Savoyard Crusade

The Savoyard crusade (1366–67) was born out of the same planning that led to the Alexandrian Crusade. It was the brainchild of Pope Urban V and was led by Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, against the Ottoman Empire in eastern Europe. Although originally intended as a collaboration with the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire, the crusade was diverted to attack the Second Bulgarian Empire, where it made small gains that it handed over to the Byzantines. It made small gains against the Ottomans in the vicinity of Constantinople and on Gallipoli.

Noting the greater attention paid to Bulgaria than to the Turks, historian Nicolae Iorga argued "it was not the same thing as a crusade, this expedition that better resembled an escapade." Yet the taking of Gallipoli, according to Oskar Halecki, was "the first success achieved by the Christians in their struggle for the defense of Europe, and at the same time the last great Christian victory [over the Turks] during all the fourteenth century."

On 31 March 1363, Good Friday, at Papal Avignon, the kings of France and Cyprus, John II and Peter I, took crusading vows to go to the Holy Land and received from Pope Urban V the sign of the cross (signum crucis) to sew on their garments as a sign of their vow. This was the beginning of the Savoyard crusade, although John II would never fulfill his vow personally and Peter I did not ultimately cooperate with the count of Savoy in the venture. The latter did not make his crusading vow, also before Urban V, until probably 19 January 1364, when a council of regional magnates was held at Avignon to form a league (colligatio) against the marauding free companies. This was certainly the occasion when the pope bestowed on Amadeus the Golden Rose, and the count founded the chivalric Order of the Collar to replace his earlier, and probably defunct, Order of the Black Swan. The original members of the Order of the Collar were devoted followers, and often relatives, of Amadeus and all were probably pledged to accompany him on crusade. In the event, all but two who could not go for reasons of health, travelled east. The Order, like the crusade, was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The deadline established for the departure of the crusade was 1 March 1365, although the pope expected both Peter of Cyprus and Amadeus of Savoy to depart earlier. The deadline was met by nobody, although on 27 June the king of Cyprus left Venice on the Alexandrian Crusade.

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