This may also be the right place to note a curiosity: the dynasty’s
relative failure to produce many senior religiousfigures. Admittedly,
this observation can seem somewhat misplaced when we bear in mind
that the Briennes did give rise to a blessed abbot of Cîteaux (at, arguably,
the height of its influence); another abbot, who narrowly missed out on
becoming the head of the Premonstratensian Order; one of the most
notorious of all the prince-bishops of Durham; a highly significant abbess
of Maubuisson, who did much to shape that convent’s future; and
various other ecclesiastics as well. Nevertheless, when one considers
the sheer number and range of lay leaders that the family produced, it
is probably fair to observe that we might have expected more from the
Briennes in the Church. In this respect, at least, the young John of
Brienne’s move from the cloister to the secular sphere–the start of his
astonishing rise to royal and imperial stature–can stand, very well, for
the dynasty as a whole.
John was, of course, the pinnacle of the‘breakthrough and high point’
generation, which was outstanding in so many different ways. Despite
earlier false starts, the Briennes’move onto the international stage was
really begun by Walter III, through his marriage to a king’s daughter,
Elvira of Sicily. It is highly unfortunate, then, that we do not know more
about the process by which Walter was selected to do this. What can be
said with confidence, however, is that Walter’s nuptials gave rise to his
role in southern Italy in 1201–5, where he was a major political leader
in his own right. This, in turn, played a highly important part in the
accession of Walter’s younger brother, John, to the throne of Jerusalem
before the decade was out. Moreover, this was only thefirst peak of John’s
extraordinary career, since, soon after losing the crown of Jerusalem,
he contrived to go on to become Latin emperor of Constantinople.
A rise of this sharpness, scale and scope naturally marked the Briennes
out as one of the up-and-coming families–perhaps asthefamily–of the
early thirteenth century. However, something of the negative side of this
is discernible in the chequered career of Walter and John’s cousin, Erard
I of Ramerupt. Erard sought to maximize the gains that the Briennes had
already made outside their old homeland, and to turn them to advantage
back in Champagne. His failure shows that there was a ceiling to Brienne
expansionism, even in their most fruitful phase. Indeed, with the benefit
of hindsight, we could say that it confirmed that the Briennes would
continue to achieve their greatest successes outside Champagne, rather
than within it.
Despite the set-back of the‘Erard of Brienne affair’, it is the sheer
variety of the dynasty’s activities, over the course of the next generation,
that is really so striking. During this period, members of the family had
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