Royal: Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, 1245-1296

Being a younger son of a king had its perks.  Kings sons, no matter where they stood in the royal birth order, had access to titles, lands, a good marriage and other lucrative side benefits.  The more useful they made themselves in the family, such as serving as military commanders, the more plums they could acquire.

Edmund, 1245-1296, was the second surviving son of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, thus a younger brother of Edward I.  He was born in London, but isn't remembered as Edmund of London.  Sources differ as to where the name Crouchback came from.  Contrary to what it sounds like, there was probably nothing wrong with his back.  Crouchback is a corruption of an earlier nickname, cross-back, which referred to the cross Edmund wore on his clothing when he participated in the Ninth Crusade.  In 1255, when Edmund was 10, he was invested with the right to rule Sicily.  Long story short, some kingdoms in Europe chose to elect their rulers by selling out to the highest bidder.  To claim his kingdom in future, Edmund would need money, both to pay troops to fight off any other contenders and to bribe his future subjects into accepting him.  When the time came, England's barons were in no mood to finance or participate in yet another foreign war and Sicily went to someone else. 

There were spoils nearer to home and in 1265, with the forfeiture of Simon de Montfort's vast estates, Edmund became Earl of Leicester and a wealthy man.  Edmund was later made Earl of Lancaster and granted the Stewardship of England, along with the lands of another nobleman, Nicolas de Segrave.  And the perks and lands kept coming.  Edmund was named Earl of Derby and granted land in Wales, as well as becoming High Sheriff of Lancashire.  Edmund had to work for these honors and became known as a ruthless commander on the battlefield.  In 1271, he accompanied his brother Edward to Palestine on the Ninth Crusade, gaining the right to wear the coveted crusader's cross.  Upon return from Palestine, Edmund continued to prove his loyalty to Edward, who responded with more lands and titles.

Edmund married twice.  His first wife was Aveline de Forz, daughter of the Earl of Albemarle.  She died at the age of 13 and the couple had no children.  Edmund then married Blanche, Countess of Artois in her own right.  The couple had three sons.  Thomas and Henry would later succeed their father as Earl of Lancaster.  In 1296, Edmund would take an army to Aquitaine to suppress a revolt in Bayonne.  Part of any royal army back then included mercenaries.  When the English money ran out, the mercenaries sought work elsewhere, dooming Edmund's effort to failure.  He died in Bayonne and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Medieval Life: the Crusades

Throughout history, there has always been a common enemy, whether Saracen (Islam) versus Infidel (Christian, East (Communist) versus West (Capitalist) or the Global War on Terror, us against them is a recurring theme.

In the Middle Ages, the all-consuming fight was against the Saracens, whether they be Turks in the Holy Land or Moors in Spain.  There were many fronts for Christian knights to battle for glory and God.  However, the main point of contention and the goal for many kings, nobles and knights who wished to fulfill a Crusading vow was the Holy Land.  There were several Crusades, either to capture or recapture Jerusalem, or at least preserve a toehold for Christianity in kingdoms and principalities known as the Crusader states, we'll get around to them eventually, since Plantagenet relatives had claims to these territories.  For now, though, we'll run through the main Crusades herein.

The First Crusade (1095-1099), a group of Western nobles, including the father of King Stephen of England versus the Seljuk Turks and the Fatimid and Abbasid Caliphates.  It resulted in the capture of Jerusalem by Christian forces and the creation of the Crusader States.

The Second Crusade (1147-1149): This was a multi-theatre effort, ranging from Spain and the Baltic to the Levant.  Eleanor of Aquitaine and her then-husband Louis VII both took vows to Crusade and she followed him to the Holy Land, bringing a considerable contingent from her Duchy of Aquitaine.  Also present was King Stephen of England, taking time out from the running civil war back home with Empress Matilda.  Both sides scored significant victories, the Muslims in Anatolia, the Crusaders in the Iberian and Baltic theatres.  However, they could not wrest Edessa from Turkish control.  As Crusader forces penetrated into Egypt, a peace involving access to the Holy Sites was agreed between Byzantium and the Seljuk Turks.

The Third Crusade (1189-1192: This is the most well-known Crusade of the Plantagenet dynasty, featuring Richard I the Lionheart and his mortal enemies Phillip II August of France and Leopold of Austria, among others, versus Saladin the Magnificent.  The Crusaders scored some significant military victories, notably the Siege of Acre, 1189-1191, which enabled them to agree a treaty regarding more access to the Holy Sites, but Richard didn't press a conquest of Jerusalem, which remained under Turkish control.

The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204): no Plantagenets went on this bloodbath, which turned Latin/Roman Christianity against Greek/Orthodox Christianity in the form of the siege and sack of Constantinople and the creation of new Crusader States on territory seized from the Byzantine Empire.

There was a Fifth (1213-1221), Six (1228-1229), Seventh (1248-1254), Eighth (1270), and Ninth (1271-1272), but the only one featuring a Plantagenet was the Ninth, where Prince Edward, son of Henry III and future Hammer of the Scots, participated.  The Crusaders lifted the siege of Tripoli in Lebanon (not Libya) and agreed another truce for access to the Holy Sites, but nothing else of note.