Chapter 11: The North or Royal Weddings
The south had been somehow cooled, but the north was going to get much hotter. A cold winter morning, relations of the crusader states with Emperor Manuel would suddenly be severely damaged, and all for the depredating avarice of an adventurer, Raynald of Chatillôn, Count of Edessa and husband of Princess Constance of Antioch.
Looting enterprises were of course rather usual with this rogue medieval nobility times, and it was not rare even in Europe itself. But this Count of Edessa was taking it to a new dimension. He had already distinguished himself for his nearly suicide courage and recklessness in the actions he had taken part in the second but failed crusade, but his true campaign had started after his wedding to the heir of the duchy of Antioch. The newly wed, leading his company, all hardened veterans of the second crusade that had stayed in Outremer, people with no remorse nor fear of god, had sacked the properties of the patriarchy of Antioch, taking for himself a rich loot of jewells and golds, accumulated during the centuries by the greek church of the city.
The animal wits of the young and certainly very handsome nobleman had made him sell as his, in compensation for such blatant theft, the territories of Edessa, lost against Nur-al-Din, to emperor Manuel. But as soon as King Balduin took the victorious campaign started in the siege of Ascalon and ended with the battle of Montgisard, he gathered his men and with this same money he had stolen from the orthodox treasure chest, he lead his army to reconquer Aleppo and Edessa.
While the siege of Damascus failed, the King unsuccesfully sending his knights to attack the thick walls, brave Reynald had taken for him the old county. Against his own will, Balduin had to reluctantly confirm the authoity of Raynald as count of Edessa, stablishing a treaty with him and recognizing his lordship against the wishes and the rights that assisted the byzantines.
And finally, far from wanting to cool the situation, and stabilize his frontiers with the greek basileus, victorious against the Turks, avenging the past disaster of Manzikert. After being approached by the unscrupulous armenian king, he organized quickly a fleet, loaded to the top with Antioch knights and his own veterans, like sharks gathering with the smell of blood. Navigating during the winter, with the risk of storms, nobody awaited such strike.
So, in that January morning, the armenian fleet brought Raynald and his troops to the beaches of Cyprus and unloaded his army and his fury. The governor of Cyprus was not ready to face such warlike opponents nor he could have guessed such a sudden attack in the middle of the winter, and in the blink of an eye he saw himself prisoner, nearly without a fight, of the crusaders.
The sacking of the island, the general destruction provoked by the christian knights, swarming all over the island, was great. Cyprus had not been attacked in quite some time, and it had accumulated some riches for some time, being a key trade point between the east and the west. Reynald's men showed a great hunger for those riches indeed, sacking each manor, each church. When news arrived to the court of Constantinople, the emperor got furious... mad indeed when a letter, asking for ransom for the governor of Cyprus, his own cousin, arrived.
In Jerusalem, this same piece of news was received with cheers by the low nobility, always avid for the incredible adventures of Raynald, but with great reluctance by the King himself, who did not wish to anger the byzantine colossus.
The siege of Damascus had failed. The king barely could count with men to keep it while his vassals seemed to prefer to dedicate themselves to sacking and looting. And while many times those actions had been directed to the muslim neighbours, this time the target had been no less than one of the most important provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire.
When an epidemy was declared among the troops besieging Damascus, king Balduin raised the siege and rushed towards Antioch, so the byzantines would think twice before invading, sending emissaries to try to stablish peace talks before the storm would come. King Balduin's wrath when he had faced Count Raynold had been terrible, as the report of a Templar knight who was pressent at such encounter declared. He had nearly striked down the upstart and rebel count with his own sword. And it had to be said in favour of the King's personal ability that not even the brave and expert adventurer could defend himself.
Even then, Reynald was his vassal and owed obedience to his lord, by the treaty he not so long ago had signed. With great pressures, with the personal demesne troops swarming through Antioch and outnumbering his, the king made him return a big share of the riches stolen from Cyprus, and letters of apologicing and personal begging for imperial pardon, trying to shift the blame to the armenians.
King Balduin knew perfectly he could not face at the same time enemies as powerful as the byzantine empire and the seljuk turks. But while the facedown with the muslim was sure, bloodshedding with fellow christians should be avoided. Things, though, were not as bad as they seemed, and all thanks to the great diplomatic skill of these two monarchs.
Both monarchs, Balduin and Manuel, were certainly very similar in their virtues. Young, strong and brave militar leaders, they had brought new vitality and glory to their empires. While Manuel had repressed with skill the bulgarian revolts and finally defeated the Rum Seljuks after so many past humiliations, Balduin had confirmed his authority in the kingdom against his mother and other rebel nobles, and defeated also Fatimids and Syrians. Both were literate men, not a too common trait in the time, with great culture. While Manuel was greatly interested by medicine and science, the young king of Jerusalem had showed a not too casual interest in history and had been recognized as a passable at least poet.
Thus, perhaps this common personal traits overcome the difficulties, and a surprising soon understanding between these two men. A treaty, very favorable for both kings was signed.
A fact that eased the treaty was the fact that Balduin was single yet. If young and handsome Balduin would marry the young niece of Emperor Manuel, the beautiful Teodora, Manuel would pardon the crimes comitted by Raynald of Chatillôn.
Of course, the compensations to the byzantines would not end there. To begin with, and to justify somehow the legal nightmare provoked by the royal confirmation of Reynald as Count of Edessa, having Edessa been sold to Manuel previously, Reynald would swear fealty to the Byzantine Emperor. Even then, the property of Antioch itself would remain in the kingdome of Jerusalem after Reynald's demise, his possible heirs only would swear fealty to the southern crown. Jerusalem would not give back such a valious city, conquered against the heathen by force of arms.
To show this vassallage, the pride of this wary noble would be humbled, acting during the ceremony in Acre of the royal weddings of Balduin and Teodora as a servant of the emperor himself, holding the reins of his horse and dressed with a poor man's tunic. The following fragment was a reproduction of something David had already read, a copy of the famous fragment of the wedding, written by William of Tyre:
"
...The byzantines were recieved with great praises and feasts. The imperial barge arrived to Acre, and the emperor was escorted all the time by King Balduin himself, that had taken great care in appear humble and simple, dressed in an elegant but sober militar outfit, before the luxurious clotihng of Basileus Manuel Conmenus. Holding the reins during the long ride from the harbour to Jerusalem was Count Raynald of Chatillôn, dressed as a humble page, purging his sacking of Cyprus...
... The city of Jerusalem received the groom and the bride, and the emperor, with jasmine and roses, and in a long procession they all rode to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This wedding was specially celebrated by the orthodox citizens of the city, that hoped this union would allow his faith to be practiced more freely in this catholic kingdom...
... but upon reaching the crossing between the armenian and the patriarch districs, things went wrong. The good King of Jerusalem, trying to show a beautiful fountain to his new friend the emperor, built by command of his father, King Fulk, rode before the emperor, advancing in front of him. This was misunderstood by the byzantine nobles as an insult to their liege, since it seemed to them that the king wanted to signal his preeminence over the emperor, and thus, before nobody could react, they rode forth and pushed him from the horse with great anger in their gestures. The king, greatly surprised, could not hold on the horse, and fell in the dusty and hard ground.
The hands of everybody flew quickly to the swords, and it seemed that this peaceful occasion would turn into bloodshed. But thanks to the wisdom of the emperor and the patience of king Balduin nothing happened. Emperor Manuel quickly dismounted from his horse and kneeling at the laying and pained king, like a humble physician, attended the wounds of his new friend. Everybody got marveled at the skill as a doctor of the emperor, alliviating the pain of his soon to be relative, and calming the catholic knights humbling himself at the same level of the attacked king.
Both monarchs rose up from the ground, and before the cheers of the people and their knights, they hugged each other as brothers, riding up again towards the wedding ceremony..."
And that was the way the northern border was secured, thanks to a dinastic union. And just in time. The pleads for help of the old and ill Nur-al-Din seemed to finally find some ears in the seljuk courts. Only one end remained loose. The situation of the count and the county of Tripoli was a bit... ambiguous. Raynald had been turned from a catholic count to a byzantine governor. But his lands were owned legally by the treaty to the kingdom of Jerusalem. Such gordian knot could only be undone in a single way.
