How a Belgian Crusader became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When Belgium became independent, she urgently needed a reason for national pride. Best suited for this was a hero, a knight about whom legends were made. The search began. But, unfortunately, all the great warriors of the Middle Ages turned out to be, according to their "passport", either French or Germans. In the end, historians found a suitable character - Gottfried of Bouillon. He was born in the valley of the Meuse River, just in the territory that belonged to Belgium. The knight, who became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, was ideally suited to the role of a national hero. In honor of Gottfried, a monument was erected in Brussels and became proud of it.

Long way to the Holy Land

Date of birth of Gottfried of Bouillon was lost in time. But historians are inclined to believe that this happened around 1060. The knight's small homeland was Lower Lorraine, located just in the valley of the Meuse River. On his mother, Gottfried's roots went back to Charlemagne himself, on his father - to the English king Edward the Confessor.

When Pope Urban II urged all Christians to go to the East to reclaim the Holy Sepulcher, Gottfried was enthusiastic about the news. But, as you know, the poor were the first to go to war with the Saracens. That event went down in history as the "Crusade of the Poor".

When the news came that the peasants had been defeated, the counts and dukes began to gather for a new campaign, which officially became the first. Gottfried, leading the army, moved with it to Constantinople - the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium).

According to Anna Comnenus (the first woman historian), daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexei I Comnenus, Bouillon managed to gather an impressive army by the standards of that time. At his disposal were more than seventy thousand foot soldiers and about ten thousand knights.

Alexei Komnenos, who had just managed to eliminate the damage inflicted on the state by the peasants, with a shudder took the news that the army of Christ was again coming from the West. He tried to negotiate with them in order to secure his lands and people. The emperor offered Gottfried food, and in return demanded decent behavior. Bouillonsky agreed. But … suddenly, the crusaders plundered the Byzantine city of Selimbria, located on the coast of the Sea of Marmara. Why the soldiers of Christ did this, no one knows. Gottfried himself was unable to give Alexei Komnenos an intelligible answer.

Trying to secure his state, Komnenos demanded from the Bouillon oath of allegiance. He refused. Relations between Byzantium and the Crusaders finally deteriorated.

There were two battles between Comnenus and Gottfried. Both were won by the Byzantine emperor. And only after that, Boulogne nevertheless swore allegiance to him. True, this was done rather for show. Having clarified the relationship, in 1097 the army of Christ moved to Nicaea - the capital of the Seljuks.

The battles for the Holy Sepulcher

The Seljuk Sultan Kilich-Arslan I turned out to be a shortsighted politician. Having destroyed the army of European peasants, he decided that there was no point in being afraid of the crusaders. They are too weak to be a real threat. Therefore, together with the army, he went into the depths of Eastern Anatolia, trying to annex those lands. But his family and treasury remained in Nicaea.

The crusaders reached Nicaea in May 1097. It didn't work out to take the city outright. The capital was too well fortified. In addition, provisions came to Nicaea via Lake Askan. And Gottfried's warriors could do nothing about it. The Byzantines came to the rescue. Komnenos sent not only soldiers to Nicaea, but also ships. Interestingly, they were taken to the lake disassembled, then collected, launched and fought against the Seljuks. And only after that Nicaea fell. Moreover, the inhabitants surrendered the city to the Byzantine military leaders, and not to Gottfried. And so Nicaea automatically came under the rule of Comnenus.

Naturally, Gottfried was furious, like all his soldiers. The crusaders hoped to plunder the city in order to improve their financial situation, but they did not succeed. Alexei Komnin, as a gesture of generosity, ordered money and horses to be allocated to the soldiers of Christ. The Europeans accepted the imperial present, but, as they say, the sediment remained.

Celebrating the first major victory, Gottfried led his army further. And by the fall of 1098 they reached rich Antioch, on the way we will defeat the army of Kylych-Arslan. They managed to take the city only a few months later. But the extraction compensated for all the difficulties and hardships. Now the path to the main goal of the campaign - Jerusalem - was completely cleared. Inspired, the crusaders moved on. The epochal event took place in the summer of 1099. Gottfried and his soldiers approached the holy city.

When the Christians saw the city, they all knelt down and began to pray. The most important test awaited them ahead - the battle for the Holy Sepulcher. Returning it was a difficult task, since Jerusalem did not belong to the defeated Seljuks, but to the strong Fitimid Caliphate. First, Emir Iftikar al-Daula tried to solve the problem peacefully. He said that he was ready to let pilgrims go to the holy places and promised to ensure their safety. Naturally, Gottfried declined the offer. The siege began.

The crusaders took the city in a ring and several times went to the assault. But all attempts were unsuccessful. Even siege weapons did not help. An interesting event happened soon after. One of the monks in Gottfried's army had a vision. He informed Boulogne that it was necessary to arrange a procession of the cross around the city. And then the walls will collapse on their own. Gottfried conferred with his commanders and decided to try. At that time, such things were not joking and were taken to visions in all seriousness.

The Crusaders completed their mission. But … the walls of Jerusalem remained in place. And this made a depressing impression on Christians. In the army, talk began that God had turned his back on the soldiers. Gottfried and the monks had to intervene urgently so that morale would not finally drop.

The final assault on the city took place on July 14, 1099. The battle lasted the whole day and stopped only with the onset of darkness. But nobody slept. Muslims in a hurry repaired the walls, Christians were preparing for a new assault. The next day, the battle resumed. And the city still could not resist. The crusaders were able to break the fierce resistance of the enemy.

In a short time, the city was plundered, and its inhabitants were killed. Moreover, they did not escape from "righteous anger" either in mosques or in synagogues (the crusaders considered Jews to be the same enemies as Muslims).

Gottfried became the first ruler of the new Kingdom of Jerusalem. True, his reign was short-lived. The defender of the Holy Sepulcher (he received such a title after the capture of the city) died in 1100. At the same time, it is not known exactly what was the reason. According to one version, cholera killed him, according to another - the knight heroically died during the battle for Acre.

The fact that the Holy Land was in the hands of the Saracens greatly worried the Catholic Church. In 1096, Pope Urban II called on all Christians to go on a crusade. Then he had no idea what a catastrophe this idea would turn out to be. So why did the war for the Holy Land turn out to be a complete failure for Christians?