Crusades and Crusaders in Medieval Greece 63
itself. The French territories, on the other hand, were the traditional heartlands
of crusade recruitment; furthermore, the great majority of the Latin settlers
in Greece originated from those territories, to the extent that the former was
sometimes called nova Francia. The papacy often invoked these links and gen-
erally French pride in order to motivate response from a French audience.132
The Latin Emperors turned repeatedly to the French crown for assistance,
more often and more extensively than to any other secular power, indicating
that they perceived a significant bond between them.
Such local and family links were undoubtedly important in determining
where crusade reinforcements came from. Flanders, where the Latin Emperors
hailed from, and Champagne, the homeland of the Villehardouins and several
other Frankish lords, featured prominently. A Flemish contingent under Peter
of Douai, sent by Marquis Philip of Namur, Emperor Henry’s brother, seems to
have been the first crusading army to reach the Latin Empire, in late 1207 or
early 1208.133 The Champenois lord Erard of Chacenay and other kinsmen of
John of Brienne were urged to take the cross and assist Baldwin ii in the 1230s.134
It was not only French lords: the crusade for the relief of Thessalonica in the
1220s was led by Marquis William vi of Montferrat, the half-brother of King
Demetrios of Thessalonica, and the preaching and recruitment were organised
largely around his lands in northern Italy.135
Other participants had vested interests in the area. Venice, besides being
essentially a major “stakeholder” in the Latin Empire in the 13th century, also
played a crucial role in the naval leagues in the 14th-century, both in initiat-
ing them and in providing a significant number of vessels to the allied fleets.
Venice was also one of the main western powers expected to be involved in
the anti-Ottoman crusades: Emperors John V, Manuel ii and John viii all vis-
ited the city of St Mark in their search for western aid. Venice’s involvement
in such ventures was unavoidable on account of its commercial interests in
the Eastern Mediterranean and the presence of several outposts under its con-
trol in the area, most importantly Crete, Negroponte, Modon and Coron. The
Serenissima needed to keep the maritime routes safe. At the same time, the
132 See e.g. Pressutti, Regesta Honorii, no. 5006; César Auguste Horoy, ed., Honorii iii Romani
Pontificis Opera Omnia, 5 vols. (Paris, 1879–82), 2:528–30, no. 52; Malcolm Barber, “Western
Attitudes to Frankish Greece in the Thirteenth Century,” in Latins and Greeks in the
Eastern Mediterranean after 1204, pp. 111–28, at 114.
133 Chrissis, Crusading, pp. 29–30.
134 Auvray, Registres, no. 2877; Chrissis, “Diversion,” p. 130.
135 Chrissis, Crusading, pp. 68–78.