Heraclius of Jerusalem

When King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was worried about finding a husband for his sister who could run the kingdom, he sent Heraclius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, on a quest to find a suitable candidate. Heraclius took this seriously and traveled to Europe to look.

Heraclius had studied law at the University of Bologna and had come to Jerusalem some time before 1168 when his name starts to appear as witness to documents from the patriarchate. In 1169 he was made archdeacon of Jerusalem, and by 1175 he was archbishop of Caesarea. His fellow alumnus from Bologna, William of Tyre, was archbishop of Tyre.

As fellow archbishops, they both were part of the Third Lateran Council in 1179 (when Pope Alexander III declared that free education should be offered by the Church). When the position of patriarch of Jerusalem came available, William assumed he was the likeliest candidate. Normally, Baldwin IV would do the choosing, but he had other things on his mind and so entrusted the decision to his mother, Agnes of Courtenay. She made the choice of Heraclius.

Unfortunately for Heraclius, what we know of his character is found in the writings of the Kingdom of Jerusalem's official chronicler, William of Tyre, whom we can assume was not happy about the patriarchate of Jerusalem going to someone else. We are told that he got the position through being Agnes' lover, and that he lived openly with a widow by whom he had a daughter. An anonymous 13th-century chronicle called Estoire d'Eracles ("History of Heraclius") claims that Heraclius excommunicated William and arranged for William to be poisoned. That is clearly not true, since William was an archbishop until his death in 1185.

The illustration shows Heraclius as patriarch overseeing the marriage of Baldwin's likeliest successor, his sister Sibylla of Jerusalem, and Guy of Lusignan (I'm not sure if this is their first or their second marriage.) This marriage was problematic: Guy was considered unsuitable to run the kingdom after Baldwin died, but Baldwin pushed the marriage through to avoid having the choice usurped by Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemond III of Antioch, who themselves were concerned about Baldwin's failing health and the succession.

Despite the marriage, Baldwin accepted that Guy might have to be replaced, and he asked Heraclius to help. In 1184, Heraclius headed to Europe to look for help in resolving the impending crisis of the Holy Land. He needed to find a new husband and military support. He took with him others whose reputation would carry weight, and also tokens that supported the seriousness of their mission.

Tomorrow I'll explain his companions, the tokens, and what success—or not—he found.

The Double Marriage

So Sibylla of Jerusalem married Guy of Lusignan and spoiled the plot of others to marry her to someone else. Her brother, King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, was content that now there was someone to inherit the throne in the event of his inevitable death through complications from leprosy.

Many in the High Court were opposed to Guy. When King Baldwin was becoming increasingly unable to function, the court decided to make Baldwin, Sibylla's son from her marriage to William of Montferrat, co-king although he was only five years old. At his coronation, his step-father Guy was not invited. 

The question of regent for young Baldwin was raised. The obvious choice was his mother Sibylla and step-father Guy. Guy was considered unsuitable by many, however, so Raymond of Tripoli was named.

Consulting with the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem about the future of the kingdom, Heraclius, one obvious path was to have Sibylla's marriage annulled and have her marry a more suitable candidate to run the kingdom. Heraclius traveled to Europe to find someone able to secure the Kingdom of Jerusalem for the future.

Baldwin IV died in March 1185, making Baldwin V sole king. Unfortunately, Baldwin V died in mid-1186. (The illustration depicts the death of Baldwin IV and coronation of Baldwin V.) The succession fell to Sibylla.

The High Court told Sibylla her marriage to Guy had to be annulled if she intended to be Queen of Jerusalem. The same thing had happened to her father, Amalric, who was forced into an annulment from Agnes of Courtenay. She was a little more clever than her father, however, and said she would agree to the annulment if she were allowed to choose her next husband. The court agreed, the annulment took place, and Sibylla made her choice:

Guy of Lusignan.

He turned out to be a pretty bad King of Jerusalem, fighting with his allies like Raymond, and losing at the Battle of Hattin then becoming prisoner to Saladin. He was eventually freed, made more mistakes, and was removed from Jerusalem. King Richard I of England gave him the governorship of Cyprus in 1192. By the time of Guy's death in 1194, Cyprus was bankrupt, Guy having given away the landed property to anyone loyal to him.

So what happened to Heraclius, traveling Europe and looking for support for the Kingdom of Jerusalem? He was busy, let me tell you. Let me tell you tomorrow, that is.

A Guy for Sibylla

After the death of William of Montferrat, Sibylla of Jerusalem needed a new husband. The kingdom of Jerusalem was in a difficult position. Her brother, King Baldwin IV, was suffering from leprosy and wanted to be able to turn the kingdom over to a man who could lead the armies, so he wanted to get his sister married.

The High Court wanted Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, but he turned down the offer. Baldwin gave the King of France the authority to choose an alternate to Hugh, but since Sibylla already had a son who was in the line of succession through her, who would want to be king and see someone else's son inherit the throne?

According to contemporary chronicler William of Tyre, during the Holy Week of 1180, both Count Raymond III of Tripoli and Prince Bohemond III of Antioch marched to Jerusalem to force Baldwin to have Sibylla marry Baldwin of Ibelin and then give up his power immediately to his sister and new brother-in-law.

The Ibelin family had recently risen to prominence. Hugh of Ibelin (Baldwin's eldest brother), had become the third husband of Agnes of Courtenay, and Sibylla's mother. Sibylla's father, Amalric, after being annulled from Agnes of Courtenay, had married Maria Comnena. After Amalric's death, Maria Comnena had married Balian, the Lord of Ibelin and Baldwin's younger brother. The Ibelin family had become intertwined with the royal family of Jerusalem, then why not have a trifecta and have Sibylla marry an Ibelin?

Well, Bohemond and Raymond were foiled. Baldwin either knew of their plan and did not approve, or out of desperation he hatched his own plan.

A Poitevin knight, Guy of Lusignan, had recently come to Jerusalem. Guy was not the noblest of knights, having been exiled from Poitou because he and his brothers tried to kidnap Eleanor of Aquitaine for ransom. (This was a dumb idea.)

Another contemporary chronicler, Ernoul, records that Sibylla wrote to Baldwin of Ibelin to tell him that she would persuade her brother to let them be married on one condition. The condition was that Baldwin of Ibelin had to get himself out of captivity: he was currently held for ransom by Saladin, by whom he and Templar master Odo of Saint Amand had been captured in 1179. Ernoul, a squire of Balian of Ibelin, was probably saying this to make the Ibelins look better. Modern historians doubt Ernoul's account.

On the other hand, it is said that Saladin learned of the plan to force Sibylla to marry Baldwin and make him king, and Saladin raised the ransom from a knight's to a king's ransom, making it prohibitively expensive to get him released. (He was ransomed later by Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenos.)

So Sibylla married Guy of Lusignan. Tomorrow we'll see how they handled the kingdom.

Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem

King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, had three children. When Amalric was forced to put Agnes aside via annulment in order to be crowned, he first guaranteed that his children would be recognized as legitimate, just in case he did not produce any more heirs.

Sibylla was the oldest of the children of Agnes and Amalric, born before 1161 when her brother Baldwin was born. She was named after Sibylla of Anjou, her father's half-sister, who at the time of the younger's birth had come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage and decided to abandon her husband and children and be a nun.

When Amalric was forced to put Agnes aside, the palace did not have a queen/mother for awhile, so the child Sibylla was sent to be raised by her great aunt, Ioveta, abbess of the Convent of Saint Lazarus (where the elder Sibylla had taken up residence, in fact).

Amalric wanted a good husband for Sibylla and asked the archbishop of Tyre to find someone suitable among the nobility of Western Europe, someone who was outside the orders of consanguinity (that was one reason why he had to give up Agnes). A brother-in-law of King Louis VII of France was available, Count of Sancerre Stephen I, who came to Jerusalem and was well thought of, but who ultimately rejected the marriage. William of Tyre claimed that Stephen backed out "disgracefully and foully"; William also said Stephen was "a man noble in flesh, but not so behavior." Perhaps Stephen was looking to, but not guaranteed to, become king, since other heirs existed.

Upon Amalric's death in 1174, his only son became King Baldwin IV, known as The Leper King because of his illness, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent. (See illustration) The other option was Sibylla, who was 15.

One thing Raymond did as regent was allow Agnes of Courtenay back to court to be reunited with her children. As the current king's leprosy advanced and he became increasingly unable to function, urgency increased to find Sibylla a husband. Raymond chose William of Montferrat, called "Longsword" (not to be confused with William Longsword).

William was a cousin of both Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and King Louis VII of France, an excellent connection to the powers of Western Europe. By the time William arrived in Jerusalem, however, the connection was looking less useful, because Barbarossa had suffered some military setbacks and was unlikely to be able to spare his military to help in the Holy Land. Sibylla had been jilted once, however, and her prospects would look less and less favorable if she were to be jilted a second time, so the marriage had to be accepted by the Jerusalem court.

Baldwin made William Count of Jaffa and Ascalon. Shortly after the marriage, the two conceived a son, Baldwin. Succession seemed assured. Unfortunately, shortly after the couple conceived, William fell ill. He died months later, leaving Sibylla as Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon 

Once again needing a husband, claimants for Sibylla's hand arose, but weren't always acceptable to the Court, so they declared that she needed a year of mourning. We'll see tomorrow how she finally found a husband who would last.

Guy and Saladin

After the disastrous Battle of Hattin, when Guy of Lusignan overestimated his ability to counter Saladin's encroachment on territory controlled by Crusaders, Guy and a few of his noble companions were brought to Saladin's tent.

Mindful that Guy—however Saladin may have disagreed with his politics or presence in the Near East—was a king, Saladin treated him with respect. Saladin offered Guy a goblet of water, a sign that he was to be treated with hospitality as a guest. Guy tried to pass the goblet to his companion, Raynald of Châtillon, but Saladin stopped him, stating that Raynald was not being offered the same respect as a guest.

In the past, Raynald had provoked Saladin with military skirmishes against the Saracens at a time when the previous king of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV, had made a truce with Saladin. Saladin now declared Raynald an oath-breaker, and would not treat him with respect. (Raynald had acted with Guy as well, at a time when Guy had been made regent on Baldwin's behalf, but Guy was now a king.)

Raynald haughtily replied to Saladin's accusation by saying "kings have always acted thus." Saladin offered him a chance to convert to Islam, but Raynald refused. Saladin took his sword and beheaded Raynald then and there. At the sight of the corpse, Guy went to his knees, but Saladin raised him up, assuring him that "A king does not kill a king." The illustration is by a 17th-century Dutch painter, Jan Lievens, showing the two men, a smiling Saladin and a downcast Guy in golden chains.)

This took place in 1187. Guy was taken prisoner, and his wife, Sibylla, was left to defend Jerusalem. Unfortunately, Jerusalem fell into Saladin's hands on 2 October. Sibylla begged Saladin to release her husband from prison, which he did. The two were rejoined and went to Tyre, the only city still controlled by Christians, thanks to the efforts of Conrad of Montferrat (Sibylla had been married to William of Montferrat, Conrad's older brother, who died years earlier from malaria).

Conrad refused the pair entry, so Guy camped outside the city awhile and later began the Siege of Acre, anticipating Richard the Lionheart's arrival with the Third Crusade. Unfortunately, Queen Sibylla and their two daughters died during an 1190 epidemic; with the queen's passing, Guy's claim to the kingship passed as well. There was another popular claimant for the throne, and Richard Lionheart weighed in as well, but before we get to that, I'd like to give Saladin some proper recognition. He has been a part of the blog for many posts, but we haven't looked at the man himself.

Next time...

Replacing Baldwin

I've written many times before about the importance of marriages in noble families, forging alliances with other powerful families through marriage. In the case of Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem, finding a husband for his sister was even more crucial, because he needed to secure the succession, and he wasn't going to get an heir himself.

Baldwin had leprosy, which did not stop him from trying to be an effective king, but it meant marriage and procreation was out of the question. The best route was his sister, Sibylla. She had already been married, to William of Montferrat, and had a son named Baldwin, but William died from malaria. Sibylla herself was in the line of succession, but they wanted to make sure it would last beyond her.

Baldwin himself had become ill when visiting William, and although he survived for several more years, it became important to make sure Sibylla had a husband who could help raise her son to be the next king, and who could be trusted to perform as regent for that son so that Baldwin could safely abdicate, since he was becoming increasingly unable to perform his duties.

The High Court wanted her to marry Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, who was now a vassal of King Philip II of France after Philip invaded Burgundy. Baldwin was so desperate to get Sibylla married that he sent a message to Philip, empowering him to choose another suitor if Hugh refused. Hugh accepted, and intended to sail to Jerusalem in early 1180 for an Easter wedding. Unfortunately, internal strife in France prevented Hugh from leaving.

William of Tyre, who had helped raise Baldwin IV and wrote a history of the lands controlled by the Crusades, recorded that Count Raymond III of Tripoli and Prince Bohemond III of Antioch set out for Jerusalem, sensing Baldwin's weakness and looking to usurp his throne. There is a belief that Raymond's intent was to force Baldwin to marry Sibylla to Baldwin of Ibelin, an important noble and close friend of Raymond, then force Baldwin to abdicate.

Their plan was foiled when Sibylla hastily married Guy of Lusignan, a French knight from Poitou, in 1180. (The illustration is of their marriage.) (His older brother, Aimery of Lusignan, had married the daughter of Baldwin of Ibelin, which would have made family gatherings awkward.) Guy became, by marriage, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon and bailiff of Jerusalem.

In 1182, with his health declining, King Baldwin declared Guy regent, but doubts about how Guy and Raynald of Châtillon provoked Saladin with whom Baldwin had a truce disillusioned Baldwin, and he tried to have the marriage annulled. Baldwin died in 1185, having become blind and lame in his final years. Sibylla's son became Baldwin V, but died within the year.

The High Court agreed that she should be queen, but only on the condition that she would annul the marriage to Guy. Sibylla agreed, on the condition that she be allowed to choose her next husband. The marriage was annulled, Sibylla was crowned Queen of Jerusalem in Summer 1186, and she chose as her husband ... Guy of Lusignan, who was crowned King of Jerusalem in September 1186.

Guy has been mentioned a few times before, and I'd like to tell you a little more about his life before and after becoming King of Jerusalem.

The Leper Warrior

Although Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was confirmed to have leprosy, he was still the only viable candidate to succeed his father, Amalric, as King of Jerusalem. (The illustration shows his coronation.) He did everything he could as king, even going to war, despite the fact that the lack of sensation in his right arm and hand meant learning to guide a horse with his knees.

Jerusalem was essentially surrounded by the forces of the great sultan and warrior Saladin (c.1137 - 1193), with whom there was an unsteady truce. While Saladin himself was in Aleppo, Baldwin planned an attack on Egypt. Baldwin refused to stay behind, and planned to go to war himself.

Baldwin married his sister, Sibylla, to William of Montferrat, and named William count of Jaffa and Ascalon. In April 1177, Baldwin visited William in Ascalon, who had succumbed to malaria. Baldwin also fell ill. William died in June. Baldwin, still ill, could not command the army in the planned attack on Egypt. He had himself carried from Ascalon to Jerusalem in a litter. He handed the regency and leading of the army to Raynald of Châtillon, Prince of Antioch. Raynald's step-daughter had married Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1161, and Raynald was a link to the Byzantine Empire, whose navy would be helpful in the Egypt campaign.

On 18 November 1177, Saladin chose to attack Baldwin's territory in Ascalon. Baldwin rode out himself to Ascalon, but Saladin's superior numbers caused him to retreat. He sent a message to Gaza, where the Templar Knights were fighting, requesting their aid. Once the Templars arrived, Baldwin's army (with the king at the forefront) and the Templars soundly defeated Saladin's forces, killing his bodyguard and forcing Saladin to flee.

Baldwin did not fare so well at a future skirmish, however. In the spring of 1179, Saladin's nephew led a force to investigate reports that Baldwin was "stealing sheep." Baldwin was knocked off his horse and, unable to climb back on a horse without help, was carried to safety on a knight's back.

Before the death of William of Montferrat, Sibylla had become pregnant. She had given birth to a son, named Baldwin, and it seemed likely that he was going to be his uncle's successor. In fact, Baldwin IV was probably looking to abdicate, given his worsening health. To have his nephew raised properly, however, it was important to find Sibylla a new husband, one that brought good political connections and could be trusted to raise the next King of Jerusalem. There were those who were aware of the importance of Sibylla's next husband, and wanted that role for themselves. Tomorrow we'll look at the claimants, the winner, and Baldwin's departure from the public stage.

The Leper King

When William of Tyre was asked by King Amalric of Jerusalem to raise and tutor his son, Baldwin (1161 - 1185), he noticed something unusual, and ultimately disturbing. When he played with the other children, and the rough-and-tumble of kids involved pinching each other, Baldwin did not cry like the other children did. His right arm seemed impervious to the pain. (The illustration is from a French translation in the 1250s of a history by William of Tyre.)

Baldwin's riding teacher realized he did not have sensation in his right hand, and so learning to ride a horse was more difficult; Baldwin learned to control the horse with his knees. An obvious source of this problem was leprosy, but without any of the physical signs, they were reluctant to declare leprosy, since that would stigmatize the prince.

According to William, Baldwin had an excellent memory and was a quick learner, though he stuttered. His father was concerned about the boy's future and the succession. He wanted to marry Baldwin's sister, Sibylla, to Count Stephen I of Sancerre, who was chosen to be regent if Amalric died before Baldwin had attained his majority. The couple might have been also considered by Amalric to be a suitable heir to the throne of Jerusalem instead of Baldwin. Unfortunately, the match did not take place, and then Amalric died from dysentery on 11 July 1174.

The High Court met to consider the succession. Baldwin's limitation was known, but with no visible sign yet of leprosy, he was by default the heir and was crowned a few days after his father's death, on the 15th, which happened to be the 75th anniversary of the seizing of Jerusalem by the First Crusade.

Raymond III of Tripoli, a cousin of Amalric, was chosen as regent (after the man who wanted to be regent, the seneschal Miles of Plancy, was murdered in October having failed to get the cooperation of the military). Raymond made William of Tyre Chancellor, but did not replace the seneschal. When Baldwin turned 15 in 1176, Raymond returned to Tripoli.

By that time it was clear that Baldwin had leprosy. The condition advanced rapidly, affecting his limbs and his face, turning his once-good looks into a demeanor difficult to look at. As a confirmed leper, he was not allowed to marry or have children. Lepers were often segregated, but he remained on the throne. Marrying Sibylla to ensure a dynastic succession became a priority, but that becomes a long story in its own right.

Despite the leprosy, Baldwin still fought when necessary. Tomorrow I'll tell you about when Baldwin went to war.