the First Crusade

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Baldwin was a son of Eustace II of Boulogne and Ida of Lorraine (daughter of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine), and the younger brother of Eustace III of Boulogne and Godfrey of Bouillon. As the youngest brother, Baldwin was originally intended for a career in the church, but he had given this up around 1080; according to William of Tyre, who lived later in the 12th century and did not know Baldwin personally: "in his youth, Baldwin was well nurtured in the liberal studies. He became a cleric, it is said, and, because of his illustrious lineage, held benefices commonly called prebends in the churches of Rheims, Cambrai, and Liège." Afterwards he lived in Normandy, where he married Godehilde (or Godvera) de Toeni, daughter of Raoul de Conches of a noble Anglo-Norman family (and formerly betrothed wife of Robert de Beaumont). He returned to Lorraine in order to take control of the county of Verdun (previously held by Godfrey).

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First Crusade

In 1096 he joined the First Crusade with his brothers Godfrey and Eustace III of Boulogne, selling much of his property to the church in order to pay for his expenses. His wife Godehilde (or Godvera) also accompanied him. This was the second movement of crusaders; the first, the People's Crusade, had been composed of the lower classes and caused much destruction on their march before being destroyed in Asia Minor. When Godfrey passed through Hungary, King Coloman demanded a hostage to ensure their good conduct, and Baldwin was handed over until his companions had left Hungarian territory.

After entering Byzantine territory, there were a few skirmishes with the Greeks, who had also suffered from the People's Crusade. Baldwin commanded a detachment of troops which captured a bridge in the vicinity of Constantinople. After reaching the city, the mass of troops could not be restrained from pillaging the surrounding territory, and Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus was forced to provide a hostage in order to restore peace. The hostage, his son the future emperor John II Comnenus, was entrusted to the care of Baldwin. According to Anna Comnena, Baldwin reprimanded one of his soldiers who dared to sit on Alexius' throne in Constantinople.

Baldwin accompanied his brothers as far as Heraclea in Asia Minor, where he broke away from the main body of the crusaders with Tancred to march into Cilicia. Tancred was surely seeking to capture some land and establish himself as a petty ruler in the east, and Baldwin may have had the same goal. During his absence his wife fell ill and died at Marash, which meant that Baldwin could no longer depend on his wife's lands for support. Some historians have suggested that his entire strategy changed from that point, others believe that the change happened earlier.

In September of 1097 he took Tarsus from Tancred, and installed his own garrison in the city, with help from a fleet of pirates under Guynemer of Boulogne. Tancred and Baldwin's armies skirmished briefly at Mamistra, but the two never came to open warfare and Tancred marched on towards Antioch. After rejoining the main army at Marash, Baldwin received an invitation from an Armenian named Bagrat, and moved eastwards towards the Euphrates, where he occupied Turbessel.

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Baldwin of Boulogne entering Edessa in February 1098. He is shown being welcomed by the Armenian clergy, who welcomed the end of tutelage to Constantinople.[2]

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Count of Edessa

Another invitation came from Thoros of Edessa, where Baldwin was adopted as Thoros' son and successor. When Thoros was assassinated in March of 1098, Baldwin became the first count of Edessa, although it is unknown if he played any role in the assassination. He ruled the county until 1100, marrying Arda, the daughter of Thoros of Marash, and acting as an ambassador between the crusaders and Armenians.

During these two years he captured Samosata and Suruç (Sarorgia) from the Muslims, and defeated a conspiracy by some of his Armenian subjects in 1098. During the Siege of Antioch he sent money and food to his fellow crusaders, although he himself did not participate. Kerbogha, the governor of Mosul, was marching to relieve Antioch but first stopped at Edessa, which he besieged for three weeks, to no avail. Kerbogha was later defeated at Antioch and the crusaders established a principality there. Later that year Baldwin had consolidated his power enough that he was able to march out with his brother Godfrey and besiege Azaz where they defeated the forces of Ridwan of Aleppo.

At the end of 1099 he visited Jerusalem along with Bohemund I of Antioch, but he returned to Edessa in January, 1100. After returning to Edessa, Baldwin aided in relieving the siege of Melitene, at which Bohemund was captured by the Danishmends. The Armenian ruler of the city, Gabriel, then recognized Baldwin as overlord of the city.

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King of Jerusalem

After Godfrey's death in July of 1100 he was invited to Jerusalem by the supporters of a secular monarchy. He granted Edessa to a cousin, Baldwin of Bourcq, and on the way to Jerusalem he was ambushed by Duqaq of Damascus near Beirut. Duqaq’s troops were defeated and there was no further trouble on the way to Jerusalem, where he arrived at the beginning of November.

In Jerusalem Baldwin was opposed by his old enemy Tancred, as well as the new patriarch, Dagobert of Pisa, who would have preferred to set up a theocratic state while Godfrey was still alive. As soon as he arrived Baldwin set out on an expedition against the Egyptian territory to the south and did not return until the end of December. On December 25th, 1100 he was crowned the first king of Jerusalem by the patriarch himself, who had in the meantime given up his opposition to Baldwin, although he refused to crown Baldwin in Jerusalem. The coronation took place instead in Bethlehem.

The struggle between church and state continued into the spring of 1101, when Baldwin had Dagobert suspended by a papal legate, while later in the year the two disagreed on the question of the contribution to be made by the patriarch towards the defence of the Holy Land. The struggle ended in the deposition of Dagobert in 1102.

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Baldwin of Boulogne receiving the hommage of the Armenians in Edessa.

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Expansion of the kingdom

In 1101 Baldwin captured Arsuf and Caesarea, with assistance from a Genoese fleet. In return the Genoese were granted trading quarters in these towns, and an archbishopric was established in Caesarea. In September of that year Baldwin defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Ramlah, although it was believed in Jerusalem that the crusader army had been defeated and Baldwin had been killed. Tancred was prepared to take up the regency before it was finally reported that Baldwin had been victorious.

In 1102 another battle was fought at Ramlah, with remnants of the Crusade of 1101, including Stephen, Count of Blois, William IX of Aquitaine, and Hugh VI of Lusignan. This time the Egyptians were victorious; Baldwin lost most of his army including Stephen of Blois, but he himself escaped back to Arsuf on his horse (unusual for this period, especially considering the high death rate of horses during the First Crusade and afterwards, the name of the horse has survived: she was called Gazala). He did not want to risk venturing out of the city for fear of being captured by the Egyptians, so he was ferried back to Jaffa by the English pirate Godric of Finchale, and thence secretly to Jerusalem. The Egyptians were still in the field, however, and Baldwin met them again outside Jaffa, and this time was victorious.

In 1103 Baldwin besieged Acre, without success as it was relieved by an Egyptian fleet. That year he also paid the ransom for Bohemund of Antioch, who was still in prison following his defeat at Melitene; Baldwin preferred Bohemund to Tancred, who ruled Antioch as regent, and was also prince of Galilee earlier in Baldwin's reign. In 1104 however Baldwin was assisted by a Genoese fleet and Acre was captured. In 1105 another battle was fought at Ramlah and Baldwin was victorious here as well. In 1109 he acted as arbitrator of a council of the greatest barons outside the walls of Tripoli, and forced Tancred to give up his claim to the city. Soon after, the city fell to the crusaders, forming the nucleus of the County of Tripoli. In 1110 Beirut was added to the territory of Jerusalem, again with help from the Genoese. Baldwin then travelled north to assist Edessa, under siege from Mawdud of Mosul.

On his return, Sidon was captured with aid from Ordelafo Faliero (who brought a Venetian fleet of 100 ships) and Sigurd I of Norway.[3] In 1111 Baldwin assisted Tancred in besieging Shaizar, and then also besieged Tyre, but was pushed back by a Muslim force under Toghtekin of Damascus. In 1113 Baldwin faced a large invasion by the combined forces of Toghtekin of Damascus and Aksunk-ur of Mosul, and though the kingdom was on the brink of destruction Baldwin was assisted by troops from Antioch and new arrivals of European pilgrims at the Battle of Al-Sannabra.

In 1113 he also married Adelaide del Vasto; he had abandoned his Armenian wife Arda in 1108, on the pretext that she had been unfaithful, or, according to Guibert of Nogent, because she had been raped by pirates on the way to Jerusalem. It is more likely however that she was simply politically useless in Jerusalem, which had no Armenian population. Under the marriage agreement, if Baldwin and Adelaide had no children, the heir to the kingdom would be Roger II of Sicily, Adelaide's son by her first husband Roger I. Technically the marriage to Adelaide was bigamous because Arda was still alive in a monastery in Jerusalem, and it would later cause many problems both for Baldwin and Patriarch Arnulf, who had sanctioned it.

In 1115 he led an expedition into Oultrejordain and built the castle of Montreal. The Syrian Christians who lived in the area were invited to settle in Jerusalem to replenish the population, which had been mostly massacred in 1099. In 1117 he built the castle of Scandalion near Tyre, which was still in Muslim hands. At this point the army in the Kingdom of Jerusalem consisted of only 6,000 men, including 1,000 knights but it was augmented with 5,000 turcopoles.[4]

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Death

In 1117 Baldwin fell ill. He was convinced that the sickness was due to his bigamous marriage to Adelaide, and in response Adelaide was sent back to Sicily, much to her disgust. Baldwin recovered, however, and in 1118 he marched into Egypt and plundered Farama. According to Fulcher of Chartres,

"Then one day he went walking along the river which the Greeks call the Nile and the Hebrews the Gihon, near the city, enjoying himself with some of his friends. Some of the knights very skillfully used their lances to spear the fish found there and carried them to their camp near the city and ate them. Then the king felt within himself the renewed pangs of an old wound and was most seriously weakened."

As 17th century historian Thomas Fuller remarked more succinctly, Baldwin "caught many fish, and his death in eating them."

Baldwin was carried back to Jerusalem on a litter but died on the way, at the village of Al-Arish on April 2. Fulcher of Chartres says "The Franks wept, the Syrians, and even the Saracens who saw it grieved also." His cousin Baldwin of Bourcq was chosen as his successor, although the kingdom was also offered to Eustace III, who did not want it.

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Personal life

Fulcher described him as another Joshua, "the right arm of his people, the terror and adversary of his enemies." William of Tyre remarked that he was similar to Saul. Although William did not know him personally like Fulcher did, he left a detailed description of him:

"He is said to have been very tall and much larger than his brother…He was of rather light complexion, with dark-brown hair and beard. His nose was aquiline and his upper lip somewhat prominent. The lower jaw slightly receded, although not so much that it could be considered a defect. He was dignified in carriage and serious in dress and speech. He always wore a mantle hanging from his shoulders…[He] was neither stout nor unduly thin, but rather of a medium habit of body. Expert in the use of arms, agile on horseback, he was active and diligent whenever the affairs of the realm called him."

Baldwin's personal life was controversial. After abandoning Arda and marrying Adelaide it was suspected that he was homosexual, since he had no children with either, nor any from his first wife Godvera. William said that he "struggled in vain against the lustful sins of the flesh."

The Historia Hierosolymitana of Fulcher, who had accompanied Baldwin to Edessa as Baldwin's chaplain, and had lived in Jerusalem during his reign, is the primary source for Baldwin's career.

[Rachel Dearth]

Crusader, first King of Jerusalem. He was the younger brother of Godfrey of Bouillon the Potector of the Holy Sepulchre and was supposed to become a priest. In 1096 he joined the first crusade. He followed Tancred of Hauteville and was there when Tancred took Tarsus. He followed the invitation of Thoros of Edessa who later adopted him. After Thoros death he became the first count of Edessa. Godfrey died in July 1100 and on Christmas Day of the same year Baldwin was crowned King of Jerusalem. (bio by: Lutetia)
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4102

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Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Burial::
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Jerusalem, Israel

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4102

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Eustace III, Count of Boulogne

Eustace III, was a count of Boulogne, successor to his father Count Eustace II of Boulogne. His mother was Ida of Lorraine.

Eustace appeared at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 as an ally of William the Conqueror, and is listed as a possible killer of Harold II; he is also believed to have given William his own horse after the duke's was killed under him by Gyrth, brother of Harold.

He succeeded to Count of Boulogne in 1087.[1]

He went on the First Crusade in 1096 with his brothers Godfrey of Bouillon (duke of Lower Lotharingia) and Baldwin of Boulogne. He soon returned to Europe to administer his domains. He married Mary of Scotland, daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland, and Saint Margaret of Scotland. Eustace and Mary had one daughter, Matilda of Boulogne.

When his youngest brother king Baldwin I of Jerusalem died in 1118, the elderly Eustace was offered the throne. Eustace was at first uninterested, but was convinced to accept it; he travelled all the way to Apulia before learning that a distant relative, Baldwin of Bourcq, had been crowned in the meantime. Eustace returned to Boulogne and died about 1125.

On his death the county of Boulogne was inherited by his daughter, Matilda, and her husband Stephen de Blois, count of Mortain, afterwards king of England, and at the death of Matilda in 1151 it was inherited by their son, Eustace IV of Boulogne, later their second son William and ultimately by their daughter Marie of Boulogne, since both sons died without children.

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Robert II, Count of Flanders



Robert II (c. 1065 – October 5, 1111) was Count of Flanders from 1093 to 1111. He became known as Robert of Jerusalem (Robertus Hierosolimitanus) or Robert the Crusader after his exploits in the First Crusade.

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History

He was the eldest son of Robert I of Flanders and Gertrude of Holland. His father, hoping to place the cadet branch (or "Baldwinite" branch) of Flanders over the county, began to associate him with his rule around 1077. From 1085 to 1091 he was regent of the county while his father was away on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

After becoming count in 1093, he joined the First Crusade, launched by Pope Urban II in 1095. Robert established a regency council in Flanders and followed the retinue Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine. After reaching Constantinople, the crusaders were obliged to swear an oath of fealty to Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus and promise to return to the Byzantine Empire any land they might capture. Robert, whose father had already served Alexius during his pilgrimage in the 1080s, had no problem swearing this oath, but some of the other leaders did and there was some delay in leaving the city.

Robert then participated in the Siege of Nicaea, after which the army was split into two groups. Robert marched with Stephen of Blois, Bohemund of Taranto, Robert Curthose, and the Byzantine guides, one day ahead of the rest of the crusaders. This army was surrounded by the Seljuk sultan Kilij Arslan I at the Battle of Dorylaeum on June 30, 1097. The next day, the second army, led by Raymond IV of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, and Hugh of Vermandois, arrived and broke the encirclement; the two armies joined together, with Robert and Raymond forming the centre. The Turks were defeated and the crusaders continued their march.

At the end of 1097 the crusaders arrived at Antioch. The Siege of Antioch lasted many months; in December, Robert and Bohemund briefly left the army to raid the surrounding territory for food, and on December 30 they defeated an army sent to relieve Antioch, led by Dukak of Damascus. Antioch was eventually betrayed to Bohemund by an Armenian guard, and Robert was among the first to enter the city, but only a few days later they were themselves besieged by Kerbogha of Mosul. On June 28, 1098, the crusaders marched out to meet him in battle; Robert and Hugh of Vermandois led the first of six divisions. Kerbogha was defeated and the Muslim-held citadel finally surrendered to the crusaders. Robert, along with Bohemund, Raymond, and Godfrey, occupied the citadel, but Bohemund soon claimed the city for himself. Raymond also claimed it, but Robert supported Bohemund in this dispute.

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The dispute delayed the crusade even further. Raymond left Antioch to attack Ma'arrat al-Numan, which was captured; Robert took part in this siege as well. Raymond then tried to bribe Robert and the other leaders to follow him instead of Bohemund; Robert was offered six thousand sous, but each attempted bribe was ignored. Raymond continued south to Jerusalem in January, 1099, but Robert and Godfrey remained behind in Antioch until February. They rejoined Raymond's army at the Siege of Arqa. In June, Robert and Gaston IV of Bearn led the vanguard which arrived at Ramla, and with Tancred of Taranto he led an expedition into Samaria to find wood in order to construct siege engines for the Siege of Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was captured on July 15, Robert supported Godfrey's claim over that of Raymond, and on August 9 marched out with him to meet the Fatimid army under al-Afdal Shahanshah which was coming to relieve Jerusalem. Robert formed part of the centre wing in the ensuing Battle of Ascalon, which resulted in a crusader victory. However, Godfrey and Raymond quarrelled over possession of Ascalon, and even Robert could not support Godfrey in this dispute; the city remained uncaptured, although the victory allowed for the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

At the end of August, Robert returned home with Robert Curthose and Raymond. On the way back they captured Latakia, which was returned to the Byzantine emperor, as promised years before. Raymond remained there but both Roberts continued home by way of Constantinople, after declining Alexius' request to stay there in his service. Robert brought back with him a precious relic, the arm of Saint George, a gift from Alexius. The relic was placed in the church of Anchin Abbey in Flanders[1]. After he returned, Robert built the monastery of St. Andrew in Betferkerke, near Bruges. Because of his crusade and the spoils he brought home, he was nicknamed Robert of Jerusalem.

During his absence, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV had tried to seize imperial Flanders. Robert responded by supporting the revolt of the Commune of Cambrai against the emperor and his supporter, Bishop Gaulcher, and seized a number of castles. Peace was restored in 1102 paid homage to the emperor for imperial Flanders, but after 1105, the new emperor, Henry V, marched on Flanders, with the aid of Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut and an army from Holland. Robert stopped them outside of Douai and a new peace was signed, in which the emperor recognized Robert's claim to Douai and Cambrai.

In 1103 he made an alliance with King Henry I of England, offering 1000 cavalry in exchange for an annual tribute, but when Henry refused to pay, Robert allied with his nominal overlord, Louis VI of France, and attacked Normandy. With the king diverted, Theobald IV of Blois led a revolt of the French barons. Robert led an army against Meaux, but near the city he was fatally wounded, fell of his horse, and drowned in the Marne.