BEGINNINGS
We start out in 1180 with Princess Sibylla of Jerusalem, reigning as the Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon (a duchy-level fiefdom in the game), while her younger brother Baldwin the Leper is king in Jerusalem. The Kingdom is in a little bit of a pickle, but nowhere near as bad as in my old CK1 1187 start. As stated above, the worst thing about playing Jerusalem in CK1 was wrangling King Guy de Lusignan, who will not be a problem this time around.
Here’s a look at a map of the current situation:
As you can see, Jerusalem is divided into a handful of powerful lordships and completely surrounded by potential enemies, with the Seljuk Turks to the north and the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt to the east and south. The Byzantine Empire to the northwest is not likely to provide any assistance, so any foreign aid will have to come from new crusaders arriving from across the Great Sea.
Now to meet the prominent members of the kingdom: the
Haute Cour. We’ll be seeing a lot of them in the near future, so it will be important for us to keep them all straight. Since Jerusalem has very weak royal authority at the moment, these powerful vassals have a great deal of free reign over their territories. Too much, in fact.
Jerusalem
As I mentioned before, Jerusalem itself is ruled by Sibylla’s younger brother,
King Baldwin IV, the Leper. He is kindly, chivalrous and clever –- he seems like a decent enough sort, aside from the flesh-consuming disease wracking his body. He became king in 1174 at the young age of 13, and was aided by a regent until he recently came of age. He is a good king, albeit a weak one. His nemesis Saladin respects his ability and courage, which is important.
But he is not expected to live long, and the fact that he is unlikely to ever be able to father an heir means that a succession crisis is very likely, at least in the eyes of the vassals. They are already each plotting to make themselves the power behind the throne, which means Sibylla will need to be very deft in negotiating a perilous balance -- working to pacify the nobles but being careful not to give them too much of an advantage.
Jaffa and Ascalon
Sibylla’s own fiefdom is along the coast of Palestine, with some rich, juicy ports bringing access to profitable Mediterranean trade. The most noteworthy courtiers here are the last remnants of Sibylla’s “family.”
Foremost among these is Baldwin and Sibylla’s mother,
Agnes de Courtenay. Hers is a rather sad story. She was the daughter of the last ruling Count of Edessa, forced to flee south from the invading Muslims. She was then forcibly abducted by Prince Amalric of Jerusalem, who fancied her. He made her his bride and fathered two children on her. But then, when Amalric’s brother died and he succeeded to the throne, the Haute Cour refused to support him unless he annulled his marriage to Agnes. He was all the more motivated by the promise of a lucrative marriage to
Maria Komnena, a Byzantine princess. So Agnes was jilted and deprived of her position and family all at once, and so she has become very bitter.
But why is Sibylla’s mother’s so important to the political scene? Because her ex-husband’s new family also resides within the duchy. After Amalric died, Queen Maria married
Balian of Ibelin, Lord of Beersheba, one of Sibylla’s vassals. Balian is a competent and loyal courtier, but Maria is a Komnenid snake, used to the Byzantine world of betrayal and poison. And to make matters worse, she brought along her surviving daughter from her marriage King Amalric:
Princess Isabelle of Jerusalem, half-sister of Baldwin and Sibylla. That girl is nothing but trouble – not only a rival for the throne, but a Komnenos as well!
Also worth mentioning is Joscelin de Courtenay, Agnes’ older brother. He is Lord of Acre and heir to the fallen County of Edessa. Due to Sibylla’s close family relationship to him, his lands might be easy to usurp.
The Knightly Orders
Both the Knights Templar and Hospitaller reside within the borders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Hospitallers own the formidable castle Krak des Chevaliers at the northern reaches of the kingdom, as well as the County of Baalbek. Their Grand Master, Roger de Moulins, is old but feisty.
The Templars have their headquarters on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, as well as various strongholds throughout the Holy Land. Their Grand Master is languishing in one of Saladin’s dungeons, so his second-in-command Arnau de Torroja is in charge in his stead.
Tripoli and Tiberias
The most powerful and influential nobleman in the Kingdom is
Raymond of Tiberias, the Count of Tripoli. He is very shrewd and capable, but also sullen and proud. Up until recently he had served as regent for the young King Baldwin, and did not like giving up his power so easily when the Leper King came of age. Raymond could be an asset as long as his opinion is followed, but any slight to his honor could lead him into a dangerous, brooding rage.
Oultrejordain
The only vassal even more unpredictable than Raymond is
Reynald de Chatillon, Lord of Oultrejordain. He rules de jure uxoris, or by right of his wife Etienette de Milly. They have both been married before: Reynald to the Princess of Antioch (which explains his love of power and finery), and Etienette to the Lord of Toron, by whom she had a son, Humphrey. The most important thing to remember about Reynald is that he is fickle, reckless and power-hungry. He has already been raiding Muslim caravans on the outskirts of his territory, recently causing even Sultan Saladin himself to vow vengeance. That’s a very, very bad thing. Oh, and Humphrey of Toron, Reynald’s stepson, is betrothed to Sibylla’s half-sister Princess Isabelle (!).
Antioch
Prince
Bohemond the Stammerer of Antioch is de jure independent of Jerusalem, but in practice he is forced to rely on Jerusalem for both support and safety. With the Seljuk Turks to the north and the Ayyubids to the east, his small territories are barely an appendage to Jerusalem. Of note is his relationship with his neighbor Raymond of Tripoli, who is his cousin and ally.
And now to get down to business…
***
1180
With so many treacherous vassals to contend with, the first order of business for our fetching young Princess was to find a decent spouse. Since Baldwin was not expected to live long, the vassals were anticipating that whomever Sibylla married would swiftly become the real power in the land. Therefore a capable, strong-willed husband was in order – not only to put the vassals at ease, but to be strong enough to knock them around if they became troublesome.
I didn’t even need to look to find the perfect candidate, for I had one in mind already. No, not Guy de Lusignan. I was more than content to allow that idiot to spend his days puttering around southern France as the worthless younger son of a second-rate French count that he was.
Instead, we go now to the Aquitaine, where we find our premier marriage candidate: Sibylla’s first cousin once removed.
Allow me to introduce Richard of Anjou, second son of the King of England and heir to the Duchy of Aquitaine.
The one they call
Cœur de Lion.