Description
Book SynopsisAwarded the Verbruggen Prize 2022 for the best book on medieval military history.
Baldwin of Bourcq left his home in France in 1096 to join the great crusade summoned by Pope Urban II for the liberation of the holy sites and Christian peoples of Syria and Palestine from the domination of the Muslim Turks. In 1100 he became ruler of the Franco-Armenian county of Edessa. In 1118 he succeeded to the kingdom of Jerusalem. In just over two decades this younger son of a minor French count had become one of only a dozen kings in Western Christendom. To defend the principalities of Outremer against their Turkish and Egyptian enemies he travelled thousands of miles and led his troops in over two dozen campaigns. He spent two extended periods in Turkish captivity, yet he outlived almost all of his fellow crusaders, and died leaving the succession to his kingdom secure.
This is the first biography in any language of a remarkable man. Drawing on a wide range of nar
Trade Review
"Murray’s biography is the first in any language on Baldwin of Bourcq, a man who rose from humble origins as a knight to become the King of Jerusalem and, for a brief period, the temporary ruler of much of the Latin East. Baldwin of Bourcq had a remarkable career, and Murray’s highly detailed and enjoyable volume is a remarkable work ideal for scholars, students, and the general reader alike."
-Stephen Donnachie, Royal Studies Journal
Alan Murray’s Baldwin of Bourcq has been awarded De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History’s Verbruggen Prize, 2022.
Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Crusader (1096-1100) 1. Origins and Ancestry 2. The First Crusade Part II: Count of Edessa (1100-1118) 3. The Franks on the Euphrates 4. From Expansion to Defeat (1100-1108) 5. Recovery and Consolidation (1108-1118) Part III: King of Jerusalem (1118-1131) 6. The Kingdom of Jerusalem and Its Enemies 7. From Accession to Coronation (1118-1119) 8. Between Jerusalem and Antioch (1120-1123) 9. The Years of Crisis (1123-1124) 10. Liberty and Restoration (1125-1126) 11. New Horizons (1127-1129) 12. Final Conflicts (1129-1131) Conclusions
