Page:Constantinople by Brodribb.djvu/220

 On his death, his brother Baldwin being still a boy, the barons looked about them for a stronger hand to rule the tottering state. They found the man they wanted in gallant old John de Brienne, the last of those who raised themselves from simple knightly rank to a royal palace. The House of Brienne in France ranked next to that of Montmorency, and with that noble House was among the most illustrious of those which graced the early mediæval period. They furnished marshals, constables, and generals for the crown of France; like the Courtenays, they went outre mer for crowns. Gauthier de Brienne was King of Sicily and Duke of Apulia. John himself, one of the last specimens of the great crusading heroes, was titular King of Jerusalem, having married Constance, daughter of Isabelle and granddaughter of Amaury. Philip Augustus himself selected John de Brienne as the most worthy knight to become the husband of Constance and the King of Jerusalem. He was now an old man of more than seventy years. His daughter, Yolande, was