A partial history of The Catholic Kingdom of Jerusalem

[HolyCrusader007]

This post is based upon information from The Epic of the Crusades by Rene Grousset. Grousset was a renown French Historian writing in the early 20th century about various topics not just the co called Crusades but also for example about the life of Genghis Khan. Grousset discusses many figures of the crusades like Peter the Hermit, whom led the dreaded Peoples Crusade which took off from Europe well ahead of the Barons armies. Peter the Hermit is btw provided in a good light by Grousset which runs against the unproven allegations agaisnt Peter the Hermit on wikipedia for example. Peter was said to be a pious Christian, perhaps to pious as Peter was willing to take on criminals, criminals that hoped to attain salvation on the road to the Holy Land. Peter may have thought that some of the criminals that joined the peoples Crusade would change for the better, and surely many did but unfortunately not all did.

Unfortunately some of Peters followers gave in to there old ways, robbing and looting for example in Hungary and in Byzantine areas. These actions upset The King of Hungary Coloman… and the Emperor of Byzantine Alexius Comnenus and btw some of those followers of Peter the Hermit were punished by the Hungarian King and Byzantine Emperor. That said, when the Peoples Crusade finally reached Byzantine on Aug 1 1096, Emperor Comnenus told the Catholics to wait for the Backup of the professional Christian armies led by the 4 barons such as Godfrey, even Peter the Hermit told his followers to wait to march against the Turks…but zeal and selfishness perhaps took over and without Peter the Hermit about 25,000 men, many non Knights but with a few Knights, set off and crossed the Bosphorus to battle the Turks. By Oct 21 1096 decided to do something remarkable, without a central leadership but with faith in Christ marched on to Nicaea the Turkish capital. The peoples crusade was crushed, and of the 25,000 men, only 3,000 would return alive in retreat back to the Byzantine Empire.

And btw Grousset praised Peter the Hermit, where Peter went wrong was perhaps not having a background check on those that took up the peoples Crusade. Or perhaps Rather Peter should have tried to have tighter control over his followers. After all it was men such as Emich of Leisingen whom was anti Jewish, indeed it was reported that Emich terribly mistreated Jews. Otoh I can also comment on the character and behavior of other Christian leaders of the so called First Crusade. Btw Grousset points out that w of those 25,000 men there were some bad eggs, but not all were bad. There would have been good everyday people in the Peoples Crusade, one can imagine the Good Catholics probably tried to physically prevent the bad Catholics from mistreating others. In every war it seems there are crimes of course.

Anyway Grousset says the following of Godfrey, and this is a total turnaround from how Grousset views Emich,

During the Crusades he(Godfrey) was to prove a pious pilgrim, full of good grace, gentleness, charity and Christian humility.

 

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Godfrey was so capable that he was able to reassure the very Hungarians whom were mistreated by some of those of the Peoples Crusade. And Godfrey and his army marched right through Hungary toward the Holy Land with no issue.

I will say page 31 of The Epic of the Crusades actually brings up the bloodshed at Jerusalem. We even get to hear the famous William of Tyre providing a bloody description of the Battle of Jerusalem. This was 1,000 years ago warfare of the time involving swords and shields were to be bloody, and Jews and Muslims also took part in violent wars. By July 1099, Jerusalem was in Catholic hands again. Btw Godfrey was a very important military leader. Only three weeks after Taking Jerusalem , a huge Muslim army from Egypt which had entered Palestine led by the Vizier Al Afdal threatened to destroy the Catholic Kingdom of Jerusalem. At the time there were various disagreements between Godfrey and other Catholic leaders that could have brought down the Kingdom amid an invasion. But because of Godfreys honor and pious behavior, Christians that were in argument with Godfrey such as Raymond of Saint Gilles set aside there differences… and united to save Jerusalem. Al Afdal sent in a huge forces which outnumbered the Crusaders greatly, but the Valiant Godfrey and his men surprised Al Afdal at the Battle of Ascalon resulting in a Christian victory and the security of Jerusalem for decades to come.

Numerous accounts suggest that Godfrey actually meant with Muslims peacefully during the time of the Kingdom of Jerusalem…that speaks volumes to me. Pages 34-35 of The Epic of the Crusades talks at length about the respect that Muslims had for Godfrey. Godfrey due to his soft spoken and pious and kind nature, reminded the Muslims of none other then Muhammad himself. Arab Muslims and European Catholics in The new Kingdom had conversations with each other, they learned more and more about each other. Arabs and Franks would take up friendships with each other in The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Its for these reasons I truly Love and admire Godfrey of Bouillon, and for that matter we all have are heroes or things we look up to. Just so happens that one of the people of history I look up to is Godfrey, I often say to myself when faced with a real life situation, how would a Humble Knight like Godfrey act?

 

[HolyCrusader007]

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Btw the information itt is from a contribution of mine to a history site. I would also welcome what others know and feel about the Catholic Kingdom of Jerusalem,

In this post we will learn more of what the historian Rene Grousset has to say of Godfrey of Boullion

Godfrey of Bouillon hails from Lower Lorraine(also known as Brabant). Godfreys mother was the heiress of the dukes of Brabant, and Godfreys father was the Count of Boulogne-sur-Mer, in the Kingdom of France. The following is how Grousset describes Godfrey.

Phyiscally he was the typical Northern Knight. Very tall, broad chested with strong limbs, but a high narrow waist, and bright gold hair and a beard. Godfrey was a great hunter and was said to have a run in with a bear in Cilicia nearing dying in the encounter. Godfrey was a very strong man, a highly capable Knight.

Prior to becoming his own ruler in Jerusalem, Godfrey was under The Emperor of Germany Henry IV whom Grousset said mistreated Godfrey, nonetheless Godfrey remained loyal to Henry IV due to the pious and kind nature of Godfrey. Godrey was a very dedicated Catholic, praying so much that fellow Christians would sometimes complain to Godfrey that he was praying so much that their supper would get cold. But that was the kind of man Godfrey was, putting God first, being humble, dignified and righteous. Godfrey would dress in a simple fashion, Godfrey was not into riches or pursuing wealth. Godfrey was a very wise leader, so much though that after some of those of Peoples Crusade pillaged Hungary, Godfrey was able to convince the Hungarians to allow Godrey and his men safe passage through Hungary and onto eventually Jerusalem.

 

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On to the Crusade.

Hearing of the call to Crusade from Urban II, Godfrey took up the cross and made his journey from Lower Lorraine reaching Hungary, and from there reaching the Byzantine Empire. Pope Urban II called for a crusade for the reason of preventing the Turks from taking over Europe as the Turks just about 3 decades earlier scored a massive victory over the Eastern Christian Byzantines at Manzikert(1071). We should note about 50 years before the Crusade there was a difference between Western Catholics and Eastern Christians, a schism if you will between the Greek Church and the Catholic Church…Part of the reason Urban II called for a Crusade was also to try and end this schism and to bring together western and eastern Christians. Now that said the 1st Crusade still saw Eastern Christians fighting alongside the mostly Catholic forces. Eastern Christians were involved in the Siege of Jerusalem for example(1099). By Dec 23, 1096 Godfrey and his men reached Constantinople being welcomed in a polite manner by Emperor Alexius. I will say that Grousset reports that Emperor Alexius kept on asking Godfrey to make a pledge to Alexius, Godfrey kept on refusing though until finally Godfrey did agree to make a pledge to Emperor Alexius as the Crusaders food and supply was running low so Godfrey had to make a decision and in order to get food from Emperor Alexius Godfrey would have to make his pledge. It is claimned bu Grousset that Godfrey agreed to give to Emperor Alexius any land that Godfrey and his men might take from the Muslims.

One of the major battles Godfrey was involved in during the 1st Crusade saw Godfrey fighting alongside other Crusaders and with many Eastern Christians(whom used Siege Engines) was to be the Siege of Nicae in May 1097… Nicae was an important Christian site of which a mere 16 years earlier was taken over by the Seljuk Turks…where the Turks made Nicae the capital of the Seljuk sultanate of Anatolia. Indeed as Grousset reports it was teamwork between Eastern Christians and Catholics that would win the Christians an important victory at Nicae, by June 26th, 1097 Nicae was surrendered to the Christian forces by Turkish Chiefs. As soon as the victory was had, some Eastern Christians would raise Byzantine flags all over, this action upset some of the Catholics as they felt disrespected as Catholics died in the fight they felt they should be able to put up some of their flags. This and other issues would lead to disagreements between the Catholics and Eastern Christians down the road.

 

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After Nicae, Godfrey and his men as Grousset reports, set out to cross Asia Minor Diagonally from the northwest to the southeast, the shortest overland route from the straits of Syria. And it would prove to be a difficult and dangerous journey. Godfrey and his men would have to pass through the Anatolian plateau, a zone of arid steppes, culminating in the middle of a salt desert, where the question of supplies has always been difficult. Joining Godfrey on this holy mission was Bohemund, Tancred, and Robert Curthose…and the men decided to separate into two froces order to make the journey easier, the Turks found out of this separation and attempted to seize upon it. One force was led by Bohemund, another by Godfrey. And on July 1 1097…Turkish forces in huge numbers attacked the Christian force led by Bohemund by Dorylaeum. This was a total surprise, Alp Arlan and his troops caught Bohemund offguard. . Bohemund was barely able to form a line, and had a very difficult time at first fighting back against the Turks. In the minds of Bohemund and his men as Grousset says…was probably the thought of death and failure of the First Crusade. But the Christians never gave up… And Bohemund was smart to send word to Godfrey(whom was separated) that reinforcements were needed. Godfrey would eventually arrive with 50 knights to reinforce the action. A few other crusaderleadersand there menalso arrived, and the battle of Dorylaeum raged on. Against a superior Turkish force numerically… Godfrey made a great and heroic flanking action against the Turks, leading the Turkish forces to retreat leaving behind precious treasures for the Crusaders to recover. July 1 1097 is a critically important date in world history. As Grousset shows, " The Battle of Dorylaeum settled the question of power in the Near East for more then a century. Since the day of Manzikert, and the Capture of a Byzantine Emperor by a Turkish Sultan in 1071…the Turkish power had dominated the east. The day of July 1, 1097…announced to the world that a new power had arisen…The Frankish power which would henceforth prevail". Had the Catholic led forces lost atDorylaeum , the world today may look different, Christianity may not have been the 1# followed religion as it is today, it could have become Islam. The Christian victory at Dorylaeum in 1097 in a sense was redemption for the Byzantine loss at Manzikert in 1071. In part because of the Crusader victory at Dorylaeum, we would see two centuries of European hegemony in the Levant.

 

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Grousset also notes wrt Dorylaeum that

It is interesting to note that the Franks and the Turks, the military race of the west and the military race of Asia, learned in the very first encounter to esteem each other. The Chronicler of Gesta Francorum speaks to us out of his own experience. " We are bound to recognize the military qualities and the valiance of the Turks. They thought to frighten us with their hail of arrows, as they had frightend the Arabs, the Armenians, the Syrians, and the Greeks. But, with the Grace of God, they shall not prevail over us! In verity, they recognize, on their side , that none save the Franks and themselves has the right to call himself Knight"

Godfrey was an important leader in all of European history, noted not only for his great military skill but also his honor and tolerant character. Godfrey was praised for his chivalry not only by Catholics and Eastern Christians, but by the Muslims as well.