For those alert to signs hidden in the fabric of the world, the Roman Empire’s collapse in the west was announced by a series of omens. In Antioch, dogs howled like wolves, night-birds let out hideous shrieks and people muttered that the emperor should be burned alive. In Thrace, a...
In the movie, Kingdom of Heaven, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem is portrayed as a leper, which is historically accurate. He ruled from 1174 to 1185. The man who recognized he had the disease (instead of the Baron played by Liam Neeson) was William of Tyre, later Archbishop and Chancellor. As...
during which the Popes lorded it over the Emperors. From Bulgaria to Ireland and from Norway to Sicily and Jerusalem the Pope was supreme. Gregory VII obliged the Emperor Henry IV to come in penitence to him at Canossa and to await forgiveness for three days and nights in the courtyard of...
Crusades - Jerusalem, Reconquista, Defeat: By the end of the 13th century, Crusading had become more expensive. Acre, the last Crusader stronghold on the mainland, was taken by the Mamluks, and the inhabitants who survived the massacres were enslaved. Th
namely the recovery of the holy city of Jerusalem from Islam (the Muslims had taken Jerusalem in 637). In return for this they would, in effect, be forgiven those sins they had confessed. This, in turn, would save them from the prospect of eternal damnation in the fires of Hell, a fa...
It was, in turn, sold along with the surrounding houses, gardens and vineyards to Count Jocelyn III, uncle of Baldwin IV in 1179 under the name Castellum Novo. A sizable Byzantine church adjacent to the castle was also part of the property. It all fell to the Muslim conqueror Saladin in...
Thus, when Amalric died in 1173, leaving the royal power to Baldwin IV, “the Leprous”, a child of thirteen, the kingdom of Jerusalem was threatened on all sides. At the same time two factions, led respectively by Guy de Lusignan, brother-in-law of the king, and Raymond, Count ...
In contrast to the generally honourable behaviour of the Muslims, the Christians repeatedly made promises under oath and them reneged upon them, often with the encouragement of the priesthood. In 1188 the King of Jerusalem, Guy, who had been captured by Saladin, was released. Guy had solemnly ...
Similarly, the Order of the Knights Templar was formed in 1120 under the patronage of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Warmund.HolylandsSubsequently, the knights of these orders actively participated in the Crusades till the end of the crusades. The Knights Templar ...
baldwin ii of jerusalem who allowedthemtosetuptheirheadquar ters on the southeastern side of the temple mount taking their name from the temple of solomon which had stood there in biblical times they became the poor knights of the temple of king solomon and devoted themselvestotheprotectionof ...