Geoffroy De Thoisy
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Geoffroy de Thoisy, ''chevalier seigneur de Mimeure'', was a Burgundian naval commander and
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of the
Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...
involved in
Philip the Good Philip III the Good (; ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, ...
’s
Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
endeavors in the 1440s.


Biography

He commanded a Burgundian flotilla organized by Philip III the Good,
Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...
() in May 1441 at the request from the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
to help defend
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against the
Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
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. The duke went in person to
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to see off his flotilla. Throughout 1442, de Thoisy's force was based at Rhodes, harassing the Muslim shipping and coastline. Having refitted at Villefranche, it was again in action off the
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n coast and Rhodes in 1444. When a second Mamluk fleet assailed the island, the Burgundians helped the Hospitallers lift the
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of the town of Rhodes which lasted for forty days. Next, in response to the
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appeal for help against the Ottoman advance, Philip instructed de Thoisy to lead his squadron to reinforce a squadron of four galleys built or hired at
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionVenice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, commanded by Waleran de Wavrin, to join
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's planned Crusade. De Wavrin's four galleys sailed in July 1444 but failed to stop
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's
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n army from crossing the
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. De Thoisy joined de Wavrin's squadron at
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, where the latter had gone to spend the winter. In the meantime, the crusading army led by Wladyslaw III of Poland (Ulaszlo I as
king of Hungary The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...
) and Janos Hunyadi had been severely defeated by the united Anatolian and
Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...
n armies of Murad II, on 10 November 1444, on the plain before
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, on the coast of the
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. In the spring of 1445, de Wavrin sailed to the
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to join the Hungarians in the continuing Crusade, while de Thoisy took his ships along the south coast of the Black Sea. He engaged in piracy there, plundering both ships and coastal settlements, covering the expenses for the re-equipment of his ships at Trebizond with five slave-women, worth in all 164
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s. Then, de Thoisy decided to continue to the coast of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, hoping to capture vessels carrying silk. Although the Emperor of Trebizond warned him that the people of Georgia were Christians, de Thoisy went ahead with his campaign, claiming that his orders were to fight all
schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
atics who did not obey the
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
. However, some
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from Trebizond informed the Georgians who, when they saw the galley coming, took up arms and waited in ambush. As soon as Thoisy landed at the port of Vaty (
Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...
), the ambushers attacked, killing many of his men and taking him captive. The ones who managed to escape fled to the Genoese port of
Caffa Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into ...
(modern
Feodosiya Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into w ...
,
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) and reported to de Wavrin who dispatched the Hospitaller knight Sir Regnault de Confide to ask the Emperor of Trebizond to mediate for Thoisy's release. The Emperor was quick to send to Georgia and, by these means, Sir Geoffrey was set free. He was put safely on board the galley and sailed to Caffa, capturing on the way two Greek vessels with cargoes of fish. Eventually, de Thoisy's piracy led to a protest from the government of Genoa to the Duke of Burgundy. This forced de Thoisy to return to Constantinople, where he was invited by de Wavrin to join the forthcoming expedition with the Hungarians and
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. He preferred to return with his ships to Nice and Villefranche, however. Later, in the 1450s, de Thoisy wrote memoranda of advice to the new Crusade endeavor planned (but never materialized) by Philip III.Housley, Norman (1992), ''The Later Crusades'', pp. 92-3, 108.
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, .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoisy, Geoffroy de 15th-century French people Knights of the Golden Fleece People from Côte-d'Or History of Burgundy 15th century in the Kingdom of Georgia Christians of the Crusade of Varna Medieval admirals Medieval pirates