Crusades cost money, of course, and that was a problem. The recent Second Barons' War had depleted the king's funds. Edward turned to his uncle, King Louis IX of France, for a loan. (Louis was already planning a Crusade against Tunis.) Edmund decided it was time to make a political marriage.
A wealthy countess, Isabel de Forz, had been widowed several years earlier. Henry arranged a marriage between his son and Isabel, but Edmund thought he would be better off marrying one of Isabel's daughters, and in early April 1269 he married Aveline de Forz, Countess of Aumale. Aveline was only ten years old, and the marriage couldn't be consummated until she was 14.
The 6th Earl of Derby, Robert de Ferrers, was unable to recover his lands financially after his participation in the Second Barons' War; his title was removed from him and given to Edmund. Edmund was already Earl of Leicester and Lancaster. This gave him some financial income.
By the summer of 1270, however, they had still not started on Crusade because Henry was vacillating about being absent from England. It was decided that Edward would lead the English. Edward and his people arrived in Tunis on 10 November 1270, but it was too late. The Treaty of Tunis had been signed 11 days earlier after Louis died of an epidemic and the Crusade failed. Edward led his men to Palestine, arriving on 9 May 1271.
Edmund, however, left England for the Holy Land by March 1271, leaving Eleanor of Provence in charge of his estates. He stayed briefly with his maternal great uncle Philip I, Count of Savoy, and possible met James of Saint George (a master mason who would later build castles in England for Edward).
Edmund joined Edward in September 1271 with an army that was expanded with the participation of Hugh III of Cypress. Unfortunately, despite a few successful attacks, the Crusade was outnumbered and eventually forced to concede defeat. Hugh III had to coexist with the other powers in the e Eastern Mediterranean, and so signed a 10-year-treaty with the Mamluk sultan Baibars.
There is no contemporary account for why Edmund had the epithet "Crouchback." The idea that had a hunchback is countered by contemporary chronicles that claim he was handsome and good at combat. The best theory historians have to offer is that the epithet is a corruption of the term "crossback," referring to the practice of stitching a cross onto the back of one's clothing to indicate being on Crusade.
Aveline died at the age of 15, childless, in 1274, and Edmund went looking for another wife. We'll talk about his later life tomorrow.
