King Peter's Crusade, 1365

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@mids.org>]

Here's a peculiar corner of history.  Pete Cummings mentioned it in passing
twice in his newsletter, but I didn't catch it.  It seems that Henry Sinclair,
the future Earl of Orkney, went on a Crusade long after the Last Crusade.
This King Peter's Crusade, led by King Peter I Lusignan of Cyprus, had also
escaped my attention.

Pete didn't give a reference for where he got his information about Henry
participating in that Crusade, but elsewhere he said he got it from Niven.

Does anyone have any further information?

Appended is the text of the new page
 http://www.mids.org/sinclair/kingpeterscrusade.html

John S. Quarterman <jsq@mids.org>

King Peter's Crusade, 1365

     ``While visiting other capitals in Europe, [1]Henry Sinclair met
     Carlo Zeno of Venice. Then, Carlo was promoting support for another
     Crusade, this one called King Peter's Crusade. In Venice Henry
     Sinclair observed the Arsenale as it produced ships at the amazing
     rate of one per day! Henry Sinclair joined the Crusade, just as his
     ancestors had enlisted in previous Crusades. In 1365 their 400
     ships attacked Alexandria and flattened the enemy. As a result, the
     Islamic nations banned trading for the Venetians, forcing them to
     search for more trading routes.''
     -[2]Pete Cummings
     
     ``King Peter I of Cyprus finally organized an expedition that in
     1365 succeeded in a temporary occupation of Alexandria. After a
     horrible sack and massacre, the unruly crusaders returned to Cyprus
     with immense booty. Peter planned to return, but no European aid
     was forthcoming, and after his murder in 1369 a treaty of peace was
     signed. No further crusades set out with Jerusalem as the
     objective. What followed were not really crusades in the old sense
     but campaigns such as the crusades of Nicopolis in 1396 and Varna
     in 1444, whose purpose was to defend Europe against the Ottoman
     Turks, a new power in the East.''
     -[3] ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
     
     ``Peter of Lusignan, King of Cyprus, wishing to wage a good and
     profitable Crusade, departed with a great fleet and sacked
     Alexandria in Egypt. The Sultan of Cairo, Al-Ashraf Shaaban, as an
     act of revenge, persecuted all the Christians in his kingdom. He
     imprisoned sixteen Franciscans of the Holy Land. They remained in
     prison in Damascus for five years where they died of privations.''
     - [4]The Franciscans
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   Last changed: 99/12/19 18:10:45

References

   1. file://localhost/sinclair/who/henry.html
   2. file://localhost/sinclair/600/9805.html#Crusade
   3. http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/6/0,5716,118966+6,00.html
   4. http://www.christusrex.org/www2/liberation/III-4.html
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