Philip of Novara

Philip of Novara (c. 1200 – c. 1270) was a medieval historian, warrior, musician, diplomat, poet, and lawyer born at Novara, Italy, into a noble house, who spent his entire adult life in the Middle East. He primarily served the Ibelin family, and featured in a number of prominent battles and negotiations involving Jerusalem and Cyprus. He chronicled the War of the Lombards, the dispute between the Ibelin family and Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

He wrote a lengthy treatise on the feudal law of Jerusalem, which influenced later jurists like John of Ibelin.

Works

Des quatre âges de l'homme: traité de moral de Philippe de Novare, ed. Marcel de Freville. Paris: Didot, 1888. Philip of Novara, The Wars of Frederick II against the Ibelins in Syria and Cyprus, trans. John L. La Monte. New York: Columbia University Press, 1936. Philip of Novara. Guerra di Federico II in Oriente (1223–1242), ed. and Italian trans. Silvio Melani. Naples: Liguori, 1994. Philip of Novara, Le Livre de forme de plait, ed. and trans. Peter W. Edbury. Nicosia: Cyprus Research Centre, 2009.