Tarot History Forum

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Mongol invasion of the crusader states
The Mongols attempted to form a Franco-Mongol alliance or at least to demand the submission of the remnant of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, now centered on Acre; but Pope Alexander IV had forbidden it. Tensions between the Franks and the Mongols had also increased when Julian of Sidon caused an incident which resulted in the death of one of Kitbuqa's grandsons. Angered, Kitbuqa sacked Sidon. The Barons of Acre and the remainder of the Crusader outposts, contacted by the Mongols, had also been approached by the Mamluks and sought military assistance against the Mongols.
Though the Mamluks were the traditional enemies of the Franks, the Barons of Acre recognised the Mongols as the more immediate menace and so the Crusaders opted for a position of cautious neutrality between the two forces. In an unusual move, they agreed that the Egyptian Mamluks could march north through the Crusader states unmolested and even camp to resupply near Acre. When news arrived that the Mongols had crossed the Jordan River, Sultan Qutuz and his forces proceeded southeast, toward the spring called Ain Jalut, also known as Harod's spring in Hebrew, in the Jezreel Valley.

For generations, there had been communications between the Mongols and Europeans towards the possibility of forging a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Mamluks, but without success. The Mongols had been repeatedly attempting to conquer Syria themselves, each time either being forced back by the Egyptian Mamluks or having to retreat because of a civil war within the Mongol Empire, such as having to defend from attacks from the Mongol Golden Horde to the north. In 1299, the Ilkhanate again attempted to conquer Syria, having some preliminary success against the Mamluks in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in December 1299.

In 1300, Molay and other forces from Cyprus put together a small fleet of sixteen ships which committed raids along the Egyptian and Syrian coasts. The force was commanded by King Henry II of Jerusalem, the king of Cyprus, accompanied by his brother, Amalric, Lord of Tyre, and the heads of the military orders, with the ambassador of the Mongol leader Ghazan also in attendance. The ships left Famagusta on 20 July 1300, and under the leadership of Admiral Baudouin de Picquigny, raided the coasts of Egypt and Syria: Rosetta,[11] Alexandria, Acre, Tortosa and Maraclea, before returning to Cyprus.[12]

The Cypriots then prepared for an attack on Tortosa in late 1300, sending a joint force to a staging area on the island of Ruad, from which raids were launched on the mainland. The intent was to establish a Templar bridgehead to await assistance from Ghazan's Mongols, but the Mongols failed to appear in 1300. The same happened in 1301 and 1302, and the island was finally lost in the Siege of Ruad on 26 September 1302, eliminating the Crusaders' last foothold near the mainland.

In Limassol auf Zypern befand sich der Hauptsitz der Templer. De Molay suchte einen Ausgleich mit König Heinrich II. von Zypern. Dieser wollte die Einkünfte der Orden – das betraf neben den Templern auch die Johanniter und Zisterzienser – beschränken und ihnen den weiteren Landerwerb untersagen. In den Verhandlungen darüber ersuchte de Molay auch Papst Bonifaz VIII. um Vermittlung.

Ab 1299 setzte sich de Molay massiv dafür ein, zusammen mit anderen christlichen Streitkräften und im Bündnis mit den Mongolen das Heilige Land zurückzuerobern. Ein erster Angriff des persischen Khans Ghazan Ende 1299 erfolgte unter der Teilnahme armenischer Truppen sowie armenischer Templer- und Johanniter-Kontingente. Ghazan richtete zwei Schreiben an die Ritterorden auf Zypern, in der er um Unterstützung ersuchte. Er schickte diese Schreiben aber erst ab, als er schon wochenlang im Feld stand. Die auf Zypern ansässigen Kontingente konnten nicht mehr eingreifen. Ghazan eroberte im Dezember zunächst Aleppo. Am 24. Dezember 1299 errang der Khan mit seinen armenischen Verbündeten einen glanzvollen Sieg über die Mameluken bei Homs; wegen der schlechten Versorgungslage der mongolischen Reiterei musste man aber die Verfolgung der flüchtenden Feinde bald einstellen und vergab so die Chance auf einen nachhaltigen Erfolg. Dennoch gelang es ihnen, in den ersten Monaten des Jahres 1300 Syrien fast vollständig zu erobern. Zugleich verstärkte der Khan seine diplomatischen Bemühungen. Für den November 1300 kündigte er einen neuen Feldzug an.

Im Frühjahr 1300 griff eine kleine Flotte, die aus Abordnungen der Templer, der Johanniter, des Königs von Zypern und des Khans bestanden, Ägypten an; Rosette und Alexandria wurden geplündert. Daraufhin wandte man sich nach Norden gegen Akkon und Tartus; ein Versuch, die Hafenstadt Maraclea einzunehmen, scheiterte aber. Molay betrieb die Koordination mit den Verbündeten und die Leitung der templerischen Beteiligung an den Unternehmungen von Zypern aus. Ende September brach Ghazan von Täbris auf, während Templer und Johanniter und der König von Zypern ihre Truppen auf der Insel Ruad vor Tartus in Stellung brachten. Doch ein ungewöhnlich strenger Winter brachte den Vormarsch der Mongolen zum Erliegen, und Ghazan musste den Angriff auf die Mameluken auf einen späteren Zeitpunkt verschieben. Einstweilen hielten die Templer die Insel und unternahmen von dort immer wieder Streifzüge auf das Festland. 1302 wurden sie von der Insel vertrieben und erlitten dabei schwere Verluste (siehe Belagerung von Aruad). Die mongolischen Angriffe scheiterten im Jahr 1303 endgültig und Ghazan starb im darauffolgenden Jahr. Dies bedeutete das Ende der christlichen Bemühungen, über Bündnisse mit den Mongolen zum Erfolg zu gelangen.

De Molay blieb in den folgenden Jahren auf Zypern. Im Jahr 1306 kam es auf Zypern zu einer Revolte, in der der Bruder des Königs, Amalrich von Tyrus, die Macht auf der Insel übernahm. In die Revolte, die von Teilen des örtlichen Adels unterstützt wurde, hatten sich de Molay und Foulques de Villaret, der Großmeister der Johanniter, nicht eingemischt, waren aber im Folgenden bemüht, einen Ausgleich zwischen den verfeindeten Brüdern zu erzielen.

The Templars' headquarters were located in Limassol, Cyprus. De Molay sought reconciliation with King Henry II of Cyprus. The latter wanted to limit the income of the orders – this included not only the Templars, but also the Knights Hospitaller and the Cistercians – and prohibit them from acquiring further land. In the negotiations, de Molay also sought mediation from Pope Boniface VIII.

From 1299 onward, de Molay campaigned vigorously to reconquer the Holy Land together with other Christian forces and in alliance with the Mongols. The first attack by the Persian Khan Ghazan at the end of 1299 involved Armenian troops as well as Armenian Templar and Knights Hospitaller contingents. Ghazan sent two letters to the knightly orders in Cyprus requesting support. However, he did not send these letters until he had already been in the field for weeks. The contingents based in Cyprus could no longer intervene. Ghazan first conquered Aleppo in December. On December 24, 1299, the Khan and his Armenian allies won a brilliant victory over the Mamluks near Homs. However, due to the poor supply situation of the Mongol cavalry, the pursuit of the fleeing enemies had to be abandoned soon, thus missing the chance for a lasting victory. Nevertheless, they managed to conquer almost all of Syria in the first months of 1300. At the same time, the Khan intensified his diplomatic efforts. He announced a new campaign for November 1300.

In the spring of 1300, a small fleet consisting of detachments from the Templars, the Hospitallers, the King of Cyprus, and the Khan attacked Egypt; Rosetta and Alexandria were plundered. They then turned north toward Acre and Tartus; an attempt to capture the port city of Maraclea failed, however. Molay coordinated with the allies and directed the Templar participation in the Cyprus campaigns. At the end of September, Ghazan set out from Tabriz, while the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the King of Cyprus positioned their troops on the island of Ruad, off Tartus. However, an unusually harsh winter brought the Mongol advance to a halt, and Ghazan was forced to postpone the attack on the Mamluks. For the time being, the Templars held the island and made repeated forays from there to the mainland. In 1302, they were expelled from the island, suffering heavy losses (see Siege of Aruad). The Mongol attacks finally failed in 1303, and Ghazan died the following year. This marked the end of Christian efforts to achieve success through alliances with the Mongols.

De Molay remained in Cyprus in the following years. In 1306, a revolt broke out in Cyprus, in which the king's brother, Amalric of Tyre, seized power on the island. De Molay and Foulques de Villaret, the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, did not intervene in the revolt, which was supported by parts of the local nobility, but subsequently endeavored to achieve a compromise between the feuding brothers.

There was a tradition that the Central Asian Naimans and their Christian relatives, the Keraites, were descended from the biblical Magi.[53] This heritage passed to the Mongol dynasty of Genghis Khan when Sorghaghtani, niece of the Keraite ruler Toghrul, married Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis, and became the mother of Möngke Khan and his younger brother and successor, Kublai Khan. Toghrul became identified with the legendary Central Asian Christian king Prester John, whose Mongol descendants were sought as allies against the Muslims by contemporary European monarchs and popes.[54] Sempad the Constable, elder brother of King Hetoum I of Cilician Armenia, visited the Mongol court in Karakorum in 1247–1250 and in 1254. He wrote a letter to Henry I King of Cyprus and Queen Stephanie (Sempad's sister) from Samarkand in 1243, in which he said: "Tanchat [Tangut, or Western Xia], which is the land from whence came the Three Kings to Bethlehem to worship the Lord Jesus which was born. And know that the power of Christ has been, and is, so great, that the people of that land are Christians; and the whole land of Chata [Khitai, or Kara-Khitai] believes those Three Kings. I have myself been in their churches and have seen pictures of Jesus Christ and the Three Kings, one offering gold, the second frankincense, and the third myrrh. And it is through those Three Kings that they believe in Christ, and that the Chan and his people have now become Christians."[55] The legendary Christian ruler of Central Asia Prester John was reportedly a descendant of one of the Magi.[56]

In regno Tarsae sunt tres provinciae, quarum dominatores se reges faciunt appellari. Homines illius patriae nominant Iogour. Semper idola coluerunt, et adhuc colunt omnes, praeter decem cognationes illorum regum, qui per demonstrationum stellae venerunt adorare nativitatem in Bethlehem Judae. Et adhuc multi magni et nobiles inveniunt inter Tartaros de cognatione illa, qui tenent firmiter fidem Christi. (In the kingdom of Tarsis there are three provinces, whose rulers have called themselves kings. the men of that country are called Uighours. They always worshipped idols, and they all still worship them except for the ten families of those Kings who from the appearance of the Star came to adore the Nativity in Bethlehem of Judah. And there are still many of the great and noble of those families found among the Tartars who hold firmly to the faith of Christ): Wesley Roberton Long (ed.), La flor de las ystorias de Orient by Hethum prince of Khorghos, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1934, pp. 53, 111, 115; cited in Ugo Monneret de Villard, Le Leggende orientali sui Magi evangelici, Citta del Vaticano, Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1952, p. 161. Hayton, Haithoni Armeni ordinis Praemonstratenis de Tartaris liber, Simon Grynaeus Johannes Huttichius, Novus orbis regionum ac insularum veteribus incognitarum, Basel, 1532, caput ii, De Regno Tarsae, p. 420 "The people of these countrees be named Iobgontans [Uighurs], and at all tymes they haue been idolaters, and so they contynue to this present day, save the nacion or kynred of those thre kynges which came to worshyp Our Lorde Ihesu Chryst at his natiuyte by demonstracyon of the sterre. And the linage of the same thre kynges be yet vnto this day great lordes about the lande of Tartary, which ferme and stedfastly beleue in the fayth of Christ": Hetoum, A Lytell Cronycle: Richard Pynson's Translation (c. 1520) of La Fleur des Histoires de la Terre d'Orient, edited by Glenn Burger, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1988, Of the realme of Tharsey, p. 8, lines 29–38.

Friedrich Zarncke, "Der Priester Johannes", Abhandlungen der philologisch-historischen Classe der Koeniglichen Sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Leipzig, Band VII, Heft 8, 1879, S.826–1028; Band I, Heft 8, 1883, S. 1–186), re-published in one volume by G. Olms, Hildesheim, 1980.

Letter of Sempad the Constable to the King and Queen of Cyprus, 1243, in Henry Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, Oxford, Hakluyt society, 1866, Vol.I, pp. cxxvii, 262–3."

Fertur enim iste de antiqua progenie illorum, quorum in Evangelio mentio fit, esse Magorum, eisdemque, quibus et isti, gentibus imperans, tanta gloria et habundancia frui, ut non nisi sceptro smaragdino uti dicatur (It is reported that he is the descendant of those Magi of old who are mentioned in the Gospel, and to rule over the same nations as they did, enjoying such glory and prosperity that he uses no sceptre but one of emerald). Otto von Freising, Historia de Duabus Civitatibus, 1146, in Friedrich Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes, Leipzig, Hirzel, 1879 (repr. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim and New York, 1980, p. 848; Adolf Hofmeister, Ottonis Episcopi Frisingensis Chronica; sive, Historia de Duabus Civitatibus, Hannover. 1912, p. 366.

La reconstrucción de la Abadía de Westminster mostró una importante influencia artística italiana en la construcción del llamado pavimento ' Cosmati ' completado en 1245 y un ejemplo único del estilo desconocido fuera de Italia, el trabajo de un equipo altamente calificado de artesanos italianos dirigido por un romano. llamado Ordoricus. En 1303, Edward I negoció un acuerdo con la comunidad de comerciantes lombardos que aseguraba derechos de aduana y ciertos derechos y privilegios. Los ingresos de los derechos de aduana fueron manejados por Riccardi, un grupo de banqueros de Lucca en Italia. Esto fue a cambio de su servicio como prestamistas de dinero a la corona, lo que ayudó a financiar las Guerras de Gales. Cuando estalló la guerra con Francia, el rey francés confiscó los activos de Riccardi y el banco quebró. Después de esto, los Frescobaldi de Florencia asumieron el papel de prestamistas de la corona inglesa.
Como banqueros, los Frescobaldi financiaron empresas para numerosos miembros de las familias reales europeas, en particular su conquista financiera de Inglaterra, que Fernand Braudel ha señalado como el mayor logro de las firmas florentinas, "no solo en el control de los bolsillos de los reyes de Inglaterra., sino también en el control de las ventas de lana inglesa, que era vital para los talleres continentales y, en particular, para el Arte della Lana de Florencia ".

The reconstruction of Westminster Abbey showed significant Italian artistic influence in the construction of the so-called 'Cosmati' pavement, completed in 1245 and a unique example of a style unknown outside Italy, the work of a highly skilled team of Italian craftsmen led by a Roman named Ordoricus. In 1303, Edward I negotiated an agreement with the Lombard merchant community that secured customs duties and certain rights and privileges. The revenue from the customs duties was handled by the Riccardis, a group of bankers from Lucca, Italy. This was in return for their service as moneylenders to the crown, which helped finance the Welsh Wars. When war broke out with France, the French king confiscated Riccardi's assets, and the bank failed. After this, the Frescobaldis of Florence assumed the role of moneylenders to the English crown. As bankers, the Frescobaldis financed ventures for numerous members of the European royal families, notably their financial conquest of England, which Fernand Braudel has noted as the Florentine firms' greatest achievement, "not only in controlling the purses of the kings of England, but also in controlling the sales of English wool, which was vital to the continental workshops and, in particular, to the Arte della Lana of Florence."

Die Zahl der Weisen schwankt in den ersten Jahrhunderten. Origenes (185–254) nennt als erster die Dreizahl der Magier. Auf Wandgemälden der Domitilla-Katakomben in Rom sind vier statt der üblichen drei Magier dargestellt, in einer anderen Katakombe sind (wohl aus symmetrischen Gründen) nur zwei Könige mit phrygischen Mützen abgebildet.
Nach dem syrischen Schriftsteller Jakob von Edessa (633–708) und weiteren syrischen Quellen unterschiedlicher Überlieferungsqualität waren es hingegen zwölf persische Könige (Zarvandades, Hormisdas, Gusnasaphus, Arsaces, Zarvandades, Orrhoes, Artaxestes, Estunabudanes, Maruchus, Assuerus, Sardalachus, Merodachus), und die Zahl drei geht nur auf die drei Gaben (Gold, Weihrauch und Myrrhe) zurück: „Die Magier, wegen deren Deine Brüderlichkeit gefragt hat, die aus dem Osten nach Jerusalem kamen, als Christus geboren war, waren aus dem Land Persien und von den Söhnen des Elam des Sohns Sem war ihre Genealogie. Und es waren nicht bloss drei, wie die Maler sie mit Farben dem Volke vormalen, weil sie von der Dreizahl der Gaben hörten, Gold, Myrrhe und Weihrauch, sondern 12, wie die genaueren schriftlichen Erzählungen überliefern. Es waren aber die Gekommen Fürsten und bekannte und berühmte Männer aus dem Lande Persien. Mit ihnen war ein grosses Volk, ein grosses Lager mehr als 1000 Mann, so dass auch ganz Jerusalem in Bestürzung geriet, als sie dorthin kamen und sich davor zeigten.“[15] Diese teilweise parthischen Fürstennamen aus Persien werden in diesen Aufzählungen innerhalb der syrischen Überlieferung mit ihren Vätern gelistet.[16][17]

The number of Magi fluctuates in the early centuries. Origen (185–254) is the first to mention the number of Magi as three. Wall paintings in the Catacombs of Domitilla in Rome depict four Magi instead of the usual three; in another catacomb, only two kings wearing Phrygian caps are depicted (presumably for symmetrical reasons). According to the Syrian writer Jacob of Edessa (633–708) and other Syrian sources of varying quality, however, there were twelve Persian kings (Zarvandades, Hormisdas, Gusnasaphus, Arsaces, Zarvandades, Orrhoes, Artaxestes, Estunabudanes, Maruchus, Assuerus, Sardalachus, Merodachus), and the number three only refers to the three gifts (gold, frankincense, and myrrh): "The Magi, about whom your brotherhood inquired, who came from the East to Jerusalem when Christ was born, were from the land of Persia, and their genealogy was from the sons of Elam, the son of Shem. And there were not only three, as the painters paint them to the people, because they were of the three gifts heard, gold, myrrh, and frankincense, but 12, as the more precise written accounts tell us. Those who came were princes and well-known and famous men from the land of Persia. With them was a large crowd, a large camp of more than 1,000 men, so that all of Jerusalem was in alarm when they came there and appeared before it.[15] These partly Parthian princely names from Persia are listed with their fathers in these enumerations within the Syrian tradition.[16][17]

Den Bezug der drei Weisen auf die Erdteile kennt schon Beda Venerabilis im 7. Jahrhundert, bei dem es in seiner Auslegung des Matthäus-Evangeliums heißt: „Im mystischen Schriftsinn bezeichnen die drei Magier die drei Teile der Welt – Asien, Afrika und Europa – oder aber auch das Menschengeschlecht, das bei den drei Söhnen Noachs seinen Anfang genommen hat.“[25] Meist wird der jüngste König Caspar, in anderen Quellen auch Melchior und seltener auch Balthasar als der Vertreter Afrikas angesehen.

The reference of the three wise men to the continents was already known by Bede the Venerable in the 7th century, who, in his interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew, states: “In the mystical sense of the scripture, the three Magi represent the three parts of the world – Asia, Africa and Europe – or also the human race that began with the three sons of Noah.”[25] Usually the youngest king Caspar, in other sources also Melchior and, more rarely, Balthasar, is seen as the representative of Africa.