Savoyard crusade
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.
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.
[5] 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.
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.
[8][12] A letter from Pope Urban in March 1365 did not convince them otherwise, but an embassy from Amadeus procured a promise of two galleys in light of the count's request for five (and two fustes).
Urban, the architect of the crusade, negotiated with Genoa and Marseille to procure ships, but the promise of transportation from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV was never fulfilled.
A large number of mercenaries from the free companies had joined the crusade and assembled at Tournus under Arnaud de Cervole, but when he was assassinated on 25 May 1366 near Mâcon, they abandoned the expedition.
[12] On 3 January 1366 at Le Bourget-du-Lac, Amadeus, in preparation for his departure, named his wife, Bonne de Bourbon, regent in his absence, to be assisted by a council of seven, at least two of whom had always to be witness to her orders to make them effective.
Perhaps as a protest at the lateness of these efforts, or at the proposed destination, which was not the Holy Land, on 6 January Pope Urban revoked the bulls of 1 April 1364, thus cutting off a major source of funding.
[13] The count was forced to demand a general subsidy (tax) for the viagio ultramarino (voyage overseas), but this remained uncollected until 1368 and the cost of naval transportation had to be met by loans (10,000 florins) from some banks of Lyon and the pawning of the family silver.
Half of the crusading host under Étienne de la Baume went from there to Genoa to embark on the fleet awaiting it and take it to Venice.
[12] The fleet sailed down the Dalmatian coast, stopping at Pula (Pola), Dubrovnik (Ragusa), Corfu and finally Koroni (Coron), which was under Venetian control.
There Amadeus learned that Marie de Bourbon, daughter of Duke Louis I of Bourbon, whose niece Bonne was Amadeus's wife, was being besieged in her castle at Pylos (Navarino) by the Archbishop of Patras, Angelo Acciaioli, who had seized her lands on behalf of Philip of Taranto, her brother-in-law, who disputed the claim to the Principality of Achaea by Marie on behalf of her young son, Hugh, whose father was the late Robert of Taranto.
[16] From Koroni the fleet proceeded to Agios Georgios (San Giorgio d'Albora) on Hydra, thence to Chalcis (Negroponte), and finally Evripos, the last stop before they entered Turkish territory.
[17] There they bought clean water, and the count's physician, Gui Albin, purchased saculi pro stomaco, some kind of disinfectant for the stomach.
[19] The crusaders also expected support from Louis of Hungary, although all that was ever received was two royal squire who served Amadeus "in the Bulgarian provinces" (in partibus Burgarie).
[20] In the spring of 1366, John V travelled to the Hungarian court to accept military aid and swear an oath on behalf of himself and his sons to convert to Catholicism.
[19] Apprised of the situation in Bulgaria and of the Turkish positions in Europe, Amadeus led his fleet into the Dardanelles, where it was joined by a flotilla under Francesco I Gattilusio, Prince of Lesbos, and son-in-law of the trapped emperor.
Garrisons and commanders were appointed for each—Giacomo di Luserna for the city and Aimone Michaele for the citadel, with responsibility for not just defending Gelibolu but also for guarding the entrance to the straits.
The count's bursar, Antoine Barbier, purchased eighteen escutcheons bearing the "device of the Collar" (devisa collarium) for their funeral.
In two days they reached the port of "Lorfenal" (l'Orfenal) and then Sozopolis, which was long supposed to have been in Byzantine hands, but now appears to have belonged to the Bulgarians.
[24] The coastal region of Bulgaria, modern Dobrudja, was at this time the semi-independent Principality of Karvuna, ruled by Dobrotitsa as a frontier march of the Bulgarian empire.
In order to strengthen his bargaining position, Amadeus attacked and captured Emona (Lemona, l'Emona), a fortress on Cape Emine, further south along the coast.
[25] As the truce between Varna and the count of Savoy dragged on, a band of youthful crusaders ventured by sea to take the small castle of "Calocastre" by night.
Negotiations with the Bulgarians continued into mid-November, and, possibly at the insistence of the tsar, Amadeus raised the siege of Varna and withdrew to Nesebar, leaving a garrison in Emona, before 18 November.
On 15 March, probably after the emperor had left for Constantinople, having promised to defray the cost of Amadeus's expedition to Bulgaria in return for receiving the cities he had conquered, the count went to Nesebar to oversee final preparations for his departure, including the ransom of all his men who by then were still held captive in Bulgarian prisons.
Nevertheless, on 14 May he took the Turkish castle of Eneacossia on the northern shore of the Marmora, which the Greek historian John Kantakouzenos informs us was the "fortress near Rhegium", modern Küçükçekmece.
[29][31] Amadeus remained at the palace of the Carraresi in Venice for five weeks: paying off debts, making gifts of thanksgiving to churches, taking out more loans (8,872 ducats from Bartholomeo Michaelis and 10,346 from Federigo Cornaro).
According to the chroniclers of Savoy, Jehan Servion and Jean d'Oronville Cabaret, the inhabitants deceived the Savoyards with acts of kindness before leading them into an ambush, where Antoine was captured.
