Robert of Nantes

[1] According to Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Robert was a bishop in "Apulia" and was expelled from his see by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.

[4] In preparation for the end of the truce, the Barons' Crusade (including Peter of Dreux) was present in the east in 1239-1240 and managed to retain control over Jerusalem.

Gregory's next choice was apparently Lando, the archbishop of Messina, who reported the news to the emperor and received Frederick's congratulations and support.

[7] Robert remained in Italy on a mission to Genoa, where he helped procure ships to bring bishops to Rome for a council in which Gregory planned to depose Frederick as emperor.

[8] Robert's whereabouts during this time are unknown but presumably he remained in Genoa, the hometown of Innocent IV, and did not dare to venture out into the rest of northern Italy that was controlled by Frederick.

In response, Robert and the other leaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem concluded an alliance with the Ayyubid emir of Damascus as-Salih Ismail.

"[11] He helped organize the defend the kingdom from any further Egyptian-Khwarizmian attacks and was responsible for calling for support from the pope and other leaders back in Europe.

[12] Although Innocent IV intended Louis IX of France to lead a new crusade, Robert targeted Henry III of England.

Louis arrived in the east, bringing with him a new papal legate to replace Robert, Eudes de Chateauroux.

The crusaders either returned home to France, or travelled to Acre, where Louis spent the next four years rebuilding and repairing the kingdom's fortifications.

According to Louis' biographer Jean de Joinville, Robert was already "an old and venerable man aged eighty years" in 1250.