left her and Alfonso’s son, the future John II, as the rightful heir to her
lands and claims–except, of course, that the boy was far too young to
inherit. Accordingly, Alfonso continued to bear the title and county of
Eu, much as his own father had once done at Brienne, in the Holy Land
and on the Bosphorus. This arrangement continued until Alfonso’s own
death, ten years later.^16
The earliest great event in Alfonso’s adult career was his participation
in thefirst crusade of his kinsman, Louis IX. There is a certain symmetry,
therefore, in the fact that Alfonso’s life came to an end on Louis’s second
crusade, twenty years later. Much like the earlier venture, the crusade of
1270 brought together various members of the Brienne family, although,
it has to be conceded, to a notably lesser degree. It is noteworthy, for
example, that Alfonso’s younger brother, Louis of Beaumont, did not
actually arrive in the Mediterranean until after the expedition had ended.
It was the other two brothers, Alfonso and John, who accompanied the
king. Indeed, it was right and proper that they should do so, in their
capacities as royal chamberlain and butler respectively.^17
Alfonso and John’s participation is confirmed by the rarest of survivals:
an incident that took place on this brief and ill-fated expedition. As is
well-known, the French host sailed not to Egypt or the Holy Land but to
Tunis, for what was meant to be a quick military demonstration there.
This would encourage (or coerce) the Hafsid caliph, al-Mustansir, to
declare his conversion to Christianity, without dire repercussions from
his own people. In this way, it was hoped, the forces of the Cross would
set a seal on their dominance in the central Mediterranean, piling the
pressure on Egypt to the east.^18 Soon after the host made landfall, in the
summer of 1270, Alfonso and John received an unexpected visit from
three Muslim lords (‘milites Sarraceni’), who declared their intention of
becoming Christians. An ailing King Louis advised caution on the
matter, perhaps because it was already becoming clear to him that he
had expected far too much from al-Mustansir. Amidst a murderously
tense environment, it is not surprising that the encounter degenerated
into a scuffle, in the course of which a number of crusaders were killed.
As a result, King Louis ordered that the three Muslims should be sent
back to rejoin their own side. It is interesting that the chronicler, William
(^16) See, for example, theCartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Michel du Tréport (ordre de Saint-
Benoît), ed. P. Laffleur de Kermaingant (Paris, 1880), no. 210.
(^17) TheListe des chevaliers croisés avec Saint Louis en 1269mentions the butler but not the
18 chamberlain (RHGF, xx, 307).
See my forthcoming article,‘The Hinge of the Mediterranean: Hafsid Ifriqiya and Louis
IX’s Crusade to Tunis in 1270’.
The House of Eu and Guînes 107