Baldwin of Bouillon, (King Baldwin I (1100-1118))



Baldwin of Bouillon was a participant in the First Crusade (1096–1099) and subsequently  count  of  Edessa  (1097–1100)  and  first  king  of Jerusalem (1100–1118). Baldwin was the third son of Eustace II, count of Boulogne, and Ida of Bouillon, born sometime between 1061 and 1070. He was originally educated for a clerical career and held benefices in the dioceses of Liège, Reims, and Cambrai, but by 1090 he had become a knight and married Godehilde, daughter of the Norman nobleman Ralph of Tosny. When his elder brother Godfrey of Bouillon decided to take part in the First Crusade, Baldwin and his wife accompanied him.

Baldwin played an important role as one of the leaders of Godfrey’s contingent, but when the main crusading armies reached Cilicia in late 1097, he left them, with a military force recruited primarily from his brothers’ followers, evidently intending to conquer lands for himself. He contested the possession of the coastal town of Tarsos with Tancred, but in  early  1098  he  moved  further  east  to  conquer  the  area around  Turbessel  (mod.  Tellbaflar  Kalesi,  Turkey)  and Edessa (mod. fianliurfa, Turkey) in northern Syria, whose Armenian population had risen in revolt against the Turks.

He initially shared the government of the city of Edessa with the Armenian nobleman T‘oros, but soon supplanted him, and by 1100 had extended Frankish rule for over 100 kilometers  (c.  60  mi.)  on  either  bank  of  the  Euphrates.  The county of Edessa-the first Frankish state to be established by  the  First  Crusade-constituted  an  important  buffer against the Turks of the Salj‰q Empire, and was in a position to provide logistical help for the main crusade armies during their campaigns in the environs of Antioch during 1098. As Godehilde had died at Marash in 1097, Baldwin married the daughter of the Armenian prince Taphnuz.

The succession to the kingdom was not allowed to pass undisputed on Godfrey's death. Dagobert of Pisa, who had supplanted Arnulf in the patriarchate, and whose ecclesiastical pretensions were of the loftiest nature, dreamt that in Bohemond he might find a second Guiscard to defend a second Gregory. But the Crusaders at Jerusalem refused to recognise any lord except one of Godfrey's race. They held the Tower of David against the patriarch, and summoned Baldwin of Edessa to come and take possession of his rights. Baldwin accepted the offer, and leaving Edessa to his cousin and namesake, Baldwin du Bourg, started for Antioch on the 26th of September ; thence, despite the opposition of Dukak of Damascus, with whom he had to fight a severe battle in the tortuous passes of Lebanon above Beyrout, he made his way to Jerusalem. The magnificence of his reception in his new capital was only marred by the hostility of Dagobert ; there was, however, no further opposition to his recognition as king. ­But king though Baldwin was in name, he had yet to conquer his kingdom. From the first he had to contend with two great obstacles, lack of money and lack of men. The internal history of his reign is to a large extent the story of how he overcame these difficulties.

­On leaving Edessa Baldwin had only been accompanied by two hundred knights and seven hundred foot, whilst three months later at Jerusalem he could only muster another hundred knights. The Mohammedans themselves do not seem to have ever collected large armies, though they greatly outnumbered the Christians. Thus at Jaffa in noi they were eleven thousand horse and twenty-one thousand foot to two hundred and forty knights and nine hundred foot, and at Ramleh twenty thousand against two hundred. " To all," says Fulcher, " it appears to be a palpable and truly wondrous miracle that we could live among so many millions, making them our subjects and tributaries." Had Baldwin been dependent solely on the French and German soldiers who stayed with him in Palestine, he could not long have held his own. But aggressive operations on a large scale were almost uniformly carried out with the aid of Crusading fleets from Italy, England, or Norway. Thus two hundred ships under Harding the Englishman, 1 Bernhard of Galatia, and Hadewerck the Westphalian, saved Baldwin from the consequences of his rash daring at Jaffa in 1 102.

An English and North German fleet helped him at the siege of Sidon in 1 107, and the fall of that city three years later was due to the asaistance of Sigurd the Norwegian. More important still were the services rendered by the Italians. The Genoese helped in the capture of Caesarea (1101), Tortosa (1102), Acre (1104), Tripoli (1109), and other places. The Pisans fought for Bohemond at Laodicea, and for Raymond's successors at Tripoli. The Venetians, who under their doge had met the dying Godfrey at Jaffa, were present at the siege of Sidon, and were the moving force at the conquest of Tyre in the next reign. All these allies reaped large rewards ; Baldwin granted the Genoese streets in Jerusalem and Jaffa, together with their part of Caesarea, Arstif, and other towns ; the same king promised his Italian confederates one street in the towns they helped to conquer, and a third share of the booty; in 11 24 the Venetians bargained for still higher privileges, and were promised a street, oven, and bath in every city whether belonging to king or noble. ­In his early years Baldwin must have relied very largely on the members of his own and Godfrey's household. The need of supplying these and other mercenaries with money forced the king, on many occasions, to injustice and robbery. The easiest way of procuring funds was by taking tribute of the unconquered towns. Thus Godfrey had received tribute from Ascalon, Caesarea, ancl Arstif ; Baldwin himself raised the siege of Sidon for money in 1 107.

Through his want of money Baldwin was frequently driven to have recourse to promiscuous plunder. In 1108 he made a night attack on the great Egyptian caravan beyond the Jordan, and carried off thirty-two camels laden with sugar, honey, and oil to Jerusalem. On another occasion William, bastard son of Robert of Normandy, brought a like benefit to the royal treasury. Worse still, after promising protection to the men of Tyre as they were carrying their treasures to Damascus for safety, the king adopted the base maxim that "truth need not be kept with unbelievers," and robbed them on the way. In 1113 Baldwin sought to improve his shattered finances in another manner, by marrying Adela, widow of Count Roger of Sicily. Albert of Aix draws a glowing picture of the state in which she reached Acre Her vessels were laden with gold and gems, while her own ship had its mast covered with pure gold. She brought a thousand skilled warriors to aid
in the royal wars, and not content with helping her husband, she gave a thousand marks and five hundred besants to Roger of Antioch. But after three years, finding herself unable to live with the king, she returned home.

­Baldwin's reign was one of continued activity; every year saw him engaged in fresh enterprises, and exploring fresh fields for conquest. His chief dangers lay on the south west and north east of his kingdom. In the former region he had to keep up a perpetual struggle with Ascalon, whence the Egyptian garrison sallied out by land or sea on every opportunity. Even before his coronation Baldwin had been compelled to lead an expedition against the town. In 1101 he had renewed the warfare with the cities of the coast. Chiefly through the valour of the Genoese seamen Cassarea was captured with but short delay. Thence a reported invasion called Baldwin south; it was not, however, for four months that the Egyptians took the field near Jaffa with eleven thousand horse and twenty one thousand foot. To meet this host the king could only muster two hundred and forty knights and nine hundred foot soldiers ; but, says Fulcher, " having God on our side, we did not fear
to attack them." Three times the Christians were driven back, but when the king led out his fifth battalion in person, the Egyptians lost heart and fled before him.


References:

Alan V. Murray, The Crusades: An Encyclopedia, Publisher, ABC-CLIO, 2006.

Archer (T. A.), The crusades: The story of the latin kingdom of Jerusalem, New York, 1902.