Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.3
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/339
Context
Marino Sanudo the Elder of Torcello, from a wealthy and powerful Venetian
family, was a statesman and geographer who spent much of his career from the late 13th
century until his death in 1338 living and travelling abroad, particularly in the
Peloponnese and Aegean islands, Cyprus and Cilicia, Constantinople, the Levant, and Egypt,
but also in western and northern Europe. A learned and eloquent advocate for a new crusade
to the Holy Land, he wrote the voluminous Secrets for Those Faithful to the
Cross (Secreta fidelium Crucis), a strategic manual full of
economic, military, and geographic detail as well as maps, and presented different versions
of it to popes Clement V (in 1307) and John XXII (in 1321). This passage from Marino
Sanudo’s account of the Holy Land relates how in 1208 a congress of leaders sought advice
from Philip II of France on the marriage of the young Maria of Montferrat to secure the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. Among the ambassadors was Aymar, the Lord of Caesarea.
Text
Demum videntes barones
regni Ierusalem Mariam puellam iam nubilem, convenientes cum Ierosolymitano Patriarcha
ceterisque prelatis ac militibus, coeperunt de sponso perquirere qui sciret et posset regni
iura tueri. Et tandem communiter deliberant ad Philippum regem Franciae transmittere, qui de
homine apto provideat ad gubernandum ac defensandam residuum Terrae Sanctae quod remanserat
Christianis. Nuntii quoque sollemnes ad hoc mittuntur episcopus Ptolomensis et Aymarus qui
ratione uxoris dominus erat Caesareae MCCVIII. Per Massiliam igitur
transeuntes in Franciam, legationis causam exponunt regi. Ille grate receptis nuntiis
celeriter ait deliberatione praevia se nuntios expedire.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Bongars 1611Corrigenda Note
Minor corr. (spelling, punctuation)Translation
At last the barons of
the Kingdom of Jerusalem, seeing that the girl Maria was now ready for marriage, meeting
with the Patriarch of Jerusalem and other prelates and knights, began to search prudently
for a husband with the knowledge and ability to safeguard the rule of the Kingdom. Finally
they all agreed to send a message to Philip, King of France, who might provide a man
suitable for governing and defending what was left of the Holy Land to the Christians. Sent
for this purpose, besides official ambassadors, were the Bishop of Ptolomaÿs and Aymar, who
was Lord of Caesarea by his wife, in 1208. Therefore, crossing into
France through Massilia, they explained to the King the reason for their mission. When he
had welcomed the ambassadors graciously, he quickly said that, according to earlier
consultation, he would ready (his own) ambassadors.
2
Translation Note
Adapted from Lock 2011Works Cited
- 1 Marino Sanudo, Gesta Dei per Francos Sive Orientalium Expeditionum et Regni Francorum Hierosolimitani Historia 2: Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis Super Terrae Sanctae Recuperatione et Conservatione, ed. Jacques Bongars (Hanover: Wechelian, 1611), bk: 3.11.3, p: 205.
- 2 Marino Sanudo, Marino Sanudo Torsello, The Book of the Secrets of the Faithful of the Cross: Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis, trans. Peter Lock, Crusade Texts in Translation 21 (London: Routledge, 2011), p: 325.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.3,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/339.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.3.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/339.About this Entry
Entry Title: Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.3
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.3”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.3”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife