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  Defender of Jerusalem

  Defender of Jerusalem: A Biographical Novel of Balian d’Ibelin

  Copyright © 2015 Helena P. Schrader. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Wheatmark®

  1760 East River Road, Suite 145

  Tucson, Arizona 85718 USA

  www.wheatmark.com

  ISBN: 978-1-62787-273-7 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-1-62787-274-4 (ebook)

  LCCN: 2015908915

  Contents

  Cast of Characters

  Genealogical Charts

  The Ibelin Family in the 12th Century

  Kings/Queens of Jerusalem 1131–1212

  The Greek (Byzantine) Emperors in the 12th Century

  Maps

  Map of the Holy Land Today (Modern Israel)

  Kingdom of Jerusalem

  Baronies of Jerusalem

  City of Jerusalem in the Twelfth Century

  Introduction and Acknowledgments

  Defender of Jerusalem

  Historical Note

  Note on Leprosy

  Glossary

  Additional Reading

  Also by Helena P. Schrader

  Cast of Characters

  (Names in bold are historical figures.

  Names with * appear more than once.)

  Royal House of Jerusalem

  Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem, 1174-1185

  Agnes de Courtenay, his mother by King Amalric, and widow of Hugh d’Ibelin, her second husband

  Maria Comnena*, Baldwin IV’s stepmother, Dowager Queen of Jerusalem, great-niece of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I

  Sibylla of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV’s sister, widow of the Marquis de Montferrat

  Isabella of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV’s paternal half-sister, daughter of Maria Comnena* and King Amalric

  Baldwin V, King of Jerusalem, son of Sibylla by Marquis de Montferrat, nephew of Baldwin VI

  House of Ibelin

  Balian, third son of Barisan, 1st Baron of Ibelin, Lord of Ibelin from 1177, known to the Arabs as Ibn Barzan (son of Barisan)

  Maria Comnena,* Dowager Queen of Jerusalem, his wife

  Helvis, John, Margaret, and Philip, their children

  Baldwin (“Barry”), eldest surviving son of the 1st Baron of Ibelin, older brother of Balian, Lord of Ramla and Mirabel

  Elizabeth, his second wife

  Eschiva*, his daughter, wife of Aimery de Lusignan*

  Godfrey, his son

  Thomas, his son

  Henri, youngest son of the 1st Baron of Ibelin, younger brother of Balian and “Barry”

  Eloise, his wife

  Household of Balian d’Ibelin

  Rahel, a Coptic serving woman

  Beth, a converted Muslim

  Mathewos, an Ethiopian, marshal of Ibelin

  Dawit, his son, Balian’s squire, 1176-1181

  Tsion, his daughter, Dawit’s sister Daniel, Balian’s squire, 1176-1181

  Ernoul*, Balian’s squire, 1181-1188

  Gabriel, Balian’s squire, 1181-1187, Tsion’s husband

  Father Michael, Balian’s confessor

  Roger Shoreham, senior sergeant, father of Daniel, Gabriel, and Father Michael

  Georgios, a groom of Greek descent

  Centurion and Thor, Balian’s destriers

  Rufus, one of Balian’s palfreys

  Knights of Ibelin and Nablus

  Sir Bartholomew, feudal tenant of Ibelin

  Sir Arnulf, feudal tenant of Ibelin and father of Balian’s squire Ernoul*

  Sir Adrian, son of Sir Arnulf and older brother of Ernoul*

  Sir Galvin, a household knight of Scottish origin

  Sir Walter, a household knight, formerly Balian’s squire

  Sir Constantine, Constable of Nablus

  House of Lusignan

  Aimery*, third son of Hugh, Lord of Lusignan, Constable of Jerusalem

  Eschiva*, his wife, daughter of the Baron of Ramla, niece of Balian d’Ibelin

  Guy, fourth son of Hugh de Lusignan, second husband of Sibylla of Jerusalem,* Count of Jaffa from 1180, King of Jerusalem from 1186

  Other Barons of the Crusader States

  Bohemond III, Prince of Antioch

  Theodora Comnena, his wife, sister of Maria Comnena*

  Maria of Antioch, his sister, wife of Manuel I, Byzantine Emperor*

  Raymond, Count of Tripoli, Lord of Galilee

  Eschiva, his wife, Lady of Tiberias

  William and Ralph, Eschiva’s sons by her previous marriage

  Joscelin de Courtenay, brother of Agnes de Courtenay,* titular Count of Edessa

  Humphrey de Toron II, Constable of Jerusalem

  Reynald de Châtillon, Lord of Oultrejourdain

  Stephanie de Milly, his wife, widow of Humphrey de Toron III, son of the above Constable, and widow of Miles de Plancy

  Humphrey de Toron IV, her son by Humphrey III, and husband to Isabella of Jerusalem*

  Reginald, Lord of Sidon

  The lordships of Beirut, Sidon, Botron, Gibelet, Jubail, Scandelion, Nazareth, Haifa, Caymont, Caesarea, Bethsan, Arsur, Blanch-garde, Bethgibelin, and Hebron existed historically, so reference to lords of these baronies is accurate, although details of names and personalities are lacking.

  Members of the Militant Orders and Church Leaders

  Odo de St. Amand, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, 1171-1179

  Arnold de Toroga, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, 1179-1184

  Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, 1184-1189

  Roger des Moulins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, 1177-1187

  Heraclius, Archbishop of Caesarea and Patriarch of Jerusalem, 1180-1190

  Sister Adela, a Hospitaller nun

  Saracens

  Salah ad-Din Yusuf, Sultan of Egypt and Damascus

  Al-Adil, Salah ad-Din’s brother

  Farrukh-Shah, Salah ad-Din’s nephew

  Al-Afdal, the eldest of Salah ad-Din’s seventeen sons

  Husam al-Din Lu’lu, admiral and emir

  Other Characters of Note

  Ibrahim, a slave serving the King of Jerusalem

  Godwin Olafsen, a Norse armorer

  Map of the Holy Land Today (Modern Israel)

  Kingdom of Jerusalem

  Baronies of Jerusalem

  City of Jerusalem in the Twelfth Century

  Introduction and Acknowledgments

  THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK IN a three-part biographical novel of the historical figure Balian d’Ibelin, based on the known facts about his life. The first volume was published under the title Knight of Jerusalem and covered the period 1171–1177.

  The historical Balian was born in the mid-eleventh century in the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was the younger son of the first Baron of Ibelin, and as such did not inherit land or title. Volume I of this biographical novel describes how Balian, as a landless knight, seeks his fortune at the court of King Amalric I of Jerusalem. The King offers him the dubious honor of serving in the household of Prince Baldwin, a boy afflicted with leprosy. Balian accepts the post, and thereby becomes one of the few friends of the isolated prince. In this capacity he meets Queen Maria Comnena of Jerusalem, a young Greek princess who is King Amalric’s second wife, but their relationship is formal and platonic.

  When King Amalric dies unexpectedly, the leper boy is crowned King Baldwin IV, but so long as he is a minor little changes except that the widowed Queen Maria retires to a convent. In 1176, however, on reaching the age of fifteen, Baldwin takes over the government of his realm, dismissing the Regent Raymond Count of Tripoli and welcomi
ng back to his court his disgraced mother, Agnes de Courtenay, as well as his stepmother Maria Comnena. Balian is rewarded for his years of devoted service with the constableship of the city of Ascalon, and he takes over the defense of this vital border outpost. Here Queen Maria seeks him out and they become lovers—but Balian, conscious of his lowly status, does not believe they could ever receive the necessary permission from the King for a marriage.

  In November 1177 the Kurdish leader, Salah ad-Din, who has seized control in both Cairo and Damascus, invades the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the south and marches on Ascalon. King Baldwin rides with 376 knights (according to contemporary chronicles) to relieve Ascalon and is immediately trapped in the city by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. When the King realizes, however, that Salah ad-Din has taken the bulk of his army farther north, apparently heading for Jerusalem itself, he sorties out of Ascalon and joins forces with the Templars from Gaza. Although the towns of Lydda and Ibelin (historically Ramla) are sacked, on November 24 the Christian forces overtake Salah ad-Din and decisively defeat him at the Battle of Montgisard. Salah ad-Din has to flee on a camel, and almost all his troops are killed or captured. Balian and his elder brother play a decisive role in this critical battle.

  Meanwhile, Queen Maria has become pregnant and Balian, unwilling to let his child be born a bastard, is forced to request permission from the King to marry Maria, expecting that he and the Dowager Queen will instead be forced to flee to her family in Constantinople. King Baldwin, however, loves Balian well and approves the marriage. Furthermore, he puts pressure on Balian’s elder brother to transfer the comparatively insignificant barony of Ibelin to Balian in exchange for permission to set aside his blameless wife, Richildis. In May 1178, Maria gives birth to a daughter, Helvis.

  Thus at the end of Volume I, Balian is no longer a landless knight but Baron of Ibelin, husband of the Dowager Queen of Jerusalem, and father of his first child. This volume opens in June 1178. I wish to thank my test readers for their careful and constructive criticism of the draft manuscript, my editor Christy Dickson for her meticulous and professional editing, and Mikhail Greuli for his inspired cover!

  Helena P. Schrader

  Addis Ababa

  2015

  Chapter 1

  Jerusalem, June 1178

  “JERUSALEM IS DYING,” THE PATRIARCH MURMURED in a low, grave voice, pitched not to carry beyond the man he was addressing. The gold-encrusted robes of office seemed too heavy for the frail old man, causing him to stand hunched over. So many rings adorned his gnarled fingers that the one with the crosses of Jerusalem was all but lost among the shine and gleam of the others.

  “That’s why I came,” the man answered vigorously. The speaker, Balian d’Ibelin, was exceptionally tall, dark-haired and well tanned. He was not yet thirty and was dressed for riding in leather hose and boots, a hauberk of chain mail, and a marigold-colored cotton surcoat emblazoned with the red crosses paté of Ibelin. Beside him his slender wife, swathed in flowing white gauze to protect her from the Palestinian sun, waited anxiously. Both were coated in dust from the road.

  “Yes, it is good for the High Court to gather,” the Patriarch conceded, with a glance to the other men waiting in the anteroom to the King’s chambers.

  “I wish to see His Grace,” Ibelin insisted.

  The Patriarch shook his head firmly. “That’s not possible. He has been shriven.”

  “It’s no use, Ibelin,” Raymond, Count of Tripoli and former Regent of the realm, interposed, pushing himself off the window seat facing the inner courtyard of the royal palace. “We’ve all been denied access.” He gestured toward the men in the room, all of whom were important barons: the Constable Humphrey de Toron; the King’s maternal uncle, seneschal of the Kingdom and titular Count of Edessa, Joscelin de Courtenay; and the lords of Hebron, Caesarea, Jubail, and Caymont. “Your brother was here earlier, but he too was turned away. He was in no mood to wait.”

  Ibelin did not answer. He could well imagine that his older brother, Baron of Ramla and Mirabel and known to his family as “Barry,” had not wanted to wait. Barry was not a patient man. Instead of answering, Ibelin led his wife to a large carved chest, where she could sit down and unwrap the veils that had protected her face from the burning sun. Automatically the men in the room turned to watch her, enjoying absently the beauty of her well-proportioned face. From the day she had arrived at the court of Jerusalem as the bride of the then King, Amalric I, her classical Greek beauty had aroused admiration. She was a princess of the Imperial Greek family, Maria Zoë Comnena.

  Her expression now was worried. “Who has given the orders to isolate the King from his most important counselors?” she asked. “His doctors?”

  “Ah,” Tripoli opened with a cynical smile, his eyes reflecting admiration for the Dowager Queen’s ability to slice to the heart of the matter. “No, not his doctors.” He paused before adding in a sour tone: “His mother.”

  Queen Maria Zoë drew in her breath and held it, but her eyes glinted with indignation. There was arguably no one in the world she hated more than her first husband’s first wife, the mother of the now dying King, Agnes de Courtenay.

  “My sister has only the best interests of my beloved nephew at heart,” the Count of Edessa hastened to rebuff the unspoken accusation that hung in the room. Edessa was an empty title. The county had been lost to the Saracens almost half a century earlier, and Joscelin had distinguished himself only by gorging himself both literally (on sweets) and figuratively (on the royal treasury) ever since his nephew had appointed him Seneschal of Jerusalem. He was only in his early forties, but he was both balding and flabby.

  “No doubt,” Tripoli agreed with sarcasm before adding caustically, “As we can see by the fact that she’s kept you away from him.”

  Queen Maria Zoë looked down to mask her smile, but Ibelin frowned slightly, while Edessa spluttered in indignation and the aging Constable Humphrey de Toron made reproving noises in his throat.

  “Excuse me,” Ibelin broke in. “We’ve been riding since daybreak. I need to seek out a privy.”

  The others nodded absently as he withdrew, and Tripoli turned to the Dowager Queen. “You should not have risked such an arduous journey so shortly out of childbed, my lady, although you look the picture of health,” he noted honestly and admiringly. His own wife was much older and would not have been up to the exertion. “Your daughter is well?”

  “Yes,” the Dowager Queen answered proudly; the disappointment of giving birth to a daughter had faded rapidly in light of her husband Balian’s delight. If he did not care, why should she? “We’ve named her Helvis, after my lord husband’s mother.”

  Beyond the door Ibelin made his way not to the closest garderobe, but to the large gardens that backed up against the southern wall of the royal palace. The gardens were enclosed by the massive city wall to the west and a tall protective but not defensible wall to the east and south. Ibelin had served for five years in the royal household and knew the royal palace intimately—including the fact that there was a narrow stairwell that led directly down from the King’s apartments to the garden. The dog-toothed, pointed arch over the door to this stairwell opened in the northwest corner of the garden, nearly hidden behind three tall cypress trees that stretched heavenwards.

  Ibelin made his way to this door and tried it. To his relief, it was not locked. He slipped inside the stairwell and closed the door behind him. Here he stood for several seconds, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. Then he started up the stairs, feeling his way by using the tip of his boot to find the next step, one at a time. Eventually he reached the landing and found the door with his hand by feeling for the wood set firmly in the stone frame. He found the iron handle and pushed down on it. This handle moved but the door did not budge; it was locked.

  He knocked firmly. As expected, there was no answer, but after a pause he knocked again.

  “Is someone there?” an anxious voice asked through the door.

 
; Ibelin felt a surge of relief; the voice was familiar. It belonged to Ibrahim, the Syrian slave who had served the King almost his entire life.

  Ibelin leaned toward the wooden door and spoke in a low voice. “It’s me, Balian d’Ibelin.”

  “Lord Balian? Allahu Akbar!” The key turned in the lock and the door opened to reveal the old slave in his long kaftan and Muslim skullcap, bowing over his hands in welcome. The room behind him was in shadow. All the shutters had been closed over the windows, although the intensity of the afternoon sun ensured that it was not really dark. At this time of year, the shade could not entirely block out the heat, either, and without fresh air the temperature was stifling. The room smelled badly, too—of sweat and medicine and stale air.

  “I came as soon as I received word the King was ill, but I was denied access—”

  Ibrahim silenced him by holding a long, elegant finger to his lips. “I understand,” he assured Ibelin. “His mother guards him jealously, but he has asked for you. He will be pleased—no, grateful—that you have come. Only—” Ibrahim looked anxiously over his shoulder toward the large four-poster bed, enclosed in heavy damask curtains,“he is—is losing consciousness. Or rather, it comes and goes. Sometimes he seems to know what is going on around him. At other times he is oblivious. And other times still, he sees things we do not. He has spoken to his father as if he were in the room with him. And once he reared up in his bed and gasped out: ‘My lord, I am unworthy to be the defender of your tomb’—as if he thought the Prophet Jesus stood in front of him.”

  “Let me see him, Ibrahim, whatever state he’s in—before I am discovered and tossed out again by Dame Agnes.”