin's attacks. Joscius continued on to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where news of Hattin supposedly caused Pope Urban III
Pope Urban III
Pope Urban III , born Uberto Crivelli, was Pope from 1185 to 1187. He was made cardinal and archbishop of Milan by Pope Lucius III, whom he succeeded on November 25, 1185...
to die of shock. His successor Gregory VIII
Pope Gregory VIII
Pope Gregory VIII , born Alberto di Morra, was Pope from October 25, 1187 until his death.-Early life:...
issued the bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
Audita tremendi
Audita tremendi
Audita tremendi was a papal bull issued by Pope Gregory VIII on October 29, 1187, calling for the Third Crusade.It was issued just days after Gregory had succeeded Urban III as pope, in response to the defeat of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin on July 4 of 1187...
, calling for a new crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
and directed to the major European monarchs. Joscius then went to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where news of Hattin had already arrived and Richard, Count of Poitou
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
, had already vowed to go on crusade. In January of 1188 Joscius met with Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
, and Philip, Count of Flanders
Philip, Count of Flanders
Philip of Alsace was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. He succeeded his father Thierry of Alsace.-Count of Flanders:...
, at Gisors
Gisors
Gisors is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located northwest from the center of Paris.Gisors, together with the neighbouring communes of Trie-Château and Trie-la-Ville, form an urban area of 12,669 inhabitants...
. He mediated a peace between Henry and Louis, and convinced them to take the cross as well. In England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Henry promulgated the Saladin tithe
Saladin tithe
The Saladin tithe, or the Aid of 1188, was a tax, or more specifically a tallage, levied in England and to some extent in France in 1188, in response to the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187.-Background:...
to pay for the crusade; this was perhaps influenced by the 1183 tax in Jerusalem, which Joscius may have mentioned to him at Gisors. Some later English chroniclers, including Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...
, claim that the Archbishop present at Gisors was William, but this is an error.
After the Third Crusade, Joscius became chancellor of Jerusalem
Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
There were six major officers of the kingdom of Jerusalem: the constable, the marshal, the seneschal, the chamberlain , the butler and the chancellor...
for Henry II of Champagne
Henry II of Champagne
Henry II of Champagne was count of Champagne from 1181 to 1197, and King of Jerusalem from 1192 to 1197, although he never used the title of king.- Early Life and Family :...
, who had married Queen Isabella of Jerusalem
Isabella of Jerusalem
Isabella I was Queen regnant of Jerusalem from 1190/1192 until her death. By her four marriages, she was successively Lady of Toron, Marchioness of Montferrat, Countess of Champagne and Queen of Cyprus....
after Conrad's murder, but had not taken the title of king. Henry was involved in a dispute with the canons of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over the election of a new Latin Patriarch
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the title possessed by the Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Jerusalem has jurisdiction for all Latin Rite Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus...
, and had them arrested until Joscius intervened. Joscius was also present at the foundation of the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
in 1198, and probably died in 1202.
Sources
- William of TyreWilliam of TyreWilliam of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey. Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
, 1943. - Steven RuncimanSteven RuncimanThe Hon. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages...
, A History of the Crusades, vols. II-III. Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1952-54. - Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and his Heirs, Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 2000. - Peter W. Edbury, The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation. Ashgate, 1996.