Envoy of Jerusalem Read online

  Envoy of Jerusalem

  Envoy of Jerusalem: Balian d’Ibelin and the Third Crusade

  Copyright © 2016 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: 978-1-62787-397-0 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-1-62787-398-7 (ebook)

  LCCN: 2016943614

  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

  Introduction and Acknowledgments

  Envoy of Jerusalem

  Historical Afterword

  Historical Note

  The Abduction of Isabella

  Glossary

  Also by Helena P. Schrader

  Additional Reading

  Cast of Characters

  (Names in bold are historical figures.

  Names with * appear more than once.)

  Royal House of Jerusalem

  Maria Comnena,* Dowager Queen of Jerusalem, great-niece of the Greek Emperor Manuel I, Queen of Jerusalem 1167-1174

  Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem 1186-1190

  Guy de Lusignan, her second husband, King of Jerusalem 1186-1190

  Isabella of Jerusalem, Sibylla’s paternal half-sister, daughter of Maria Comnena and King Amalric, Queen of Jerusalem 1190-1204

  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), Lord of Nablus by right of his wife from 1179

  Maria Comnena,* Dowager Queen of Jerusalem, his wife

  Helvis, John, Margaret, and Philip, their children

  Eschiva,* Balian’s niece (daughter of his brother Baldwin), wife of Aimery de Lusignan*

  Hugh, Burgundia, Helvis, and Aimery, their children (they had a total of six children historically, but only the names of the first three are known)

  Henri, youngest son of the 1st Baron of Ibelin, younger brother of Balian Eloise, his wife

  Household of Balian d’Ibelin

  Ernoul, Balian’s squire, 1181-1194

  Georgios, Balian’s squire, 1187-1199

  Father Michael, Balian’s confessor and the children’s tutor

  Father Angelus, Maria’s confessor and the children’s tutor

  Sir Roger Shoreham, formerly a sergeant, knighted at Jerusalem

  Centurion, Balian’s veteran destrier

  Ras Dawit, Balian’s young destrier

  Hermes, Balian’s palfrey

  Knights of Ibelin and Nablus

  Sir Bartholomew, feudal tenant of Ibelin

  Sir Galvin, a household knight of Scottish origin

  House of Lusignan

  Guy,* fourth son of the Lord of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem by right of his wife, Sibylla

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

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

  Geoffrey, second son of the Lord of Lusignan, crusader

  Hugh “le Brun,” eldest son of the Lord of Lusignan, nephew to Guy, Aimery, and Geoffrey

  Crusaders

  Richard I Plantagenet, “the Lionheart,” King of England, known to the Saracens as “Malik Rik”

  Berengaria of Navarre, his wife, Queen of England

  Joanna Plantagenet, sister to Richard of England, Dowager Queen of Sicily

  Conrad de Montferrat, brother of Queen Sibylla’s* first husband William de Montferrat, second husband of Isabella* of Jerusalem

  Philip II Capet, King of France

  Hugh, Duke of Burgundy, leader of the French crusaders after Philip II’s departure

  Henri, Count of Champagne, third husband of Isabella of Jerusalem

  Barons of the Crusader States

  William of Tiberius, Prince of Galilee, stepson of Raymond of Tripoli

  Ralph of Tiberius, his younger brother

  Humphrey de Toron IV, first husband to Isabella of Jerusalem*

  Reginald, Lord of Sidon

  Pagan, Lord of Haifa

  The lordships of Beirut, Botron, Gibelet, Jubail, Scandelion, Nazareth, Caymont, Caesarea, Bethsan, Arsur, Blanchgarde, 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

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

  Robert de Sablé, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, 1191-1193

  Garnier de Nablus, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller

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

  Randolf, Bishop of Bethlehem, later Patriarch of Jerusalem

  Bishop of Lydda, captured at Hattin

  Bishop of Beauvais, French prelate and crusader

  Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, English prelate

  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

  Imad ad-Din al Isfahani, Salah ad-Din’s secretary and biographer

  Khalid al-Hamar, a young, red-haired Mamluke

  Other Characters of Note

  Beatrice and Constance d’Auber, daughters of Sir Bartholomew

  Bart, Amalric, and Joscelyn, Beatrice’s sons

  Anne, Constance’s daughter

  Godwin Olafsen, a Norse armorer

  Haakon Magnussen, a Norse sea captain

  Erik Andersen, his chief mate

  Mariam, a Syrian pastry master

  Alys, a tavern singer

  Map of the Holy Land Today (Modern Israel)

  Kingdom of Jerusalem

  Baronies of Jerusalem

  Introduction and Acknowledgments

  THIS IS THE THIRD BOOK IN a 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 second volume, Defender of Jerusalem, described the fateful years leading up to and including the disastrous Battle of Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem to Salah ad-Din in 1187. Defender of Jerusalem was a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree. It won the “Silver” (second place) for Religious/Spiritual Fiction in the Feathered Quill 2016 Book Awards, the 2015 Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction set in the Middle Ages, and (at the time of publication) is a finalist for the M.M. Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction.

  The historical Balian was born in the mid-eleventh century in the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was the youngest son of the first Baron of Ibelin and as such did not inherit land or title. He entered the historical record in 1177, when he played a prominent role in the Frankish defeat of Salah ad-Din at the Battle of Montgisard alongside his older brother Baldwin, the Baron of Ramla, Mirabel and Ibelin. Shortly afterwards he married the Dowager Queen of Jerusalem, Maria Comnena, and his elder brother gave him the smallest of his three baronies, Ibelin. These events are described in volume one, Knight of Jerusalem. To avoid confusion with King Bald
win, Baldwin de Ibelin is referred to as Barisan or “Barry” throughout this trilogy.

  Defender of Jerusalem describes in fictional form the events of the following decade. The deteriorating health of the “Leper King” makes it imperative for the High Court of Jerusalem to find a suitable husband for Baldwin’s sister Sibylla, the heir apparent to the throne. Her first husband has died of malaria leaving Sibylla pregnant, and the search for a new consort has begun when the book opens. Balian’s elder brother, “Barry”, harbors hopes of gaining Sibylla’s affections and hand, but has the misfortunate to be taken captive by the Saracens in the Battle on the Litani. While he is engaged in raising his ransom in Constantinople, Sibylla is seduced by Guy de Lusignan. Agnes de Courtenay, mother of both Sibylla and the dying King Baldwin, manipulates her son into consenting to a marriage between the lovers.

  Ramla is now an embittered enemy of Guy de Lusignan. The latter rapidly alienates the other barons of the kingdom with his arrogance and ignorance. Recognizing his mistake in letting his sister marry Lusignan, King Baldwin attempts to persuade Sibylla to divorce Guy. Her refusal to separate from Guy makes her increasingly unpopular with members of the High Court. Her mother becomes afraid that as a result the barons will bypass Sibylla at her son’s death in favor of his half-sister Isabella, the daughter of King Amalric by his second wife and Agnes’ hated rival, Maria Comnena. Fearing the loss of power that such a solution would entail, Agnes convinces her son to remove Isabella from Maria and Balian’s care. Aged only eight, Isabella is sent to the border fortress of Kerak under the guardianship of the notoriously brutal Reynald de Châtillon. Denied the right to even visit her mother for the next three years, she is married to Châtillon’s stepson, Humphrey de Toron, at the age of eleven.

  In 1185, Baldwin IV succumbs to his disease and is succeeded by his eight-year-old nephew, Sibylla’s son by her first marriage. The boy dies less than a year later. This is the moment Sibylla and Guy have been waiting for. They usurp the crown of Jerusalem without the consent of the High Court. An attempt by the High Court to crown Isabella and Humphrey as (legitimate) rivals to Sibylla and Guy collapses when Humphrey sneaks away to do homage to Guy.

  Robbed of an alternative king, most of the barons of Jerusalem acknowledge Guy, but the proud Baron of Ramla and Mirabel prefers exile to submission. He turns his infant son and all his lands and titles over to his younger brother Balian and leaves the kingdom. The Count of Tripoli chooses open rebellion and signs a separate peace with Salah ad-Din. Only a new Frankish defeat enables Ibelin to act as peacemaker between Tripoli and Lusignan, effecting a reconciliation between them in which Tripoli does homage to Lusignan.

  Less than a year after his usurpation, Guy proves the worst expectations of his detractors correct. He leads the entire Christian army to an avoidable but devastating defeat at the Battle of Hattin. The entire fighting force of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is destroyed, either killed or captured. Only Tripoli, Sidon, and Ibelin manage to escape from the encirclement. The latter leads some three thousand survivors to the city of Tyre.

  Denuded of fighting troops (because these mustered and were lost at Hattin), the rest of the kingdom falls, city by city and castle by castle, to the forces of Salah ad-Din. Within two months, only the coastal city of Tyre remains—and Jerusalem.

  In Jerusalem are gathered some sixty thousand Christian refugees. Among the women and children are Balian’s wife, Maria Comnena, and his children. He obtains from Salah ad-Din a “safe conduct” to cross Saracen-held territory and go to Jerusalem to remove his wife and children from the city before the impending siege. Ibelin swears to enter without weapons and remain only a single night.

  On his arrival in Jerusalem, however, the inhabitants go wild with jubilation, thinking that they at last have an experienced commander capable of organizing the defense of the city. Ibelin realizes he cannot leave. He sends word to Salah ad-Din of what has happened. Salah ad-Din chivalrously sends his own bodyguard to escort Balian’s family to safety, while Balian prepares to defend Jerusalem. The city is populated by fifty women and children for every fighting man. Ibelin knights eighty youths in a single ceremony, and organizes the women and priests to support the men he has.

  Expecting an easy victory, Salah ad-Din sends in his troops without artillery support, but the waves of infantry are repulsed. Salah ad-Din then brings up his siege engines, but in a daring night raid Ibelin and his knights destroy several of these while the lepers of Jerusalem mount a diversion to facilitate the attack. Salah ad-Din is forced to withdraw, but redeploys his troops and brings up sappers to undermine the walls. Late in the afternoon of September 29, a large section of the northern wall is brought down. Although the Christians manage to defeat the first attempts by Salah ad-Din’s troops to rush through the breach, by nightfall it is clear they will not be able to beat off many more attacks. Ibelin leads a last desperate sortie to kill Salah ad-Din, but is rapidly repulsed.

  In the morning the Christians prepare to die or be enslaved, but then Ibelin remembers that Salah ad-Din had told him he did not want to risk damaging the Dome of the Rock in a siege. He takes a white flag and seeks to negotiate with Salah ad-Din. Even as they speak, Salah ad-Din’s banners appear on the walls of Jerusalem; Salah ad-Din scoffs that one does not negotiate for a city one already holds. At that moment the Saracen banners are thrown down, and Ibelin “plays his trump,” threatening to destroy all the holy places in the city and kill all the civilians before sallying forth with what men he has left to die a martyr’s death while killing as many of Salah-ad Din’s men as possible.

  To save the sacred sites from destruction, Salah ad-Din agrees to allow the Christians in the city to ransom their lives and freedom. Ibelin and Salah ad-Din agree to ten gold pieces per man, five per woman, and two per child, but Ibelin recognizes that many of the people in Jerusalem are refugees who have already lost everything. He therefore negotiates the payment of a lump sum of thirty thousand gold pieces for ten thousand paupers. The Christians are given forty days to raise their ransoms.

  This volume opens in Tyre on the day news reaches it that Jerusalem has capitulated.

  I wish to thank my test readers for their careful and constructive criticism, and my editor, Christy Dickson, for her patient, meticulous, and professional editing. I am also indebted to Mikhail Greuli for his evocative cover.

  Helena P. Schrader

  Addis Ababa

  2016

  Chapter 1

  Tyre, October 1187

  THE HARBOR-SIDE TAVERN WAS FILLED TO overflowing with fighting men. Whether they had escaped the carnage at Hattin, been left to garrison cities that had since surrendered, or come from overseas in ignorance of the catastrophe that had obliterated the Kingdom of Jerusalem, they had all washed up here. It was the only place left for a man still determined to defend the Holy Land to go. Every other city in the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem had fallen in the three bitter months between July 4 and today, October 3, 1187.

  Today they had been shaken by the clamorous shouts of “Allahu Akbar!” and the beating of Saracen drums. They had rushed to the walls prepared to fight off a new assault, only to discover these shouts marked not the start of an attack, but rather the end of one. Riders from the enemy camp, just out of range, pumped their swords triumphantly in the air as they shouted: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem is ours!” Those with an understanding of Arabic translated for the newcomers and the less linguistically skilled: Jerusalem had fallen to Salah ad-Din.

  Most of the fighting men collected in Tyre recognized that the fall of Jerusalem had been inevitable—more so than the fall of Acre, Haifa, Sidon, Gibelet, Beirut, Caesarea, Jaffa, and Ascalon. The latter had been defensible coastal cities capable of reinforcement and supply by sea and manned by garrisons worthy of the name. Jerusalem, in contrast, had been denuded of her defenders when the feudal army marched to Hattin. That army had been composed of the flower of both secular and sacred chivalry, the knights, sergeants, and Turcopoles of the Kingdom
, and the knights and sergeants of the militant orders. The garrison left behind had been made up of middle-aged merchants, Syrians, Greeks, and pilgrims.

  Yet while the garrison was old, ineffective, and small, the population of the city had swollen with refugees. From along the Jordan valley and other inland settlements, Christian women, children, and elderly—all those who had not been at Hattin—had fled to the Holy City after the destruction of the Frankish army at Hattin. By some accounts as many as one hundred thousand Christians had taken refuge there; the more likely number was sixty thousand.

  And now they were either dead or slaves.

  The thought depressed the men in Tyre. While their military minds had known Jerusalem was indefensible, their Christian hearts had hoped for a miracle. For those native to Outremer, it had been a hope fed by desperation: Jerusalem was the last place their own loved ones might yet be free—if they weren’t already in Tyre. Of all the defeats of the last three months, this was the worst.

  In the dingy harbor-side tavern, despair hung in the smoky air. These men had survived to fight another day. They had taken heart when Conrad de Montferrat had sailed into Tyre harbor and spat defiance at the victorious Sultan. They had fought with him and for him, and they had believed that not all was lost after all.

  But now Jerusalem was lost. The site of Christ’s Passion. The home of the Holy Sepulcher. Lost. What was there left to fight for?

  A youth with a lute in his left hand shoved his way between the tables toward the serving counter. He was thin and bony. His light-brown hair was overlong, as if he couldn’t afford a barber, and his face was marred by acne. One shoulder hung distinctly lower than the other, and when he tried to hoist himself up to sit on the countertop, he gave a gasp and his face screwed up with pain. The innkeeper shook his head in annoyance and warned in a low growl as he helped him onto the counter, “This better be good, Ernoul.”