James of Avesnes (also ''Jacques'' or ''Jacob''; 1152 – 7 September 1191) was a son of

Nicholas d'Oisy, Lord of Avesnes Nicholas d 'Oisy, Lord of Avesnes, nicknamed ("the Beautiful") ( – ), was a son of Walter I, Lord of Avesnes and his wife, Ada of Tournai. He was Lord of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Avesnes, Leuze and Condé-sur-l'Escaut, Condé. He built castle ...

and Matilda de la Roche. He was the lord of

Avesnes Avesnes (, Picard: ''Avinne'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography The commune is a very small village situated some 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Montreuil-sur-Mer, on the D 129 E 1. Population ...

, Condé, and Leuze from 1171. In November 1187, James joined the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

as leader of a detachment of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

, and Frisian crusaders arriving by ship on the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

coast near

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

around 10 September 1189. James and his men came as military reinforcements for the

Siege of Acre Siege of Acre, also Siege of Akka/Akko, may refer to: *Siege of Acre (1104), following the First Crusade *Siege of Acre (1189–1191), during the Third Crusade *Siege of Acre (1257–1258), during the War of Saint Sabas *Siege of Acre (1263), Baiba ...

. While leading his contingent of soldiers, the other main leaders of the siege were

Guy of Lusignan Guy of Lusignan ( 1150 – 18 July 1194) was King of Jerusalem, first as husband and co-ruler of Queen Sibylla from 1186 to 1190 then as disputed ruler from 1190 to 1192. He was also Lord of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194. A French Poitevin kni ...

and Henry of Champagne, neither of them gaining a dominant position in leading the siege. At the

Battle of Arsuf The Battle of Arsuf took place on 7 September 1191, as part of the Third Crusade. It saw a multi-national force of Crusaders, led by Richard I of England, defeat a significantly larger army of the Ayyubid Sultanate, led by Saladin. Followi ...

, James was thrown from his saddle and, after slaying fifteen enemy warriors, was himself cut down. The next day, a search party of

Hospitallers 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 ...

and

Templars The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

found his body on the battlefield. It was taken back to Arsuf and buried there in a ceremony attended by

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and Guy of Lusignan. He married Adela (died 1185), daughter of Bouchard of Guise, and was the father of: *

Walter II of Avesnes Walter II of Avesnes (b. 1170 – d. 1244) was lord of Avesnes, Leuze, of Condé and Guise, and through his marriage to Margaret of Blois, he became count of Blois and Chartres. He was the son of James of Avesnes, and Adèle, lady of Guise. Wal ...

(FR)Henri Platelle, ''Présence de l'au-delà: une vision médiévale du monde'', (Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2004), 296. *

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

, lord of

Landrecies Landrecies (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. History In 1543, Landrecies was besieged by English and Imperial forces, who were repulsed by the French defenders. In 1794, it was besieged by Dutch forces, who capt ...

*William (died 1219) *

Bouchard IV of Avesnes Burchard IV or Bouchard IV (1182–1244) was the lord of Avesnes and Étrœungt. He was the son of James of Avesnes and Adela of Guise and brother of Walter, Count of Blois.(FR)Henri Platelle, ''Présence de l'au-delà: une vision médiéval ...

*Matilda, married (1)

Nicholas IV of Rumigny Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In turn, the name ...

and (2) Louis IV of Chiny *Adelaide, married Rogier of Rosoy (died 1246) *Ida (1180–1216), married Engelbert IV of Edingen *Adela, married (1) Henry III of Grandpré and (2)

Ralph, Count of Soissons Raoul le Bon (Ralph the Good) (d. 4 January 1235), also known as Raoul III de Nesle, was the Count of Soissons from 1180.He is described in contemporary writings as ''comes Radulfus Suessionensis''. He was the third son of Raoul II de Nesle and Ge ...

References

{{reflist 1152 births 1191 deaths Lords of Avesnes Christians of the Third Crusade