Name: Godfrey of Leuven
House of Leuven (Louvain)
Age: 22 (born 1182 AD)
Heritage: Brabander (Dutch)
Bio:
Born as the 4th son of Godfrey III of Leuven, Duke of the Lower Lorraine, Margrave of Brabant, and the 2nd son to his second wife, Imagina of Loon. His oldest half-brother, Henry, was the first to be granted the title 'Duke of Brabant' by the Emperor, the infamous Frederick Barbarossa. Being 4th in line, no landed titles were left to be granted to him.
The crusader spirit has always been notably present in his family, as his father went to Jerusalem and his brother Henry was among the leaders of the German crusade of 1197. Being unlanded however, means that Godfrey does not have the resources nor the manpower to support such an exploit on his own, and he is therefore forced to join up as a lesser noble.
He is devout, yet tries not to fall into fanaticism: trying to live his live according to Catholic virtues and abstinence of the sins of man. He sees his faith as the driving force of good, and thus his actions blessed by the Church as 'an undoubtable necessity', though he wouldn't mind if he recieved some sort of reward in this earthly life, rather than the one thereafter. This also leads him to believe in some sort of fatalism, where we all have been given our place in this world by the Divine, and must act accordingly, hence he is more of strict officer than a brother in arms to his men.
He joined his half-brother in several of his campaigns, yet is limited in commanding and combat experience. He prefers his fighting up close and personal, seeing massive use of archers as something cowardly for those who refuse to get their hands dirty.
As he is a firm believer of the 'one' (his) way, he is rather hot-tempered and stiff-headed. He also cherishes justice, to a point where he could nearly be seen as a naďve follower of the law, following it simply because it is the law. He prefers to abstain from violence, yet is aware of it's necissity/advantage in some occasion and thus can be cruel to make an example.
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