Philippe de Mézières, who had joined the crusader relief force led by Humbert II, Dauphin of Vienne, is knighted after defending Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) against Turkish assault in 1346.

Born of poor nobility, Mézières had initially been a soldier of fortune in Italy, serving Lucchino Visconti, lord of Milan, but within a year he entered the service of the husband of Joan I of Naples and Andrew, Duke of Calabria, who was the son of the King Charles I of Hungary.

Andrew had very soon been assassinated very soon in September 1345, and in the autumn of that year, Mézières had set out for the East in the French army.

Mézières goes later in 1347 to Cyprus, where he finds a kindred spirit in the son of the king of Cyprus, Peter of Lusignan, count of Tripol.

He returns to France, again as a soldier of fortune.

When the incapable Humbert's army disbands, Mézières makes his way to Jerusalem, arriving in 1347.

Realizing the advantage which the discipline of the Saracens gives them over the disorderly armies of the West, he conceives the idea of a new order of knighthood, Ordre de la Passion (“Order of the Passion”), whose members will be spiritually distant from worldly preoccupations and devoted to conquering the holy places. (He will later draw up a prospectus for this order, but it will never become a reality.)

Philippe de Mézières, born of poor nobility, was at first a soldier of fortune in Italy, serving Lucchino Visconti, lord of Milan, and then Andrew of Hungary, in Naples.

Joining the Crusade led by Humbert II, he had been knighted after defending Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) against Turkish assault in 1346.

When Humbert's army disbanded, he had made his way to Jerusalem, arriving in 1347.

Realizing the advantage which the discipline of the Saracens gave them over the disorderly armies of the West, he has conceived the idea of a new order of knighthood, Ordre de la Passion (Order of the Passion), whose members will be spiritually distant from worldly preoccupations and devoted to conquering the holy places.

Although he will later draw up a prospectus for this order, it never becomes a reality.

Mézières had gone in 1347 goes to Cyprus, where he had found a kindred spirit in the son of the king of Cyprus, the future Pierre I.

He now returns to France, again as a soldier of fortune.

Mézières is made chancellor when Peter accedes to the throne of Cyprus in 1358, and the two set off for Europe to win support for a new Crusade.

Peter I, who had acceded to the throne of Cyprus in November 1358, is recognized in 1359 as titular King of Jerusalem.

King Peter of Cyprus, having made Philippe de Mézières chancellor, devotes himself to organizing a crusade; in 1361, he captures the Mamluk-held town of Adalia (Antalya) on the Cilician coast of Anatolia.

Philippe de Mézières had come under the influence of the pious legate Peter Thomas; in 1362, both men accompany King Peter of Cyprus on his visit to the princes of western Europe in quest of support for a new crusade, and when the king returns to the east he leaves Mézières and Thomas to represent his case at Avignon and in the cities of northern Italy.

They preach the crusade throughout Germany.

Peter Thomas, who had become patriarch of Constantinople in 1364, is one of the chief promoters of the crusade of 1365.

Peter, having collecting money and mercenaries in western Europe, leads a mixed Cypriote and Western force of Crusaders against Alexandria on October 11, 1365, subjecting the city to a horrible sack and massacre.

Mézières, who accompanies the king to Alexandria, receives the government of a third part of it and a promise for the creation of his order, but the European knights, satisfied by the immense booty, refuse to follow Peter in attacking Cairo, and the king is obliged to return to Cyprus, the only permanent result of his expedition being the enmity of the Mamluk sultan of Egypt.

Peter's unruly crusaders return to Cyprus with immense booty.

Pierre plans to return to Egypt, but no European aid is forthcoming.

Peter continues his crusade, this time aiming to attack Beirut.

However his military operations end after intervention of the Venetians willing to offer Peter high compensations for his military preparations, in order to not attack against Damascus.

Peter raids Tripoli in 1366, before the terms of service of his European reinforcements can expire.