Now, finding himself absolute, he prohibited Greek and Syriac rites in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Thereby he committed the sin of hubris for which Almighty God chastised him. Easter Sunday the lamps in the Sepulcher refused to burn. It is well known how pilgrims wait outside this most holy site during the vigil before Easter when lights are extinguished and the patriarch emerges bringing a new flame from the darkness of our Savior’s tomb. Hence this is both miracle and reality, visible sign of our central mystery, the Resurrection. None in the Latin world could say when this began save that it was long ago, some think during the fourth century when pagan feet trampled Jerusalem. Unbelievers invaded Christian homes to stamp out fire, leaving ashes on the hearth, knowing this miracle must be a consequence of trickery. It is said they marched through the basilica with drawn swords to extinguish the light of Christianity. Still the passionate request of those who arrived to pray could not be denied, quickly the lamp was lighted. Old men avow that Turks once removed the wick, nevertheless light blazed anew in empty metal since nothing prevails against the truth. However that may be, when King Baldwin with his excess of pride forbade all but Frankish rites the lamps refused to burn. Nor could anyone make them burn again till those who had been dispossessed beseeched the Lord to forgive him. And so, when he understood, Baldwin restored these privileges.
During the second year of his reign a cavalcade of wealthy Arabs passed through outer Jordan. Baldwin at once crossed the river, falling upon them while they slept. Few escaped. Most died in their tents. Slaves, camels, booty, women and children were seized. Presently he learned that the wife of a sheik was about to give birth. She was riding in a woven basket on a camel so he ordered her brought down and had a bed fixed for her in the shade of some palms. He arranged that she be supplied with food, two skins of water, two female camels filled with milk, and gave orders that a maid should attend her. Baldwin himself supervised these preparations and wrapped his mantle around her. Then he continued toward Jerusalem because she would be found soon enough. In a little while here came this woman’s husband, the sheik, who rode courageously through the soldiers to thank Baldwin, promising that one day this merciful act would be rewarded.
That summer he moved against Caesarea. For two weeks the citizens resisted, but without experience at war and through protracted leisure they had grown effete. When true believers placed ladders against the wall and mounted eagerly toward the ramparts these eunuchs succumbed to fright. As happened elsewhere, some gulped down jewels and gold coins, which roused the cupidity of Baldwin’s soldiers who split them apart to inspect their vitals. It is said that Baldwin wished to show he could be pitiless toward any who opposed him, therefore he authorized his men to do as they liked. Still, he and his captains were astonished by what occurred. Infants and lovely women escaped the sword, all others had cause to regret their misbelief. Hundreds fled to the mosque, which in ancient days had been the synagogue of Herod Agrippa, mistakenly hoping since it was a chapel of prayer they might be safe. In rushed the knighthood of Christ, Saracens pleading for mercy to no avail. Carpets in the mosque changed color. Much spoil was obtained, not least a quantity of pepper, so much that sergeants were allotted two pounds each. Archbishop William tells of a certain Genoese who found an emerald bowl that is regarded by some as the Holy Grail.
No more did Baldwin subjugate Caesarea than news arrived of a Babylonian army menacing Ramlah. At once he hastened to challenge them but they declined and withdrew, awaiting help. Not until September did they feel confident, what with eleven thousand horsemen, twenty thousand afoot.
King Baldwin assaulted them at sunrise near Ibelin close by Ramlah although he commanded fewer than three hundred knights and nine hundred sergeants. Bervold, a valiant knight, ascended to Paradise with all his men. Geldemar Carpenel, lord of Haifa, was embraced by the loving arms of Jesus while trying to rescue him. Hugh, prince of Galilee, turned and fled like a dog. It seemed the battle had been lost, the day forfeit. King Baldwin confessed his sins in view of his army before the True Cross. Then, mounting his splendid Arab charger Gazelle, he rode toward the heart of the enemy.
God help us! shouted his knights while dashing among these pagans like fowlers into a mass of birds. Christ conquers! Christ reigns! Christ rules!
King Baldwin shook his lance from which fluttered a white banner, pierced an enemy, knocked him to earth, and the flag lodged in his gut. Fulcher de Chartres, being very near the king, observed this. Misbelievers looked all around and suddenly cared for nothing except themselves.
King Baldwin chased them to Ascalon. Such was the punishment meted out by God on account of their absurd belief and wicked nature, which blinded them to the sovereign light.
Fulcher writes that he feared such deeds might be forgotten. Thus I set them down, says he, wishing to publish these marvelous works of our Lord, albeit my learning is rude, my ability slight. I have collected what I saw with my own eyes or have learnt through assiduous questioning. I relate what happened for the benefit of those who come after me. Let any man rectify what I have done, but let him not superimpose fictive symmetry or dignity, lest he adulterate the truth.
Now, Egypt is huge and rich and to the south live men with black skin who are fierce in battle. Hence the vizier al-Afdal summoned these warriors to expel the Franks. In May of the following year these accursed Egyptians moved once more against Ramlah and King Baldwin rode forth in high spirits because he did not know how numerous they were. This display of hubris alarmed Stephen de Blois, who urged caution. But all remembered how Stephen retreated from Antioch. Not until they rode out on the plain did they see the devilish host, by which time they could not retreat. Some few knights cut through the enemy and escaped to Joppa. Most gave up the ghost. King Baldwin with those nearest him fought his way to the citadel of Ramlah and then it was dark.
At midnight here came that Arab sheik whose wife King Baldwin succored when she was ready to give birth. He presented himself at the citadel asking to see the king, so he was let inside. He recalled that great charity to the king and declared himself obligated to repay such kindness for he loathed the sin of ingratitude. He warned King Baldwin to leave at once, saying the fortress would be overwhelmed at daybreak and all inside put to death. He said he would lead the king to safety, claiming he knew this region well. Therefore, taking a groom and three comrades, Baldwin put his faith in the Arab.
At daybreak here came Egyptians swift as roaches swarming across the wall to heap faggots around the citadel and set everything ablaze. The Franks charged out, led by Constable Conrad, since they thought it more honorable to die sword in hand. Few survived. Conrad and more than one hundred Franks were led away. What became of these, no chronicle relates. Geoffrey from Vendôme, Stephen from Burgundy, Hugh from Lusignan, all joined the fellowship of martyrs. Here, too, Stephen de Blois perished. At Dorylaeum he could not be found. News of Kerbogha caused him to retreat from Antioch and climb a mountain, caused him to excuse himself as far as Constantinople. Nor could he explain to his wife Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. We are told in Historia ecclesiastica by Oderic Vitalis how she abused him. My Lord, said she, no longer can I submit to the insult you receive from every quarter. Gather up that courage for which you were renowned as a youth. Take arms in a noble cause for the salvation of thousands. Let Christians exult throughout the world to the terror of infidels and to the perpetual disgrace of their false religion.
Thus, in that year of our gracious Lord 1102, Stephen de Blois fell at Ramlah. It may be his wife thereafter slept content. The Lord passed judgment on Stephen according to His great lenience, allowing this wealthy prince to compensate for doubtful conduct.
Arab histories say King Baldwin eluded capture by hiding flat on his belly in a thicket of reeds. They set fire to the reeds but he escaped and for two days wandered about north of Ramlah, his body scorched. At length he got across the plain to Arsuf where he found an Englishman called Goderic with a boat.
The queen of Jer
usalem and her ladies were at Joppa when they heard of King Baldwin’s defeat. Thinking him dead, they planned to board ship while they could before Egyptians came to seize them. But an Egyptian fleet broke the horizon so all in the city commended their souls to God. That same day al-Afdal’s cavalry rode to the very walls of Joppa and they saw what looked to be King Baldwin’s severed head on a lance. Next, down from the north sailed Goderic with King Baldwin’s standard at the mast and the king himself aboard, for the head was that of Gerbod de Winthinc who narrowly resembled him. All at once a fortuitous breeze favored the passage of Goderic’s boat, carrying it swiftly inside the harbor. What is this if not benevolent Providence?
Ibn al-Athir tells how the vizier sent forth a new expedition which failed. Yet another. Each failed because those who are one with Him, who hold Him close, cannot be overcome. The wickedness of their belief robbed and punished these Babylonians, sowed disarray among their forces. Nor could they slip the hand of fate. It was prophesied of a Saracen general that he would meet death by falling off a horse. Therefore he ordered paving stones removed from the streets of Beyrouth where his horse might stumble. Yet during combat the animal reared for no cause and threw him. He fell dead among his troops. Who shall cheat so vast a thing?
Baldwin moved to secure the land. He entrusted the fief of Galilee to Lord Hugh of Saint-Omer who had been his neighbor in France. This lord built castles from which to raid Muslim caravans. Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus, came down like a storm while Hugh was returning from a raid, fatally wounded him and scattered his people. Baldwin next entrusted the fief to Gervase de Basoches, a knight celebrated for audacity. It is said that when Gervase with two other knights encountered a large troop of infidels he ripped apart his undertunic and fastened it like a banner on his spear. Then beseeching God for aid, ordering his companions to do the same, they cried out loudly and spurred forward. The pagans turned to flee, leaving themselves mortally vulnerable to three bold pilgrims in the service of Christ. However, Toghtekin managed to capture Gervase and sent word that he would be released in exchange for three cities. Acre. Tiberias. Haifa. Baldwin thought such terms extravagant. Therefore, during some Turk festival Gervase was urged to repudiate and abjure the true faith. He said he would not. So he was bound to a tree in the midst of a field, his body torn by a hail of arrows from every side. They cut away the crown of his head to make a drinking cup for Toghtekin. This according to Abbot Guibert. Or it may be that the atabeg himself slew this valiant knight, scalped him because of his flowing white hair and carried the scalp on a pole. However it was, Gervase de Basoches entered that pantheon of martyrs whose name will be honored throughout eternity.
In the year of our Lord 1106 while King Baldwin was engaged on the frontier of Galilee these enemies of God surprised and murdered certain Christians near Joppa. Roger de Rozoy, who was governor, rode out against them but unluckily fell into ambush. He got back to Joppa with his head on his shoulders where it belonged, yet forty of his sergeants entered Paradise. Misbelievers next surprised Chastel Arnaud, an unfinished castle near Jerusalem, and slaughtered the workmen. Later they felt bold enough to assault Jerusalem itself and touched the walls, after which they retired with little show. There could be no doubt these black gentiles meant to recoup what they had lost.
One day when as usual King Baldwin fought his enemies it happened that some Ethiop lurked behind a rock and struck the king very hard in the back, wounding him almost to death. Yet the leeches attended him well, and being the steward of God’s ministry he recovered. How equitable the judgment of our Lord.
King Baldwin suffered many wounds. According to Abbot Guibert, he generously rode forth to rescue a foot soldier whose bravery delighted him and was dealt a blow piercing him to the vitals. Then the leech who was summoned did not want to apply a soothing cataplasm for fear the skin might grow smooth on top while putrid matter rankled within. This he foresaw partly through conjecture, partly through experience. He besought the king to have some captive likewise injured and afterward slain, by which he might inspect the corpse and perpend how things might be with the king’s deep wound. King Baldwin shrank from this, repeating the words of Emperor Constantine who declared he would not be the cause of any man’s death, however evil, for some faint benefit to his own good health.
Then the leech addressed King Baldwin. Sire, if you resolve to take no man’s life for the sake of thine own I beseech you to provide a captive bear, which is a beast of no use except to be baited. Let this animal stand erect on hinder paws so that steel may be thrust into him. Then after he is dead I may by inspecting his vitals measure the degree of his injury at bottom, and to some degree thine own.
To this the king responded. If need be, do as thou wilt.
It was done. Thus the leech discovered how perilous it would be if King Baldwin’s injury drew together before the rudiment healed. Again we perceive how our Lord most graciously extended His hand.
During the seventh year of Baldwin’s reign it became customary to exchange tokens of spiritual friendship with churches in Europe. Anseau, who was precentor of the Church of the Sepulcher, despatched to the canons of Notre-Dame a splinter from the True Cross. This inestimable relic had belonged to the king of Georgia who adored and guarded it. Upon his death the sorrowing queen shaved her head, took the veil, and retired to Jerusalem accompanied by this holy sliver of wood. Also, she carried a huge amount of gold that she distributed among various monasteries. And to the poor she gave innumerable alms. Because of her saintliness the patriarch of Jerusalem asked her to govern a community of nuns, a request she dutifully honored. These nuns at length fell into want. They lacked food and other necessities. So in order to sustain them the widowed queen of Georgia sold the most precious item known to mankind. By the helm of goodness does our Lord govern His universe.
During the summer of 1110 there came to the port of Joppa a Norse fleet numbering fifty or sixty vessels. Their captain a handsome youth named Sigurd, son of King Magnus Barefoot. This youth with his brother Eystein ruled Norway after the death of their father, slain while pillaging Ireland. These adventurers wintered first in England as guests of King Henry. Next winter they spent in Galicia and battled the Moors in Portugal. Next they sailed to Apulia, thence to Palestine. Baldwin greeted them joyously, conversed, and escorted them to Jerusalem. He ordered a fine banquet and gave Sigurd many relics. Later he accompanied Sigurd to the river Jordan. He entreated these Norse to remain, if only long enough to help capture Sidon. For if they did, he said, they would go back to their own land offering praise to our Lord. So the Norse agreed. Documents relate how they fought valiantly at Sidon. Now, the governor of Sidon plotted to murder King Baldwin but did not succeed, thanks to native Christians who launched an arrow with a message into the Frankish camp. All the same, having no use for a dagger in the back or tainted meat, Baldwin looked about shrewdly while the siege continued. Anon, Sidon was captured. In this way, helped by Norse warriors, King Baldwin established himself on the Syrian coast.
Presently it seemed to the Norse that they should go home. They embarked for Constantinople, which in their language they call Micklegarth. It is said that Alexius entertained them at great expense. They in return gave him their ships. Certain of these Norse chose to become vassals of the emperor and live out their lives in Constantinople. Others traveled north through savage countries to Denmark, whence they sailed to their icy homeland. And since they had been inspired by God to visit Jerusalem, Sigurd was called Jorsalfarer. The head of this devout sovereign, Sigurd Jorsalfarer, rests forever in Oslo, lodged in a wall of Akershus Castle.
King Baldwin during the year of our grace 1111 thought to seize the ancient city of Tyre. So he constructed among other engines a tower on wheels equipped with a battering ram. Misbelievers in the city commended their black souls to Allah because walls trembled when struck by the ram. But according to the narrative of Ibn al-Qalanisi there was some mariner who devised grapnels to catch the ram and Turks pulling on ropes a
ffixed to these hooks contrived to wrench the tower aside. Now the Franks brought up a ram sixty cubits long with an iron head. Turks emptied jars of excrement on those who operated it, which sickened and choked them. If that were not enough, the mariner called for baskets of asphalt, resin, oil, and reed bark, had them set afire and dropped on Christian soldiers. Sergeants threw water and vinegar at the flame, Turks threw boiling oil. A Frankish knight wearing chain mail was seen rolling across the stones like a blazing torch. No chronicle preserves this martyr’s name. We wonder at such inequity, yet it is not within us to measure the compass of God’s work.
After several months at Tyre but little accomplished, with news of Toghtekin approaching from Damascus, King Baldwin thought better of his idea and retreated.
Some years having gone by since he married the Armenian princess, he wearied of her. She had not brought the dowry he expected, nor had she borne children. He dismissed her as adulterous, charging that she had given her body to infidels on a voyage from Lattakieh to Joppa. Who can be sure? Abbot Guibert speaks of how contrary winds swept her vessel to an island peopled with Barbars who murdered a bishop in her retinue, murdered others, and for a long time held the queen captive. As for the truth, God knows. However it was, King Baldwin pushed her from his bed, compelled her to go and live with nuns at the convent of Saint Anne in Jerusalem. It is known that she escaped this constraint and made her way to Constantinople where she wallowed in unspeakable vice. Such are the narrow streets of destruction.
Deus Lo Volt! Page 11
