Walter VI, Count of Brienne
Walter VI of Brienne (c. 1304 – 19 September 1356) was a French nobleman and
Walter VI | |
---|---|
Count of Brienne | |
Born | c. 1304 |
Died | 19 September 1356 (aged 51–52) Poitiers, France |
Offices | Constable of France |
Spouse(s) | Jeanne of Brienne |
Issue | Jeanne Marguerite |
Father | Walter V, Count of Brienne |
Mother | Joanna of Châtillon |
Life
Early life in Italy
Walter was the son of Count
As grandson of Count
His mother Jeanne carried out a vigorous struggle against the Catalans during his minority, which, however, had little military effect but impoverished him. To strengthen his position, Walter engaged in a strategic marriage to Beatrice, the niece of King
Anti-Catalan crusade of 1331–1332
After 1321, Walter repeatedly announced his intention to campaign in Greece and recover the Duchy of Athens, but financial constraints and his obligations to the King of Naples kept him occupied in Italy.
In his new Greek domains of Leucas and Vonitsa, Walter initially appointed a series of French castellans. In 1343, he made the Venetian Graziano Zorzi, who had helped finance his 1331 expedition and joined it himself, governor of Leucas. Zorzi proved successful in this role, and in October 1355, Walter granted Leucas as well as Vonitsa to him as a fief.[6]
Ruler of Florence
He also occupied himself with his lands in France, and was the King's Lieutenant in Thiérache in 1339. His wife died in 1340, and he returned to Italy in 1342 when the Florentine ruling class of wealthy merchants called upon him to rule the city. Since 1339, Florence had been in the grip of a severe economic crisis brought about by immense English debts to Florentine banking houses, and by astronomical public debts incurred in trying to obtain the nearby city of Lucca from its Veronese lord, Mastino della Scala. The Florentine nobility looked to foreign powers to solve the city's seemingly impossible financial problems, and found an ally in Walter of Brienne. Although the ruling class invited Walter to rule for a limited time, the lower classes, who were fed up with the ineptitude of Walter's predecessors, unexpectedly proclaimed him signore for life.
Walter VI ruled despotically, ignoring or directly opposing the interests of the very same merchant class that had brought him to power. The "Duke of Athens" imposed harsh economic correctives on the Florentines, including the flat tax estimo, and prestanze, postponements of the city's repayment of loans forced from the wealthier citizens. These measures both angered the Florentines and helped alleviate the fiscal crisis that had been stewing for years. After only ten months, Walter of Brienne's signoria was cut short by conspiracy. Walter VI was not only forced to resign from office, but barely escaped Florence with his life.
Later life and death
In 1344 he married Jeanne, the daughter of
Cultural legacy
The "Duke of Athens" who appears in the seventh tale of Day Two of the
References
- ^ a b c Crum 2004, p. 1162.
- ^ Lock 2006, p. 183.
- ^ Luttrell 1966, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Luttrell 1966, p. 36.
- ^ Setton 1976, p. 452.
- ^ Nicol 1984, pp. 133–134.
- ^ Perry 2018, p. xxiii.
- ^ Nicolle 2004, p. 19.
- ^ a b c Luttrell 1982, p. 38.
Sources
- Crum, Roger J. (2004). "Brienne, Walter of". In Kleinhenz, Christopher (ed.). Medieval Italy. Routledge. ISBN 9781135948801.
- The History of Florence from the Founding of the City through the Renaissance, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1936. pp. 217–225.
- Lock, Peter (2006). "Brienne family". In Murray, Alan V. (ed.). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 182–183.
- Luttrell, Anthony (1966). "The Latins of Argos and Nauplia: 1311-1394". Papers of the British School at Rome. 34. British School at Rome: 34–55. S2CID 179112752.
- Luttrell, Anthony (1982). Latin Greece, the Hospitallers and the Crusades (Collected Studies Ser, No. 158). Variorum.
- ISBN 978-0-521-13089-9.
- Nicolle, David (2004). Poitiers 1356:The Capture of a King. Osprey.
- Perry, Guy (2018). The Briennes: The Rise and Fall of a Champenois Dynasty in the Age of the Crusades, c. 950-1356. Cambridge University Press.
- Sestan, Ernesto (1972). "BRIENNE, Gualtieri di". ISBN 978-8-81200032-6. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- ISBN 0-87169-114-0.