Humbert of Viennois and the Crusade of Smyrna: A reconsideration

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The army of the second wave of the Crusade of Smyrna, led by Humbert, the dauphin of Viennois, departed from Venice in November 1345. Upon reaching the Aegean, it was beset by numerous problems, such as the failure to seize Chios as a base of operations, illness in the crusader army and infighting between the Hospitallers and the Venetians. After less than two years on campaign, Humbert withdrew from the Aegean, returning to Venice in May 1347, his crusade a failure. Humbert's leadership of the crusade has been almost universally condemned by historians as being dilatory, feeble or simply incompetent. However, a close analysis of the economic and political situation in the Aegean during the period of the campaign reveals that the dauphin was not at fault for the failure of the crusade. It is true that he was not a gifted commander, but this article demonstrates that many factors contributing to the failure of the crusade were out of Humbert's hands. Unpublished papal letters show that prior to 1345 Pope Clement VI voiced serious concerns over the capture of Chios from the Byzantines and the possible antagonism this would cause. Likewise, Venetian archival evidence illustrates that trade in the Aegean was suffering after the closure of the Black Sea markets by the Mongols in 1344. The dire economic situation in the region led to starvation in Latin territories; this compromised the provisioning of the crusade and resulted in the Hospitallers – and possibly the Venetians – seeking an alliance with the Aydin Turks before Humbert's arrival at Smyrna. In these circumstances, it would have been difficult for any crusade to have succeeded, including the one commanded by the dauphin.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)237-251
JournalCrusades
Volume13
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2014

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Humbert of Viennois and the Crusade of Smyrna: A reconsideration'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this