RRR: Correspondence/envoy
1372
year: 1196
initiator: Gaufridus de Donjon, master of the Hospital
recipient: King Sancho VII of Navarre
institution: Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
text: Apr. 1-30. Frater Gaufridus domus Hospitalis [Iherusalem] humilis magister et Christi pauperum servus writes to King Sancho VII of Navarre. He calls for assistance, dwelling on the danger facing the Latin East, the appeals from his brothers in captivity and the absence of enough defenders. He reports that Sefedinus [al-‘Adil], ruler of Old Cairo [Babilon] and Damascus, has raided the county of Tripoli and is expected in Palestine any day. He has made his son [al-Muazzam ‘Isa], lord of Jerusalem. He adds that the Nile has flooded disastrously and that Egypt is suffering extreme famine.
Apr. 1-30. Frater Gaufridus domus Hospitalis [Iherusalem] humilis magister et Christi pauperum servus writes to King Sancho VII of Navarre. He calls for assistance, dwelling on the danger facing the Latin East, the appeals from his brothers in captivity and the absence of enough defenders. He... more
sources: Garcia Larragueta, El Gran Priorado 2:89-90, no. 87 (RRH no. 728)
RRR: Correspondence/envoy
1489
year: 1201
initiator: Gaufridus de Donjon, master of the Hospital
recipient: Prior Anglie of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem
institution: Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
text: Dec. 24 1200 - early summer 1201. [270] The magister Hospitalis Jerusalem informs the prior Anglie of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem that the bishop of Acre, many pilgrims and many Hospitallers on their way to the West on the business of the Holy Land perished in a shipwreck off Biblium on the coast of Tripoli during the last passagium. Other ships carrying Hospitaller messengers from Acre were forced by storm damage to seek refuge in Tripoli. He reports that in the Muslim world the lord of Damascus, Sephadinus [al-‘Adil], has become master of Cairo [Babilon], expelling his nephew and others and is in a tense relationship with the sultan of Aleppo and many others. The Nile has failed to flood, leading to famine and the loss of livestock in Egypt, and a host of Egyptians have descended, like locusts, on the Holy Land. A young low-born Saracenus has been preaching an evangelical Christian campaign and has converted and baptized 2000. With the threat posed to the Latin East by the union of Damascus and Cairo, he appeals for help to the prior and to the king of England. He adds that in the invasion of Sicily by the Germans and Lombards the Hospitaller commandery [domus] of Barletta has been abandoned and that since the prior Anglie himself left the East no provisions have been received from the kingdom of Sicily, leading the Order to great expense in supplying its commanderies [domus] and castles. He needs money from the western Hospitaller communities. He asks for help to be sent on the next passagium in March.
Dec. 24 1200 - early summer 1201. [270] The magister Hospitalis Jerusalem informs the prior Anglie of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem that the bishop of Acre, many pilgrims and many Hospitallers on their way to the West on the business of the Holy Land perished in a shipwreck off Biblium on... more
sources: Delaville Le Roulx, Cart Hosp 2:1-2, no. 1131 (RRH no. 787)