Godfrey of Bouillon

The Holy Land. A place renowned by the three Abrahamic Religions since the Dark Ages, was under renewed attack. The Seljuk Turks conquered the city of Jerusalem and threatened Christian populations, pilgrimages from the west, and had even threatened the existence of the Byzantine Empire, the largest Christian power in the east. Seeing the imminent threat from the east, the Byzantine emperor had requested military assistance from Pope Urban II, who urged faithful Christians to embark on a holy war to save the holy city from the Seljuk conquerors. One of those Christians was Godfrey of Bouillon.

Godfrey had proven his leadership on the battlefield years before in efforts to defend his inheritance from his father's enemies. When he heard the call from Pope Urban II to engage in armed pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Godfrey decided to raise an army. To do this, he mortgaged or sold his estates to the bishops of Liège and Verdun, and the subsequent funds were used to recruit an army of volunteers, and was joined by his brothers Eustace and Baldwin. In the Summer of 1096, the Christian armies led by European Christian nobleman set out for the Holy Land. Godfrey's army included 40,000 warriors and followed the route of the well-known Peoples Crusade. They had reached Constantinople in November of 1096. 

The Byzantine Emperor, Alexios, had expected Godfrey's, and other Christian armies were there to help Alexios reconquer Byzantine Land taken by the Seljuks, while the Christian crusaders wanted mostly to liberate the holy land from Seljuk invaders. Alexios demanded an oath of loyalty from Godfrey and other Christian nobleman and after negotiations, a modified oath was agreed upon, in which they would agree to reconquer some of the lost Byzantine lands in their quest to retake the Holy Land. 

Afterwards, Godfrey's army would cross the Bosphorus and play minor, but significant roles, in battles against the Seljuk Turks until the Crusaders reached Jerusalem in 1099. It was in Jerusalem where the legend of Godfrey was born. After building a wooden siege tower from lumber provided by Italian sailors, who intentionally scrapped their ships. In the blazing Summer heat of July 1099, Godfrey and his knights were the first over the walls of Jerusalem. I'm doing so, they had accomplished what the Christian armies had set out to do three years prior: to recapture the Holy Land, most specifically, the holy city of Jerusalem. 

His legendary victory caused a euphoria amongst his Christian compatriots. After Raymond of Toulouse, a fellow nobleman who led, what some say, the largest of the Christian armies, refused to be crowned ruler of Jerusalem, Godfrey agreed to the title of Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre rather than King. Allegedly, he refused to wear a crown of gold, citing that his savior had worn a crown of thorns. He was officially the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Godfrey's reign was short, and he was forced to defend his kingdom from multiple enemies. Due to his constant battles with surrounding enemies and sometimes rival Christian nobleman, he was unable to expand his territories through conquest. He was, however, through his status as the heroic warrior in the recapture of Jerusalem and subsequent campaigns, was able to make well known cities such as Acre and Jaffa, tributary states. He faced stiff opposition from Dagobert of Pisa, who schemed constantly to remove Godfrey from power, and his prevent his brother, Baldwin, from being crowned. There are conflicting accounts of what Dagobert's intentions were, his schemes were destined to be futile, as he was eventually forced to crown Baldwin ruler of Jerusalem after Godfrey's death. 

As with many records of the era, there are conflicting accounts of Godfrey's death. Arab chroniclers have consistently told that Godfrey died after being struck by an arrow during an assault on the fortified port of Acre. This claim, however, does not appear in Christian records, who claim that Godfrey became sick during a visit to Caesarea, and died after he returned to Jerusalem in July of 1100. He was later lionized in the Christian world, as a the military leader of the crusades, the central figure in establishing Jerusalem as a crusader state and selected as one of the Nine Worthies, a group of warriors who symbolized chivalric ideals. He would become a legend among Christian warriors in future crusades and his story has been retold for centuries throughout Europe, highlighting his virtues of strength, leadership and his undertakings in the holy land in one of the most important conflicts in the western and Islamic worlds.