1. Artemide Aste
  2. Artemide LX (28-29 October 2023)
  3. Oriente Latino
Lotto 722:
Damietta. John of Brienne, King (1210-1212), Regent (1212-1225). BI Denier. Obv. Patent cross; annulets in second and third quarter. Rev. Head facing with curled hair and wearing crown with three pellets. Malloy 43; Schl. pl. III, 31; Metcalf 203/205. BI. 0.73 g. 17.00 mm. R. Good VF. John de Brienne minted billon deniers associated with the Fifth Crusade, when he was the leader of the Palestinian forces and Damietta was occupied (1219-1221). During preparations for the Fifth Crusade in 1217, it was decided that Damietta should be the focus of attack because of its strategical position. Control of Damietta meant control of the Nile, and from there the crusaders believed they would be able to conquer Egypt and then the Palestine and Jerusalem. After the siege of Damietta of 1218–1219, the port was occupied by the Crusaders. In 1221 the Crusaders attempted to march to Cairo, but were destroyed by the combination of nature and Muslim defenses.
Damietta was also the object of the Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX of France. His fleet arrived there in 1249 and quickly captured the fort, which he refused to hand over to the nominal king of Jerusalem, to whom it had been promised during the Fifth Crusade. However, having been taken prisoner with his army in April 1250, Louis was obliged to surrender Damietta as ransom.
Hearing that Louis was preparing a new crusade, the Mamluk Sultan Baibars, in view of the importance of the town to the Crusaders, destroyed it in 1251 and rebuilt it with stronger fortifications a few kilometers from the river in the early 1260s, making the mouth of the Nile at Damietta impassable for ships.
Base d'asta € 100
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