The Failure of the Overseas Crusade of 1269–71 Marks an Important Cae- Sura in the History of the Levantine Crusading Movement

Chapter Twelve

A Final Change of Formula: 1274–91

1. To the aid of the Holy Land (1274–91)

The failure of the overseas crusade of 1269–71 marks an important cae- sura in the history of the Levantine crusading movement. According to an opinion widely represented in the literature, these events led to the concept of organising large-scale Levantine expeditions through the universal preaching of the Cross (passagium generale) being abandoned, in favour of military operations based on mercenary armies and limited as to extent and aims (passagium particulare).1 In practice this meant the triumph of a tendency that had been developing gradually from the time when the the practice of contributing financially in return for the releas- ing of the crusader from his vows was introduced, which in turn gradually led to the crusades becoming primarily a fiscal instrument. This is also why, although after 1271 volunteer crusaders (crucesignati) still sometimes took part in overseas expeditions, in the opinion of many researchers that year marks the end of the “age of crusades”.2 The end of the traditional model of the crusade is shown by the fate of the planned initiative of Pope Gregory X (1272–76), who—just as before him Innocent III had once done—made the defence of the Holy Land the main feature of his pontificate. Following his great predecessor, the new Pope planned an expedition patterned on the Fifth Crusade—organised within the framework of the Church, financed by a special Levantine tax, and including as participants the most powerful monarchs and nobles of Christian Europe, led by the Pope himself.3 Just as Innocent III had done 60 years earlier, Gregory X called a great council to consider among, inter alia, subsidium Terrae Sanctae. The delegates finally met in the period from May to July 1274 in Lyons, where the decree Constitutiones pro Zelo

1 See, inter alia, Schein, The Papacy, the West and the Recovery of the Holy Land 1274–1314 (Oxford, 1991), pp. 15ff. 2 See ibid.; Cole, The Preaching of the Crusades; Schein, The Papacy; Housley, The Later Crusades; idem, The Crusading Movement, 1274–1700, in OIHC, pp. 260ff. 3 See Setton, The Papacy and the Levant, 1, pp. 112ff.; Runciman, History, 3, pp. 314–42; Schein, The Papacy, pp. 20ff.; Housley, The Later Crusades, pp. 12ff. 360 chapter twelve

Fidei, prepared by the Pope was confirmed.4 This document, although it repeated many of the earlier decisions of Innocent III, Gregory IX and Innocent IV, was also a reflection of the new tendencies. Above all, there was no mention here of the universal preaching of the Cross, the main emphasis being on how to finance the fight for the Holy Land. Apart from the traditional sources—testaments, confiscating the property of those found trading with unbelievers, special collection boxes placed in all churches—the financing of this task was to come above all from a special Levantine tax, to be a tenth part of the income of each church over a period of six years; there were to be no exceptions. The document also called on secular authorities to collect taxes from among their subjects to the value of one denar (unus denarius ad valorem Turonensis) or one sterling annually per person. In order to collect the money, Latin Europe was split into districts overseen by collectors and sub-collectors.5 At the same time as the measures defined by the Constitutiones pro Zelo Fidei were being put into action, Gregory X engaged in diplomatic activities intended to recruit members of the main dynasties of Europe to campaign under the standard of crusade. The fruit of these efforts was the creation of an anti-Moslem league with the German king Rudolf Habsburg, the French king Philip III, James I the ruler of Aragon and the ruler of Sicily Charles of Anjou at its head. They all took up the Cross, as did the Portuguese king, Alphonse I, Edward I, King of England, promised to take part in the crusade, and the Greek emperor Michael VIII and the Mongol khan Abaga declared their support. However, all it took was the death of Gregory X (10 January 1276) to cause the collapse of the plans for such a promising crusade. Gregory X’s successors twice attempted to revive his Levantine policies, but none were able to persuade the monarchs mentioned above actually to fulfil their vows.6 Since the projected crusade of Gregory X was intended to encompass the whole Roman Catholic Church, Poland found itself in the area within which it was being organised. Delegates from Poland were most prob- ably present at the discussions on the Constitutiones pro Zelo Fidei during the Second Lyons Council, at which it can be shown that the Gniezno

4 The Latin text of the document is printed in Purcell, Papal Crusading Policy, pp. 196–9. 5 See Dudziak, Dziesięcina papieska, pp. 56ff.; Schein, The Papacy, pp. 36–42; Housley, The Crusading Movement, 1274–1700, pp. 264ff. 6 See Tyreman, England and the Crusades, pp. 230ff.; Schein, The Papacy, pp. 44ff.; Housley, The Later Crusades, pp. 15–16.