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5 The Appeal to Count Thibaut: Crusaders, Jews, and Heretics in Champagne THE LATIN EMPIRE's CLOSEST Catholic neighbor was Hungary. Yet the kingdom with which it enjoyed the closest relations was France, thousands of miles farther west. It was an expedition of French Holy Land crusaders that had founded the empire in 1204, and it was an expedition of French Holy Land crusaders that Gregory called upon to save it in the late winter of 1235. On 16 December he ordered William of Cordelle, the Franciscan preaching the Jerusalem crusade in France, to commute the vows of at least 400 French knights who would be willing to fight in Latin Greece instead of the Holy Land.1 A Venetian fleet was standing by, ready to whisk them across the Mediterranean at a moment's notice.2 This time, unlike in 1204, the maritime republic was offering the transportation free of charge. Amid these calls for commuting vows en masse we find only one appeal to an individual crusader: Thibaut of Champagne.3 Thibaut was in a very different position than Bela when Gregory IX called upon him to stop the spread of heresy in Latin Greece. Unlike Bela, Thibaut had already taken the cross for the Holy Land, and unlike Bela, Thibaut had great need for papal support. Gregory attempted to persuade Thibaut of the importance of fighting for Constantinople, arguing that this would be the best way to aid the Holy Land and that without such efforts heresy would thrive. Gregory also used punitive measures to aid his persuasion. He withdrew promised funding, revived a host of outstanding disputes between himself and the count, and threatened interdict and excommunication ifThibaut did not rectifY his behavior. Despite such measures, Thibaut refused to commute his vow. The consequences of Gregory's call for a crusade against non-Christians 94- Chapter 5 threatening Constantinople were in this respect the same for Thibaut as they were for Bela: no crusade resulted. The consequences for nonChristians in Thibaut's own lands, however, were very different than they had been in Hungary. Refusing Gregory's call to commute his vow left Thibaut deprived of funds and eager to prove his piety. Short of money, Thibaut issued a captio, or taking, from the Jews of his lands, exploiting them financially to make up for monetary shortcomings brought about by his defiance of papal plans. Needing to demonstrate his piety despite this defiance, Thibaut authorized judicial proceedings against accused heretics in his own lands, presiding over a burning of 180 of them at Mont-Aime on the eve of his departure for the Holy Land. In Champagne, Thibaut's rejection of Gregory's call for violence against some non-Christians led to deleterious consequences for others. Thibaut was crucial to the plan to divert the crusade to Constantinople . He was one of the most prominent and prosperous of the French crusading barons, the ruler of both Champagne and Navarre, which he inherited from his uncle in 1234. Navarre put a crown upon Thibaut's head, something no other Barons' Crusader wore. Champagne gave him something more valuable still, economic resources that few of his companions could match. As count, Thibaut administered directly the counties of Bar-sur-Aube, Bassigny, Meaux, and Troyes, as well as several smaller lordships in the Yonne valley and in the regions of Soissons , Chalons-sur-Marne, and Reims. Powerful lords who owed him homage included the counts of Joigny, Roucy, Porcien, Rethel, and Grandpre. Yet what really set Champagne apart from other French principalities economically were the great fairs at Bar-sur-Aube, Lagny, Provins, and Troyes. These markets made Champagne the crossroads of European commerce and Thibaut a wealthy man.4 The lands, the revenues, and the titles made Thibaut a prize recruit for Constantinople in his own right, and perhaps one who could influence some of his neighbors in Champagne as well. Recruitment for the Holy Land had been heavy in the county, and ifThibaut commuted his vow, some ofthese crusaders might follow his lead. Champagne was also the home of many relations of the Latin emperor, John ofBrienne. They too might decide to crusade to Constantinople if their lord Thibaut encouraged them to do so.5 That, in any case, was the theory under which Gregory was operating. He really had little choice but to hope that Thibaut could influence the crusading decisions of his family and followers: even with William of Cordelle doing the rounds, the papal...

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