Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6
created: This entry is taken from Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6 written
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: la; la
availability: Except for materials quoted from other sources, this entry is copyright 2023 by the contributors (Joseph L. Rife, et al.) and the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project. It is licensed under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Some texts quoted in this entry may be in the public domain in the United States. No copyright is asserted for these quotations. Some texts quoted in this entry may have copyright restrictions and are reused under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/341

Caesareae

, and

Caesarea

are directly attested at Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6. This passage was written ca. 1306-1321 C.E. possibly in Aegean Greece. 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 records events early in the Fifth Crusade, in particular the costly departure of Andrew II from Tripoli back to Hungary in January of 1218 and the subsequent capture of Caesarea and refortification of Athlit.

Post haec exercitus Domini quadrifariam dividitur. Reges enim Ungariae et Cypri Tripolim profecti sunt. Ibique rex Ungariae tempore immoratus cum magno damno Terrae Promissionis abscessi, peregrinos, dextarios, iumenta, et arma cum galeis secum trahens, licet a patriarcha prius monitus et tandem cum sua sequela excommunicationis vinculo innodatus. Alia pars timidorum et effeminatorum remansit Ptolomaydae. Rex vero Ierusalem et dux Austriae cum Hospitalariis Sancti Iohannis et praedictis prelatis ac quibusdam aliis celeriter et utiliter castrum Caesareae firmaverunt. Templarii vero auxiliantibus peregrinis et Hospitali de domo Theotonicorum castrum quod prius dicibatur Filii Dei reaedificaverunt Peregrinorum vocant. Ibi in fossionibus ignota moneta inventa est, peregrinorum labores et sumptus allevians.

[Ed. Bongars 1611] [Minor corr. (punctuation, spelling)]

After this the army of the Lord was split into four parts. The Kings of Hungary and Cyprus [Andrew II and Hugh I] proceeded to Tripoli. There the King of Hungary after a short delay departed with great damage to the Promised Land, taking in the galleys with him pilgrims, war horses, draft animals, and weapons, even though he was previously warned by the Patriarch [Raoul of Merencourt] and then, as a result of his subsequent actions, shackled by the chain of excommunication. Another part (of the army) made up of timid and effeminate men remained at Ptolemaÿs. The King of Jerusalem and the Duke of Austria [John I and Leopold VI] along with the Hospitallers of Saint John, the aforementioned prelates, and others quickly and advantageously secured the fortress of Caesarea. The Templars with the help of the pilgrims and the Hospital of the House of the Germans rebuilt the castle which formerly was called the Castle of the Son of God and they called it the Castle of the Pilgrims. There in the ditches money was found unexpectedly, lightening the hard work and expenses of the pilgrims.

[Adapted from Lock 2011]

Works Cited

[...] 3.11.6 207
[...] 328

[Austria

Castrum Peregrinorum (Athlit, Pilgrims’ Castle, Castellum Peregrinorum, Petra Incisa)

Cyprus

Hungary

Jerusalem

Ptolomayda (Ptolemaïs, Accaron, Acco, Akko, Acre)

Tripoli (Phoenicia)]

[Andrew II, king of Hungary

Hugh I, king of Cyprus

John I, king of Jerusalem

Knights Hospitaller

Knights Templar

Leopold VI, duke of Austria

Raoul of Merencourt, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Teutonic Knights]

[Christianity

Crusades

Economy and Commerce

Geography

Government and Law

Maritime Activity

Medieval History

Military

Pilgrimage]