bjj belt system

On July 14, 1229, an army led by the Lord of Beirut routed the mercenaries and feudal levees of the five Imperial Baillies of Cyprus. The battle brought to a dramatic end the misrule of Emperor Frederick II's minions. Yet all five Baillies not only survived the battle but fled to safety in three of Cyprus' great castles.  Most significantly, three of the Baillies took refuge in the impregnable fortress St. Hilarion -- and they had the young King of Cyprus, Henry, with them. While the Imperial Baillies held out in the hope of Imperial relief, the Lord of Beirut was forced to lay siege to a castle containing his king -- prima facie an act of treason. Today I look at the course and consequences of that fateful siege. The Castle of Kantara seen from below. Photo by the author. Following the Battle of Nicosia, one of the Emperor's Baillies, William de Rivet, sought refuge in the port castle at Kyrenia but surrendered the castle and left Cyprus when no Imperial aid arrived within...

Balian, the Lord of Beirut’s eldest son and heir, was the head of the Ibelin family in the fourth generation of the House.  He was a grandson of that Balian d’Ibelin who defended Jerusalem against Saladin in 1187, and the eldest son and heir of the leader of the baronial opposition to Frederick II, the “Old Lord” of Beirut. Yet according to his close friend and “compeer” Philip de Novare, he was a man of decidedly different temperament and personality from his more famous forefathers. Today I conclude my biographical sketch of Balian d’Ibelin II.   Philip de Novare tells us that when making his testament, the “Old Lord” of Beirut “gave many fiefs to his children and ordered that they should hold them of their eldest brother and be his vassals.” [i] In short, Balian was to the senior and greatest beneficiary of his father’s estate.   Clearly, Balian had been fully forgiven of any transgressions against his father. He assumed the leadership of the family. Yet we should ...

  Balian, the Lord of Beirut’s eldest son and heir, was a close friend and “compeer” of Philip de Novare. He, therefore, figures comparatively prominently in Novare’s autobiographical account of the civil wars.  He was an ardent supporter of his father’s struggle for the Rule of Law in Outremer and took over as the leader of the baronial opposition to Hohenstaufen rule in the crusader states at his father’s death in 1236. Yet, based on Novare’s account (who knew both men well), he had a decidedly different temperament and personality from his father. I provide a biography in two parts.   Balian first enters the historical record on the (unnamed) day of his knighting. Interestingly, Novare notes that he and his younger brother Baldwin were knighted jointly, suggesting that either Balian’s knighting was delayed or his brother’s was moved forward — or both. The knighting of a lord’s eldest son was always celebrated more or less lavishly, and a lord was often allowed to le...