Jean de Joinville

Jean de Joinville (also John of Joinville; * 1224 or 1225; † December 24, 1317 ) was Lord of Joinville and seneschal of the county of Champagne. He was also a confidant of King Louis IX. of France and is with his book about him as the first French-language biographer, in a modern sense.

Origin

Johann came from a family that was not recently become rich by getting married in the nobility and in the ( judge ) Office of the Seneschal of Champagne, was hereditary. At the age of about eight years, he lost his father, Simon de Joinville, after which he was brought up by his mother Beatrix, daughter of Count Stephen III. Auxonne.

Life

1241 Johann first detectable in his rank as Seneschal, namely at a court day in Saumur, where he was among other things, witness the knighting of Prince Alfonso of Poitiers. Subsequently he undertook a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. After his return he married. 1245 or 1246 Johann took the first part in hostilities at the feud of an uncle, the Count of Chalon, against Jocerand de Brancion.

Easter 1248, now he was the father of two children Johann took the cross, as it had already done several of his ancestors, and joined with ten salaried by him knights of the Crusade of King Louis IX. to Egypt to ( Sixth Crusade ). With his cousin Gottfried II of Apremont he stood out from Marseille to sea and reached Cyprus on the Crusader army. During the longer stopover on the island, he entered, at last but not least probably for financial reasons, the royal entourage.

On landing the Crusader army at the Egyptian coast beginning in 1249 and the capture of the port city of Damietta Johann distinguished himself. A little later took part in the disastrous siege of al - Mansura, on which the failed crusade. On the retreat to Damietta he fell in April 1250 together with the royal captive of the Ayyubid Sultan Mamlukentruppen. Johann was to be killed, but was spared when it turned out that he was cousin of the popular among the Muslims the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Subject to the payment of a high ransom, he was released on a month and together with King Louis, he embarked for Acre in Palestine. In Palestine he remained for four years along with the king and was promoted here to the steward and friend. While the King in the summer of 1253 in Sidon was among Johann took a pilgrimage to the Church of Our Lady in Tortosa, then he visited the Prince Bohemond VI. of Antioch, Tripoli. In all probability he visited on this occasion the grave of his uncle, Geoffrey V of Joinville, in the nearby fortress of the Hospitallers, the Krak des Chevaliers. The shield of his uncle, the latter had carried on the Fourth Crusade, is therefore likely to be marketed by him in the Kollgienkirche Saint -Laurent in Joinville, where he remained until 1544.

In the spring of 1254 John returned in the royal retinue to France, at Beaucaire he left in July 1254 by the King and returned to Joinville. There his first wife had died during his absence, which he passed in his chronicle later. Still in 1254 he rejoined the staying in Soissons royal court, where he. Testimony of the homage of Duke John I of Brittany to King Louis IX been. From then on, John took a firm place in Ratgremium of the king.

1267 was Johann Ludwig IX. forced to participate in a renewed crusade, which should lead to Tunis ( Seventh Crusade ). However, he refused because he ( for he had recently received a new marriage and again become a father ) and his vassals not want to let down the family ( " [ sa] gent "). Moreover, he considered the project to be wrong - not wrong, because Ludwig came in 1270 in Tunis killed to have achieved no success.

1282 was one of John 's Witnesses in the canonization process, which had been opened for Ludwig and 1290 ended with his canonization. The text of his statement is received.

He took as the Ancient of days at several military expeditions in part and died in the biblical proportions of medieval age of over 90 years.

Literary creation

Against 1305 Johann began ( who had already written a review of the Credo in Acre ) at the request of Queen Joan with the writing of Le Livre des Saintes paroles et des bons faits de nostre saint roi Louis ( "The book of the holy words and good deeds of our holy King Ludwig " ). It should be the instruction and edification of the Crown Prince (later Louis X ) serve and was completed in 1309 and dedicated to King Philip IV.

Naturally, pursued the work in addition to his educational purpose and policy objectives, namely the strengthening of the dynasty through the presentation of an exemplary ruler from their ranks. Johann but also brings itself to bear, because he told the first chronicler of French literature in the first person. In form, his work is a vivid account of his many encounters with Ludwig and mixed insofar genus characteristics of biography, autobiography, history and travelogue, but also the most latin written exempla literature of the time.

Johanns Image of a first biographer in the modern sense due to the fact that he is anxious the person depicted in spite of sympathy present as objectively as possible, ie in a variety of both everyday and formal situations, and to show him less than saints because as a good Christian and King, who certainly also has this or that weakness.

His work apparently did not achieve widespread use, because very few manuscripts have survived. After all, it was printed in 1547 under the title Vie de Saint Louis. Only in the 19th century, there was more attention among French historians and literary historians. A German translation ( Th Nissle ) appeared in 1852. During renouveau catholique Johann was particularly eager rezipiert of Charles Peguy, who is an early representative of the " mission of France" sees in him in the world.

Relationship with the Staufen

Family and descendants

In his first marriage he married about the year 1244 Adelheid (Adelaide ) of Grandpré, with whom he had the following children:

  • Gottfried ( Geoffroy, Goffredo ) ( † before 1290 ), offspring with the name Ianvilla in southern Italy
  • Johann (Jean) " Boutefeu " ( † around 1304), Lord of Ancerville

His second wife he married Alix de Reynel, of which he had the following children:

  • Marguerite ( Margaret ) 1 ∞ with the Lord Dreux I de Charny
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