Comte de Brienne

Jean de Brienne, king of Jerusalem and Latin emperor-regent of Constantinople, was a man of sixty years of age before he began to play any considerable part in history. Destined originally for the Church, he had preferred to become a knight, and in forty years of tournaments and fights he had won himself a considerable reputation, when in 1208 envoys came from the Holy Land to ask Philip Augustus, king of France, to select one of his barons as husband to the heiress and ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Philip selected Jean de Brienne, and promised to support him in his new dignity. In 1210 Jean married the heiress Maria (daughter of Isabella and Conrad of Montferrat), assuming the title of king in right of his wife. In 1211, after some desultory operations, he concluded a six years' truce with Malik-el-Adil; in 1212 he lost his wife, who left him a daughter, Yolande (also known as Isabella); soon afterwards he married the Armenian princess Stephanie.

In the Fifth Crusade (1218-1221) he was a prominent figure. The legate Pelagius of Albano, however, claimed the command; and insisting on the advance from Damietta, in spite of Jean's warnings, he refused to accept the favourable terms of the sultan, as the king advised, until it was too late. ... more

• A1 = Engelbert III de Brienne, lvd:1004/1068, m. Wandalmodis;
  • B1 = Engelbert IV de Brienne, lvd:1035, m. Petronille;
    • C1 = Gautier I de Brienne, m. Eustachie, Countess of Bar-sur-Seine;
      • D1 = Evrard I, Count de Brienne, lvd:1113, m. Alix de Montdidier;
        • E1 = Gautier II, Count de Brienne, m. N. de Soissons;
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  • F1 = Evrard II, Count de Brienne, d:1191, m. Agnes de Montbéliard;
    • G1 ~ Gautier III de Brienne, Prince of Tarento, d:1205, m. Elvira of Sicily;
      • H1 ~ Gautier IV de Brienne, Count of Jaffa, b:1205, m. Maria de Lusignan;  ==>  House of Lusignan
        • I1 ~ Hugues de Brienne, Captain-General of Brindisi, d:1296, m. Isabelle, Lady of Thebes;
          • J1 ~ Gautier V de Brienne, Duke of Athens, m. Jeanne de Châtillon;  ==>  Châtillon
            • K1 ~ Isabelle de Brienne, m. Wautier III d'Enghien;
              • L1 ~ Louis d'Enghien, Count of Brienne, d:1394, m. Giovanna Sanseverino;  ==>  Sanseverino
                • M1 ~ Marguerite d'Enghien, m. Count Jean of Luxembourg;  <==  House of Luxembourg
    • G2 ~ Jean de Brienne, King of Jerusalem, Emperor of Constantinople, d:1237, m1. Marie de Montferrat, m2. Berenguela of Castille;  ==>  House of Trastamara
      • H1 . [m1]: Isabella de Brienne, Queen of Jerusalem, lvd:1211/1228, m. King Frederick II of Germany;
      • H2 ~ [m2]: Jean de Brienne of Acre, bouteiller de France, d:1296, m. Jeanne de Chateau-du-Loir;
        • I1 ~ Blanche de Brienne, m. William de Fiennes;  <==  Fiennes family
      • H4 . [m2]: Louis de Brienne of Acre, Viscount de Beaumont, d:1297, m. Agnes de Beaumont;
        • I1 . Henry de Beaumont, Justiciar Of Scotland, lvd:1309/1344, m. Alicia de Comyn;
          • J1 . Isabel de Beaumont, m. Henry Plantagenet, 4th Earl of Lancaster;