The Crusader States by Malcolm Barber

Author:Malcolm Barber [Barber, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, pdf
ISBN: 9780300113129
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

The Battle of Hattin and its Consequences

WHEN Patriarch Eraclius returned to Jerusalem in July 1185, he cannot have been surprised to learn of the death of Baldwin IV. The exact date is not known, but the king had been dead for at least three months by the time he arrived.1 According to Roger of Howden, the patriarch had hoped that he would be able to bring back the king of England, or one of his sons, or ‘some other man of great authority’, but he had achieved none of these things, and he had left Vaudreuil ‘grieving and confounded’.2

In Jerusalem, Eraclius found a new regime in power. Baldwin had not been reconciled to Guy of Lusignan, despite the patriarch's efforts the previous spring, and the king, again very ill, had appointed Raymond of Tripoli as temporary governor, probably in early 1185.3 However, it had soon become evident that this time the king would not recover, so more long-term arrangements had to be made. According to Ernoul, Baldwin had called the barons together and they had sworn an oath to accept Raymond until the king's nephew came of age. The presence of Bohemond III in Acre in April suggests that the assembly took place at this time and, indeed, that Baldwin wanted the adherence of Tripoli and Antioch as well as that of the barons of Jerusalem.4 If he died prematurely they would either choose Raymond as king, since he was the nearest male relative, or, if they wanted an outsider from the West, ‘they should act in accordance with the count's advice and wishes’. Raymond had agreed on conditions, the nature of which reflect the fragility of relations between the leaders. If Baldwin V died he wanted it to be clear that it was not his responsibility, so care of the boy was handed over to the seneschal, Joscelin of Courtenay. Raymond was to be bailli for ten years, although if the child died before then, the position would pass to the closest heir until the great rulers of the West – the pope, the emperor, and the kings of England and France – should judge between the two sisters, Sibylla and Isabella, since ‘the barons were not in agreement that the elder sister should have the throne’. All the fortresses and castles were to be held under the guard of the Temple and the Hospital. Raymond, ever short of money because of the burden of his ransom, also wanted recompense for his expenses and this he received in the form of the grant of the city of Beirut.5

Baldwin V had been crowned co-ruler in November 1183; his uncle, aware that he had only a short time to live, now arranged a ceremonial crown-wearing for the boy. Ernoul says that he was carried on the shoulders of Balian of Ibelin to the Temple of the Lord, that is, the Dome of the Rock, in a ceremony that apparently imitated the offering of Christ in the Temple as described in chapter two of the Gospel of Luke.

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