7th Crusade II

One point about the naming of this crusade. You will find some source material (such as the Salles des Croisades) numbering it as the Sixth Crusade. This is due to debate in the past as to whether Frederick II's crusade counted; he was excommunicate at the time and he achieved his aims by the rather unknightly method of negotiation rather than by slaughtering the heathen.

Anyway, more on the participants. This crusade was predominantly French, though the Wikipedia article are a bit off the mark with the reason. Henry III of England was not involved in conflict with de Montfort at this point - relations had been strained but Henry actually stopped de Montfort going on crusade as he wanted him to govern in Gascony. Allowing him to return to Syria could have been a convenient method of getting him out of the way if necessary.

Some English did take part however. The most famous was William II Longespée, son of the 3rd Earl of Salisbury. He is often styled Earl of Salisbury, and claimed the title himself, but his father only had the title by marriage and the younger William's mother still lived. He was not an exile and, according to a letter he sent to the Pope, accepted that the denial of the title to him was in accordance with the law. (See the Wikipedia article). In fact, he was even given an annuity by the king and Henry may have been instrumental in William gaining additional land. See the History of Poole from around page 16 for more detail of this character. The figure on the left of the picture is painted as Longespée.
His standard is borne by a member of the de Vere family. I have used one of the variants of the standard arms with a black engrailed border. The figure on the mail barded horse bears the arms of the de Bohun's. I'm now doubtful that a prominent member of the family carried out his crusading vows but I kept them anyway.
The figures are all Old Glory 15s.

These are also Old Glory 15s - lances have been replaced as those moulded on are rather flimsy.

They are painted as some of the knights from Frankish Romania. In the centre is de la Roche, Duke of Athens (though he was in the 8th, not 7th, crusade). On the right of the picture are the rather plain arms of the decidedly unplain sounding Katzenellenbogen.

More OG15s. The centre arms are those of Ibelin, borne by the Count of Jaffa. There is an interesting passage in Joinville:
"The Count of Jaffa came ashore upon our left, who was cousin-german to the Count of Montbeliart, and of the lineage of Joinville. He it was who made the most noble show at landing; for his galley came up all painted above and below water with his escutcheons, the arms of which are "or with a cross gules patee." He had about three hundred oarsmen in his galley, and each oarsman bore a target with his arms, and to each target was attached a streamer with his arms embossed in gold."
This is one of the few instances I have seen where it shows the rank and file also bearing the arms of their lord.

Finally, some more French knights.
The main reason I have included this is because it shows a mix of Old Glory (right) and Mirliton (left). The two ranges mix very well. The OG shields are slightly smaller. I do have some gripes with the range. They are sold as 3rd crusade whereas they are far more suitable for the mid-13th century though some have an older style helm. They also lack a saddle cloth on either the figure or the horse and there is a ridge underneath which stops them sitting well on the horse.However it was easy enough to make a green stuff saddle cloth and this helped the figures to sit well. I like the full mail bard on some of the horses and there is a wider range of horse pose than Mirliton.

Alphonse of Poitiers

King Louis was accompanied on crusade by his brothers, Robert of Artois, Charles of Anjou and Alphonse of Poitiers.

Alphonse was the third oldest of the brothers (of those who survived childhood) and was given a sizeable amount of power and responsibility. He helped command against the English in the Saintonge War while still in his early twenties.

His mother was Blanche of Castile and this is represented in his arms.
Robert bore a label with the Castilian fortress on it and Charles initially had a bordure, also with the castle marked aroundit.
Blanche was seemingly a pretty formidable woman and made her mark through her sons. She was regent both in Louis's minority and again when he was abroad. He showed his respect to her in the decoration of the Sainte Chapelle in Paris- while the current decoration is a 19th century restoration it follows the likely original and for much of the surface the arms of France and Castile are scattered evenly across the walls. This chapel, incidentally, is well worth a visit. I went to watch a classical concert there and night which gives a chance to absorb the atmosphere and gaze at the decoration.

Alphonse's seal shows how the arms were portrayed on the caparison - France at the front, Castile at the back.

This layout, more than anything else, was the reason I wanted to paint the figure.

Alphonse was married to the heiress of the County of Toulouse and when his father in law died, Alphonse gained control of the county. This shows an interesting banner with the arms of Toulouse added to those of Alphonse, each portion of equal size. 

Alphonse seems to have been rather more level headed than his brother Robert. He fought well in the Seventh Crusade and returned to France to be co-regent when his mother died and Louis was still in the Holy Land. He took part in further campaigns to consolidate the gains from the English in France and then accompanied Louis on the Eighth Crusade to Tunis. This ended disastrously for the French but in a different way to the Seventh Crusade. This time, disease took many of the crusaders including Louis. Alphonse made it back to Europe where both he and his wife died.

One of his legacies was to leave the Holy See a grant of land which became the seat of the Avignon Papacy.  

St Louis and the 7th Crusade

The latest Slingshot (281) has an article about the 7th Crusade so I thought I would put up some pictures of figures I have painted for this campaign. I won't say very much about the background of the crusade - the article covers the main points. For more detail you can go to the eyewitness account of de Joinville .  Bartlett's 'The Last Crusade' is essentially a retelling of de Joinville with some additional information.

All the figures are 15mm Mirliton.


Firstly, the king - Louis IX.

 Suffice to say that if you ever ch
oose to paint these arms then you do indeed need the patience of a saint or a liking for fleurs-de-lys.
The figure with the plain red banner is painted with the arms of Clement as shown in a stained glass window in Chartres cathedral.

He was actually marshal of France a generation before this crusade, but I liked the arms and kept his association with the flag, the famous Oriflamme.

There are various descriptions of the Oriflamme through the years and it is possible that it was replaced over the years. This site gives a potted history of its appearance and the battles where it is thought to have been carried.

Since first painting the flag I added a bit of 'brocade' effect, just to add a bit of interest.

Next is de Joinville, whose account gives us so much detail about this crusade.

 This is a slightly later illustration of de Joinville from a 14th century edition of his memoirs. It is useful for showing how the arms were carried on the horse bard.


I have chosen a figure with a kettle hat rather than a full helm. De Joinville recounts how he gave the king his own to allow the king some relief from the heat.

The figure next to him, Hughes de Trichatel, lord of Conflans, is mentioned as carrying his banner at Mansourah.


I'll put some more pictures of personalities from this crusade in my next post, including some non-French.