James of Avesnes

James (also Jacques or Jacob; 1152 – 7 September 1191) was a son of Nicholas d'Oisy, Lord of Avesnes and Matilda de la Roche. He was the lord of Avesnes, Condé, and Leuze from 1171. In November 1187, James joined the Third Crusade as leader of a detachment of French, Flemish, and Frisian crusaders arriving by ship on the Israeli coast near Acre around 10 September 1189. James and his men came as military reinforcements for the Siege of Acre. At the Battle of Arsuf, James was thrown from his saddle and, after slaying fifteen enemy warriors, was himself cut down. The next day, a search party of Hospitallers and Templars found his body on the battlefield. It was taken back to Arsuf and buried there in a ceremony attended by Richard the Lionheart and Guy of Lusignan.
He married Adela (died 1185), daughter of Bouchard of Guise, and was the father of:
Walter II of Avesnes
James, lord of Landrechies
William (died 1219)
Bouchard IV of Avesnes
Matilda, married (1) Nicholas IV of Rumigny and (2) Louis IV of Chiny
Adelaide, married Rogier of Rosoy (died 1246)
Ida (1180–1216), married Engelbert IV of Edingen
Adela, married (1) Henry III of Grandpré and (2) Ralph, Count of Soissons

^ Thomas Asbridge, The Crusades. The War for the Holy Land (Simon and Schuster, London 2010), 403.
^ Thomas Asbridge, The Crusades. The War for the Holy Land, 474.
^ a b (FR)Henri Platelle, Présence de l'au-delà: une vision médiévale du monde, (Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2004), 296.