Table of Contents
- Introduction and Prelude
- Chapter 1: The Journey
- Chapter 2: The Negotiations
- Chapter 3: The Plan
- Chapter 4: The Reaction
- Chapter 5: The Meeting
- Chapter 6: The Prisoner
- Chapter 7: The Arrival
- Chapter 8: The Army
Blood Crescent and Cross: A History of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
by Prof. Calvin V. Prince
Summary of Volume 1: The Sicilian Crusade to the Deposition of Augusto III
The genesis of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is easily traced back to the Sicilian Crusade that took place during the 1140's. It is no surprise then that the leader of that Crusade, Duke Boemundo de Taormina, is often cited as the first King of Jerusalem, though he never wore that title. While Boemundo did act autonomously and independently of his Sicilian King, this was more a reason of geography than any aspiration to rule as a separate monarch, over a separate kingdom. Boemundo often wrote to Simone, King at the time, giving reports and reasons of his actions. This clearly shows that Boemundo was a clear subordinate to Simone, at least in his own mind. It can be seen as well, however, that Boemundo was the sole ruler of Jerusalem and her county. The time it took for letters and reports to reach Simone, and for him to send his response, meant that the King had no power over decisions being made in the Holy Land. An example of this would be the Peace of Gaza, signed by Boemundo and the Fatimid Sultan. It is known, through letters, that Simone was against this, but Boemundo could proceed regardless.
There is one major example of Boemundo acting completely independently. This was over the appointment of his successor. While there was time for Boemundo to write and ask Simone to appoint a successor, even just confirming one of Boemundo's own candidates, he never did so. All that remains is a letter signed by the Duke informing Simone of the adoption of Augusto Contadino, and his appointment as heir to the Duchy. It was after this event that Boemundo retired to write his memoirs, a document which has greatly aided scholars of this period ('A Sicilian Life' by Boemundo de Taormina', translated by Meg Toulas). Augusto took up the mantle of Duke, and set about an expansion of the young, what can now be safely called, kingdom. His first expedition, against the Fatimids, captured the vital desert castle of Kerak, and would become an important bulwark against the Fatimid reaction. He also managed to captured the rich city of Acre, greatly expanding his kingdom's power and wealth. It was after this Acre expedition that he styled himself King. On September 16, 1159, on returning to Jerusalem he was crowned in the Holy Church of the Sepulchre. Numerous reasons for his coronation can be found, not least of which was the newly strengthened Kingdom. At this time there was trouble in the Sicilies, between the faction of the named heir, Duke Taormina of Ajaccio, and that of Duke d'Otovisso of Syracuse. After Simone had died, d'Otovisso had marched and captured Palermo for himself, while Duke Taormina, the natural son of Boemundo, was fighting the Genoans in Northern Italy. This rift and Civil War allowed Augusto to name himself king with impunity. When Duke Taormina had captured Palermo and be crowned as King of Sicily, Augusto's own coronation had become a fait accompli. The Kingdom of Jerusalem had been founded.
The first thing that Augusto did was to send an envoy to the Pope, looking for support. Controlling the Holy Land, his letter went, was a task fit for a king, and only a king. Only the proper authority of a king, granted by God, was enough to secure the Holy Land for pilgrims and the greater glory of God. Needless to say the Pope granted his request. King Taormina had been encroaching onto Church lands, so this was the natural response of the Pope. This episode, and the coronation of King Augusto points to a inherent political savvy, one which served him and his kingdom well. This savvy allowed him to gain another peace with the Fatimids, this time signed at Kerak. The Seljuks had used the Jerusalem-Fatimid war to gain territories near Tortosa in Northern Syria. Augusto again let his masterful timing show, when he approached the Fatimids with a peace and trade agreement that allowed them to solely focus on the Seljuks.
The reign of King Augusto was a good one. He managed to secure the continued existence of the Kingdom, while strengthening it's power to wage war and protect itself in the future. Augusto died in Jerusalem on the 18th of August 1186, at the age of 69. He was succeeded by his nephew, King Baldwin, a middle aged man, who was more an administrator than a general. Augusto had no sons of his own, but had many heirs to choose from. There were more able military commanders, but Augusto choose the administrator over them. He perhaps thought that Baldwin would recognise his weaknesses and delegate military matters to his cousins or brothers. They might not be so willing to let powers out of their hands, especially in the important task of running the Kingdom. Augusto also may not have wanted an heir who out shone him in gaining lands or winning battles. I, however, believe that the answer lies in the precarious position of Jerusalem at the time. Augusto had managed to secure a niche which Boemundo had created. It was based on the careful balancing of relations between the Seljuks and Fatimids. If a military king were to succeeded Augusto, he might topple that balance, angering both nations, and ultimately leading to the destruction of the Kingdom. Baldwin was prudent, intelligent and cautious enough to spot this careful balancing, apply fine tuning to it, and maintain it. The reign of Baldwin was a peaceful one, thanks to his careful management of relations between the Middle Eastern'Tirangle' of the KoJ, the Seljuks and the Fatimids.
He died in 1199, most likely from dysentery, and the crown passed to his son, then Duke Stephen of Kerak. He was an incompetent King, unliked by both the nobles and populace. He dreamed of expanding the Kingdom, wiping out the Fatimids, and recapturing Egypt for the Christian faith. To this end he plundered his country, raising money for a greatly expanded military. He over taxed both, and this led, like so many other monarchs both before and after him, to disaster. He was found murdered in his bed, while he was asleep in the Royal Palace in the Tower of David. The assassins were never found, though it was always assumed that it was the Lords of his Kingdom who conspired against him. He died in 1206.
His son, Augusto II was put on the throne. Originally the Lords wanted him to be a puppet through which they acted. This worked out as planned when Augusto was young, but when he reach the age of 16, five years after his coronation, he assumed complete control, replacing those nobles who found grounds for objection in this. He only had to get rid of a couple of the protesting nobles, however, before the rest fell in line. Augusto, like his father, wanted to expand the Kingdom. He knew that he could not do this without his Dukes help. He looked to Jean de Brienne, an able general who had been appointed as Duke of Acre after the previous Duke had been removed in the 'purge'. Jean was loyal to the crown, military minded and well looked upon by the other nobles. He managed to rally them around, by promising them lands in the conquered territory and a relatively small monetary commitment. The fact was that Jean could only do this becuase Stephen had stolen the money he did. It was still in the Imperial coffers, and now Augusto spent it raising new troops, and paying for mercenaries. He appointed Jean as Marshall and set out to wage war in 1213. The first target was Tortosa, won from the Fatimids by the Seljuks during the reign of Augusto I. It had originally been a Templar castle before it had been captured by the Fatimids. Now Augusto marched up into the county surrounding it, and fought a battle with the Seljuks. Both Augusto and Jean won great praise for their actions during the battle. They won and began the long siege of Tortosa. Due to the geography of the place, it was cut off from Anatolia and the Turkish stronghold, and the problem that the Turks had in dealing with rebels in the area, it was signed over in an agreement, and the Turkish garrison was allowed to return to their lands. In return, Augusto had to wage war on the Byzantine Empire, to distract and weaken it for a Turkish attack. Augusto chose the island of Cyprus as the target of his attack. It has close to the Holy Land, and was well within reach of the Kingdom's navies. It would also serve as a protection for the Kingdom's trade ships, and would itself most likely become a rich trading province. He stayed in Totosa for a year, so that he could get his army back up to full strength, and also to allow time for the ships necessary to transport his army to be constructed. His force landed on Cyprus in 1215, near the end of the campaigning season, due to bad weather keeping the ships in port. The force garrisoning Nicosia, the principal city of Cyprus, was not large enough to defeat the Kingdom's army in the field, but nor was it small enough that Augusto could comfortably attack Nicosia. He waited for that army to give up while he besieged the city, and had his ships patrol the waters around Cyprus, to fend off any Byzantine hopes of a relief force.
Eventually, in 1217 the Byzantine force, desperate to break the siege, sallied forth. Augusto's army easily overcame them, but Augusto himself was struck by an arrow, and the wound became infected. He was brought into the newly captured castle, where he died a painful death. It took two long and hard months for the fever to take him, but eventually, to the sorrow of his whole kingdom the young king died. In his place, his even younger son, Augusto III was raised up to the throne. He was only six months old when his father died, and a Regent had to be appointed. The Lords, growing distrustful of Jean's ever growing power, in stead appointed Leopold, the Count of Jaffa, as Regent. Leopold was a corrupt individual, who gained power over the nobles by bribing and blackmailing them. His rule was characterised by the same events that had doomed Stephen. Now, however, he was not even pretending to gather all the money and land in the Kingdom for it's own benefit, rather it was for his own pockets. The Lords, now abandoning Leopold, and returning to the less powerful, but more influential and loved Jean, seeked to depose Leopold of his ill-gotten power. Rallying behind Jean, they gathered their forces and marched on Jerusalem. Only the mercenaries loyal to the coin of Leopold stayed by him, all the loyal Jerusalemites fled to Jean. The Gates were opened for him, and he marched into Jerusalem triumphant. Leopold was holed up in the Tower of David, but refused to surrender. He marched out, with the three year old 'king' and tried to fight his way out of Jerusalem. Both the man and boy were killed, either by angry citizens or the troops of Jean, it has never been established.
Now without a King or heir, it may have seemed that the Jerusalemites were leaderless. They did not have far to look, and once it was seen that the boy was dead, the population proclaimed Jean as King. He was led to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and there crowned, in 1220. The Contadino dynasty had ended, replaced by that of Jean de Brienne.
Dukes of Jerusalem 1147-1159
Boemundo de Taormina 1147-1151
Augusto Contadino 1151-1159
Kings of Jerusalem (Contadino Dynasty) 1159-1220
Augusto Contadino 1159-1186
Baldwin Contadino 1186-1199
Stephen Contadino 1199-1206
Augusto II Contadino 1206-1217
Augusto III Contadino 1217-1220