Nobility on crusade, pt. 2
During the same period that Norman knights were conquering Sicily and parts of Italy, the Duke of Normandy conquered the island nation of England. The Anglo-Saxons continued to use the traditional Germanic war method of the shield wall, while the Norman lords had begun fight on horseback. It’s likely that Norman knights adopted horseback fighting after seeing their Saracen enemies in Spain, Italy and Sicily fight this way. Their ability to rain blows on the enemy from the height of a horse was a tactical advantage.
But at a key point in the Battle of Hastings, Duke William’s horse was killed by an arrow or spear. The Duke was left to fight on foot. One of the Duke’s liege lords, the Count of Boulogne, dismounted and gave his horse to the Duke, who continued to victory. The Count of Boulogne is also given credit for being one of those who eventually found and slew the English king. He was richly rewarded for his loyal service, although he stayed on the continent.
Boulogne-sur-Mer is on the coast of the English Channel, across from Dover. It is an important fishing town, but it also controls access to crossing the Channel. It was just part of Flanders until the 11th century’s sudden rise in Norman power, when it was elevated to its own County. The Counts of Boulogne were in the second rank of aristocracy just below royalty.
Eustace II married the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine, a province on the French-German border. They may have been the richest family in Western Europe at the time. Countess Ida endowed several monasteries as well as the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Mer in Boulogne.
Eustace and Ida had three sons: Eustace, Godfrey, and Baldwin. It seems to have been a close and happy family; Ida is remembered as breast-feeding her own babies, so they were likely to have grown up together as well, not farmed out to separate nannies. Eustace inherited his father’s County as the IIIrd of that name, but Godfrey and Baldwin were at first landless.
Then Ida’s brother died childless and left Lower Lorraine to Godfrey. Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany, refused to give all of the land to Godfrey. He let him have the city of Bouillon and demanded that Godfrey fight in his wars to prove loyalty for the rest. So Godfrey fought for Henry IV in Italy, helping to capture Rome and depose the Pope. Eventually Henry IV rewarded him with most of Lorraine, but Godfrey became known in history by the town of Bouillon: Godfrey of Bouillon.
All three brothers took part in the First Crusade. There is no greater sign of wealth than for all three heirs of a family to go on Crusade. A commander was more important in the Crusade as he brought more fighting men. It meant equipping their own personal troops, made of minor knights from around Flanders and Lorraine. Eustace, Godfrey and Baldwin were all commanders.
Eustace’s daughter married a Norman, son of the Count of Blois, who was born in France but went to England with Duke William. The younger Count of Blois was also a grandson of William the Conqueror and became King for a short time, so Eustace’s daughter was briefly a Queen.
Godfrey and Baldwin both became Kings of Jerusalem. When the Crusaders needed to establish governance in the territory they won, monarchy was their only model and they had to choose someone among themselves. Godfrey and Baldwin were not brothers of Kings, but they were independently wealthy and had gained status during the fighting. So in time, the Boulogne family became ancestors of all of the colorful, eccentric, short-lived Crusader-Jerusalem “royalty.”