Miles of Plancy

Who was Miles of Plancy?

Miles of Plancy, also known as Milon or Milo, was a noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

He was born in Plancy-l'Abbaye, Champagne and came to the east in the 1160s, where he served King Amalric I, to whom he was distantly related. Amalric made him seneschal of Jerusalem, and in 1167 he participated in Amalric's expedition to Egypt. He encouraged Amalric to make a treaty with Egypt rather than capturing it by force and submitting it to plunder; after Amalric returned home, Egypt quickly fell under the control of Nur ad-Din Zangi and his commander Shirkuh. This event would eventually lead to the union of Egypt and Syria under Saladin, an inauspicious outcome for the crusader kingdom.

In 1170 a fortress was built at Gaza by the Knights Templar, to defend against attacks from Egypt. Miles would not allow the unarmed inhabitants of the city to take shelter inside and many of them were killed when the city was attacked. In 1173 he married Stephanie of Milly, daughter of Philip of Milly and widow of Humphrey III of Toron. Through his marriage to Stephanie, he became lord of the castle of Montréal and Lord of Oultrejordain.