Godfrey of Bouillon

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Godfrey of Bouillon bigraphy, stories - A count of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon : biography

The emblem of Godfrey of Bouillon was, the so called, Jerusalem cross (a cross with T-form ends), surrounded with four minor crosses, gold on the silver background. Such combination of colors was considered to be a rude breach of the canons of heraldry, according to which combinations of two metals or two kinds of enamel was inadmissibly. That reason for creation of such an emblem was taking of Jerusalem. Companions-in-arms gave Godfrey that emblem as a sign of his merit in the crusade. Later the Jerusalem cross became one of the symbols of Christian.

The history of ruling

Being the king of Jerusalem, Godfrey took care about broadening the borders of the state and imposed taxes for emissaries of Caesarea, Ptolemaida and Ascalon, placing Arabian of the left part of Jordan under his control. With his initiative, in order to maintain order in the kingdom, there was established a law, later called Jerusalem Assisi.

Godfrey died at the siege of Acre. There another version, saying that he died from cholera.

Original sources

Godfrey of Bouillon was mentioned in the following sources “ The Crusades Through Arab Eyes” of 1984, “ The Ancestry and Life of Godfrey of Bouillon” of 1947, “Raimundi de Aguiliers. Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem”.

In XII-XII there started to appear epic poems about Godfrey of Bouillon. One of them was “Death of Godfrey”. It was about Godfrey and his companions who moved to France, while making their way they visited the Pope in Rome. After that Godfrey came back to Acre where he fell ill. Having recovered, Godfrey parried Saracen’s attack. After that Godfrey was treacherously poisoned by Heraclius, the Jerusalem patriarch. Godfrey was buried in front of the Holy Sepulchre.

There were also a few poems about fictional Godfrey’s grandfather, knight Swan Elias.

“Enfances Godefroid” was about his early years. At the age of fifteen Godfrey was conferred knighthood. He distinguished himself at the court with his bravery and justice. Meanwhile the old Saracen sorceress Calambra, mother of Corbaran, saw a presage in the sky. The presage said that the duke of Bouillon was going to come to the Holy land with two brothers accompanying him. The duke was also going to conquer Nicaea, Antioch and Jerusalem. Saracen Sornumarant made his way to Europe in order to kill the duke of Bouillon. But he got to abbey Sen-Trone, where he met Godfrey and changed his mind. He didn’t kill Godfrey but managed to find common language with him.

“Prise d’Acre” was the poem about Godfrey’s feats and the feats of his barons in Palestine. It also told about the siege of Acre. There was a love affair between Godfrey and Corbaran’s sister, which ended with marriage.