The Dream and the Tomb (17 page)
On August 11, a Christian scouting party saw an immense cloud of dust moving toward them on the plain of Ibelin; they believed that the whole force of al-Afdal's army was about to engulf them, but stood their ground and discovered that instead of an army they were encountering something
that gave them the greatest possible pleasureâa herd of sheep, cattle, and camels being moved from one pasture to another. It was a vast and unlooked-for treasure. The scouting party consisted of two hundred lightly armed cavalry, and the herds were guarded by some three hundred herdsmen and Egyptian soldiers. The lightly armed cavalry had no difficulty capturing the herd, the herdsmen, and the soldiers.
Meanwhile the Crusader army was preparing to attack al-Afdal's army. Nearly the entire army marched out of Jerusalem, leaving a pathetically small garrison behind. Peter the Hermit and the canons of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre kept vigil by the empty tomb, sang hymns, and prayed fervently for victory against the Egyptians. The army was formed into nine columns, three in the vanguard, three in the middle, and three in the rear guard. This new arrangement meant that it was possible to orchestrate nine waves of attackers, for the Crusaders knew that it would be too dangerous to remain on the defensive. They must destroy the Egyptian army or lose Jerusalem.
Carrying the Holy Lance into battle, the Count of Toulouse led his Provençals to the fertile plain north of Ascalon, where the Egyptian army was encamped. He had at least three hundred knights with him, a quarter of the total Crusader army; and with the knights were about two thousand crossbowmen, infantrymen, and camp servants. His columns were on the right flank close to the sea, while Tancred commanded the center with Robert of Normandy and Robert of Flanders, and Godfrey commanded the left flank. The princes would attack at dawn.
The Egyptians were caught by surprise. They had underestimated the strength of the Crusader army. From their spies they had learned that there were quarrels in high places, soldiers were deserting, the horses were ill fed, the army was simply a rabble. Even when they realized that a vast herd of camels, horses, sheep, and cattle had been captured by the Crusaders, they argued that they were confronted not so much with an army as with marauders and looters, a mob of utterly undisciplined troops.
Al-Afdal's army was awakened by the sound of the Crusaders' trumpets and horns. Within a few minutes the nine columns closed in on the soldiers hurrying out of their unguarded tents. Once again, there was a general massacre. No mercy was shown. The Egyptian army, which vastly outnumbered the Crusaders, was thrown back into the sea. Al-Afdal's tent was captured. It was filled with treasure of gold and silver, heaps of jewels, helmets decorated with gold inlays, ceremonial swords, and stores of grain. Al-Afdal himself escaped in an Egyptian ship, while some of his soldiers were able to escape to Ascalon.
Al-Afdal had lost his army, his treasure, his battle-standard; and he had almost lost his life. He had been defeated by a force much smaller than his own, and soon this ignominious defeat would be known throughout the Near East. The Crusaders possessed his jeweled sword, his painted tent,
and the women he brought with him. The Crusaders, in their first battle after conquering Jerusalem, had shown that they were invincible. They returned to Jerusalem with a vast quantity of spoils, driving their herds before them; and exactly a month after the fall of Jerusalem they celebrated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre a solemn mass in honor of their second victory.
The intrigues among the princes continued, the price of there being so many of them. The Count of Toulouse had fought well in the battle of Ascalon, which saw the total defeat of the Egyptian army. This was his last battle. The city of Ascalon with its high walls had not been captured; and now messengers came to the count, saying that the people of Ascalon were prepared to surrender to him, and to him alone. They remembered his fair dealing with the Saracens at the Tower of David. This matter was reported to Godfrey, who was incensed that the city should be surrendered to anyone except himself. Godfrey raged; and the count raged. Godfrey had more to lose, for the count now made his irrevocable decision to leave Jerusalem, taking his men with him.
Robert of Normandy and Robert of Flanders left about the same time, and they, too, were exasperated by Godfrey's imperious conduct. The two Roberts caught up with the army of the Count of Toulouse and they marched northward together. This was a large army, numbering about half the troops who had taken part in the battle on the plain of Ascalon, and they were treated with respect by the Muslim governors of the cities they passed through. At Jabala, just south of Lattakieh, they received bad news. They heard that a Pisan fleet was blockading Lattakieh, that Bohemond was in league with the Pisans, and that Daimbert, Archbishop of Pisa, had been appointed papal legate and was in command of the fleet. They heard, too, that the Pisans had fought a squadron of Byzantine ships and one of their ships had been captured. Bohemond, self-styled Prince of Antioch, now refused to accept the suzerainty of the emperor of Byzantium. There were all the makings of a first-class quarrel with the emperor, whose fleet was in a position to control the waters off northern Palestine, while the Egyptian fleet controlled the waters of southern Palestine. Bohemond and the Pisans were behaving stupidly, and it was necessary to prevent them from doing any more harm.
The two Roberts and the Count of Toulouse were in agreement: the blockading fleet must be withdrawn and Daimbert must be told the true state of affairs. Accordingly, Daimbert was summoned to Jabala to confront three angry princes who agreed that the alliance with the emperor must be maintained. The situation in the Holy Land was still precarious. Nothing was to be gained by insulting the emperor, whose help might be needed. Lattakieh was occupied by a Byzantine army or perhaps only by a small column of troops landed from a single ship. It was this army that was being blockaded by Bohemond and the Pisans. Daimbert saw the force of
their argument, and he called off the blockade, to the immense anger of Bohemond. The Count of Toulouse then marched into the city “in the name of the emperor.” His banner flew from the walls, five hundred Provençal troops were added to the garrison, and Bohemond was warned to make no further attacks on Byzantine outposts.
Robert of Normandy and Robert of Flanders sailed to Constantinople, where they were well received by the emperor, who offered them high appointments, which they quite naturally rejected with good grace. They were princes in their own countries and had no desire to serve a foreign emperor. The Count of Toulouse, who had made a vow that he would spend the remainder of his life in the Holy Land, sailed to Constantinople later in the year, and he appears to have made plans to carve out a principality of his own around Tripoli. Unlike Bohemond, the Count of Toulouse was prepared to accept the emperor as his sovereign lord. In Constantinople he was given a palace, where a special chapel was built for the Holy Lance, and we learn from the historian Odericus Vitalis that a son was born to him. The danger, of course, was that by remaining in Constantinople he was growing out of touch with affairs in the Holy Land.
The loss of the Provençals and the armies of the two Roberts had reduced Godfrey's military power dangerously. A well-equipped Muslim army under capable leadership could have destroyed the young Kingdom of Jerusalem in its infancy. Happily the Egyptian army was too busy licking its wounds, and Godfrey was adept at leading raiding parties. Thus he took Hebron with only three hundred cavalry and two thousand infantrymen. The Muslim garrison at Hebron fled to Damascus, and Godfrey found himself master of most of the northern Negev. With an even smaller army of fifty knights and perhaps three hundred infantrymen. Tancred raided the Galilee, captured Tiberias and all the towns and villages around the lake. Then it was the turn of Nazareth and Mount Tabor. Another raid took him to Beisan, which commanded the pass from the plain of Jezreel to the Jordan Valley. At Tiberias and Beisan, he strengthened the walls and left small garrisons. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was rapidly extending its borders.
Because his army was so ludicrously small and he needed allies, Godfrey welcomed the news that Bohemond and Daimbert would soon be arriving in Jerusalem. According to Fulcher of Chartres, most of Bohemond's troops were left behind to defend Antioch. Baldwin, Count of Edessa, who was temporarily abandoning his principality deep in the interior, accompanied them along the coastal road with his own small army, which probably amounted to little more than a handful of escort troops. Three princes had left Jerusalem; now two princes and a papal legate were coming to take their place. On December 21, the day of the winter solstice, they arrived at Jerusalem and immediately made their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They celebrated Christmas at Bethlehem.
For Godfrey, the importance of Bohemond's pilgrimage to Jerusalem was largely psychological. A few knights were added to his army, and the Pisan fleet brought much-needed supplies and protection from the Egyptian fleet, which continued to threaten the southern coast of Palestine. But, primarily, the presence of Bohemond and of Baldwin, Count of Edessa, added luster to his court, while the presence of Daimbert, who quickly replaced Arnulf as Patriarch of Jerusalem, brought him the comfort that the church of the kingdom was in good hands.
Bohemond and Baldwin left Jerusalem at the beginning of the year 1100, their visit so brief that it seemed scarcely worth recording in history books. Yet it was important as a gesture of friendship and understanding. From them, Godfrey was able to learn what was happening in the north and to obtain a clear picture of Muslim intentions. He appointed his brother his successor, and he saw more clearly than before that he must encourage Italian fleets to enter Palestinian waters. He would continue to send raiding parties into the interior, and with the help of the Pisan ships he could blockade and conquer the coastal cities of Ascalon, Caesarea, and Acre. Already in his lifetime, it was possible to discern the shape of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to its fullest extent. The plans were laid well. They could not have been laid at all without the help of the Pisans.
The submission of Ascalon, Caesarea, and Acre implied a kind of dual rule. The Crusaders could not yet administer these cities; the emirs remained as governors, paying tribute and raising taxes, obeying the laws of Jerusalem and the commanders of the small garrisons imposed on them. We have glimpses of Godfrey sitting among the emirs, receiving gifts of corn, fruit, and oil, and being affable and gracious. As his power increased, he appears to have become more humble, calmer, less given to sudden rages.
Tancred, who now called himself Prince of Galilee, remained firmly loyal to him, though it was clear that he was attempting to carve out a principality for himself. Daimbert, however, began to show his mettle, claiming supreme power for himself and the papacy. The patriarch demanded that the cities of Jerusalem and Jaffa should be granted to him. The knights were horrified at the prospect of the kingdom's falling into the hands of a Pisan prelate. Godfrey decided to temporize. On Easter Day, he formally endowed the patriarchate with the two cities, adding that for their own protection he would retain them to his death.
In June Godfrey was in the Galilee directing a raiding party in the Jaulan when he learned that a Venetian fleet had put in at Jaffa. Since he was well aware of the importance of sea power, he immediately left his headquarters in Tiberias and journeyed to the coast. At Caesarea, he was welcomed by the local emir and entertained with a feast. After the feast he became ill. Perhaps he was poisoned; perhaps he was stricken with typhus; perhaps he was simply worn out by the excitement of a year of battles and
raids. On the following day, he was well enough to meet the admiral of the Venetian fleet and to discuss the part it might play in the defense of the city of Jerusalem. He was carried to Jerusalem, where it was thought the cooler air would help to abate his fever. Most of the time he was comatose. He could sometimes recognize people, give orders, and take nourishment, but no one doubted that he was mortally ill.
Daimbert imagined that at Godfrey's death he would become the Advocate and supreme ruler, the inheritor of the power and glory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But Tancred kept vigil at Godfrey's bedside and the knights were determined to prevent the kingdom from being overrun by powerful priests. The Venetians sent two separate deputations to the city to discuss the role they would play as traders and in matters of defense. Documents were drawn up. Godfrey rallied long enough to give assent to the documents. The Venetians were granted a measure of autonomy; they would receive a third of every town they helped to capture, and they would be permitted to have a church and a marketplace in every town in the kingdom. Tripoli would be handed over to them. The inevitable result of these agreements was to bring the Venetians into direct conflict with the Pisans. They were already rivals and enemies in Italy; now they would become rivals and enemies in Palestine.
Godfrey died on July 18, 1100, at age forty-one, having been Advocate of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for exactly a year. They said of him that he was a man of great nobility, a model of Christian piety. His chief virtue as a Crusader was that he acted decisively during the attack on Jerusalem, but on him lies the whole weight of responsibility for the massacre of the Saracens and the Jews. His body lay in state for five days and he was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, not far from the empty tomb.
