The history of Flanders - Chapter 9
The County Flanders and the first crusade: Robrecht of Jerusalem
Written by: Charles
Vanderhaegen - slightly modified and translated by Herman Boel - Edited
by David Baeckelandt July 2008
Published with kind permission of Charles Vanderhaegen.
From Robrecht I to Robrecht II
On 13 October 1093 Robrecht I (the Fries), 10th count of Flanders, dies. He is buried in the St Peter's church in Kassel, where he had beaten the joint armies of Henegouwen and France in 1071 and thus acquired the undisputed right to becoming the Flemish count.
He is succeeded by his son Robrecht II, 28 years old. Despite his young age he had a lot of experience in governing the county. As we saw earlier, Robrecht I had gone to Palestine in 1085 and had appointed his son as regent during his absence. He did both good and bad things.
The good part: it is Robrecht II who formed the hierarchic structure of the court. At the top there was the chansellor, who chaired the treasury in the count's absence. Under him there were the bailiffs, and further below the equerrues and finally the chamberlains.
As far as pomp and circumstance was concerned, the Flemish court could match whatever royal court of that era. But pomp and circumstance do not enrich and this was the not so good part of Robrecht II's rule. When Robrecht I returned from his pilgrimage, he found an empty treasury. In order to fill it up again, he thought of the so-called jus spolii, what could be translated as Right of Spoil. This right means that the count could claim the possessions of clergymen who died within the boundaries of the county.
You can imagine that the
church was far from pleased, so the clergy appealed to pope Urbanus
II to persuade Robrecht (image)
to abloish this damaging levy. The pope wrote a long letter to Robrecht
in which he asked him in the name of Christ, represented by the ckergy,
to abandon the application of the jus spolii.
Robrecht did not even trouble himself answering the papal letter.
Therefore, Urbanus II sent a papal delegation to the abbey of St
Bertijn, where Robrecht was staying, with the explicit request in the
name of the council to immediately cease the levy and to return all
that had already been taken from the church. If he were not to comply,
the interdict would be imposed which would
postpone all religeous services, masses, baptisms, marriages,
confessions, anointings, buriels, etc. in the whole county.
In those days such a threat was quite alarming because the execution of it could totally break down a nation in a very short period of time. There was no civil service like we know now. The whole administration of the state was with the clergy. They were the only ones who could read and write and who could have people honour the law with all kinds of threats in God's name.
Robrecht understood that he could no longer refuse to obey the papal instruction without turning his county in chaos. Furthermore he could not afford being at odds with the pope. The power of the church was simply too big. Gregorius VII had proven this in 1077 when he had forced the German emperor Hendrik IV to make the humiliating trip to Canossa. So without hesitation, Robrecht informed the pope that he would do as he wished and that he would abolish the challenged levy.
This restored peace with the pope. In the long run this was beneficial to Robrecht II. There are spectacular events at hand that will mark the Middle Ages for good: the crusades and in particular the first crusade in which Robrecht II will play a very important role by which he will be known as Robrecht van Jeruzalem in the coming thousand years.
Islam advances
In the 7th century a man appeared in the Arabian steppe who called himself Mohammed and who was the drive behind a political-religeous organisation that would unite all Arabs in a new faith that was called Islam (<Ar. `islám = subjugation 'tot the will of God' ), written down in the Quran (<Ar. qur'an = he read out loud), and who preaches the djihad (<Ar. short for djihad fl sabil Allah = effort on the way to God), i.e. the armed struggle (also called holy war) who is to conquer the areas of the non-believers for the truth. The adherents of this new religion are called muslims (<Ar. muslim = adherent) or also mussulmen (<Pers. muslimán = same mening as the Arab muslim).
Less than two years after the death of Mohammed (632) the islam had seized the whole of Arabia and now wanted to expand. In 636 the Mohammeddan followers conquer Syria and in 638 Jerusalem fell into their hands, two places that belonged to the Byzantine empire. In 642 Egypt with the might city of Alexandria is captured. In 698 Carthago falls and in 709 the whole of North Africa is governed by the islam. In 711 they cross the Mediterranean, land on the Spanish coast and conquer Sevilla, Córdoba and Toledo. By 714 Aragon and Catalunya are also occupied. The Islamic Empire stretches from Syria over North Africa up to the Pyrenees.
In 719 they conquer the city Narbonne in South France, invade Aquitania and destroy Bordeaux in 732. Towards the north they reach Poitiers where they are halted for the first time by the army of Karel Martel. The offensive force of the muslims is heavily broken in Western Europe, forcing them to retreat to the other side of the Pyrenees. Later Karel the Great will advance to the river Ebro in Spain. The area he recaptured (Catalunya) will form the basis for the so-called reconquista (recapture) against the Islam in Spain.
The advance of the muslims was not halted by this. In 831 they
land on Sicily and capture Palermo, Messina and Syracuse. In 846 a
small group of islamic soldiers succeed in plundering the cathedral of
Saint Peter in Rome.
Almost undisturbed they marched to the north of Italy, crossed the
Alps, invaded the Rhone valley, burnt down the convent of St Mauritius
and took possession of the convent of Cluny in 1970.
In 973 things change when the Byzantine emperor Jan Tzimisces reconquers Syria, occupies Damas and from there onwards marches to Gaul. He had to give up his plan to reconquer Jerusalem though because his army was being attacked in the northwest, i.e. Lebanon, by Arab troops which made him return to Constantinople.
In 1005 the sixth caliph, Al Hakim bi-amr Allah from the dynasty of Fatimides, invades Palestine from North Africa, succeeds in having himself declared of divine descent and then has destroyed the church of the holy grave in 1009. He is murdered in 1021.
Meanwhile ths islam had
also expanded towards the east. Baghdad was taken, the whole of Persia
conquered, in India the Indus was crossed and the adherents of Mohammed
penetrated current Pakistan and Turkmenistan. It is from this land that
around 1050 a Turkish tribe, the Selchuks,
manifests itself. Their leader Toghrilbeg,
who is the first to call himself sultan
(<Ar. sultán = power, also authority), marches with his army to
Baghdad, arrives there in 1055 and declares himself the substitute of
the calyph, and in 1058 calls himself the King of the East
and the West. With the 'West' he meant of course the
Byzantine Empire. The opulent wealth had an extremely strong attraction
to him. He dies in 1063 and is succeeded by Alp Arslan
(image) ('robust lion').
In 1071 the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV Diogenos
together with 100,000 soldiers among which many Norse mercenaries,
invades the Turkish occupied Armenia to free it from islam. But he is
halted in Mantzikert by the army of Alp Arslan. The clash between both
armies was horrific. The Byzantines were completely crushed. By the
treason of a certain Andronikos Doukas,
who being a nephew of the deceased emperor Constantijn X
considered Romanus to be a rival and intruder in the imperial family,
the emperor was captured.
Arslan treated his prisoner with respect and granted him freedom
against a huge ransom. When the news of the defeat in Mantzikert
reached the nobles in Constantinople, they declared Romanus as deposed.
Michaël VIl, Romanus' stepson, made use of
this to take the throne. As soon as Romanus returned to Constantinople,
Michael had him enprisoned, had his eyes plucked out and had him thrown
in the dungeon where he died a few days later. This was on 4 August
1072, almost exactly one year after the battle of Mantzikert. This
horrible murder on Romanus was common in the Byzantine empire. Of the
88 emperors who ruled the empire between 324 and 1453, there were 13
who had to flee for their lives to a convent, and 29 others who were
murdered.
After the defeat of the Byzantine army at Mantzikert, the Selchuks, who from then on will be called Turks, will conquer almost the whole of Asia Minor with Antiochia and Edessa which they seize in 1084 and 1087. They are now a direct threat to Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
Byzantine seeks help
The danger that the Turks would also conquer the European part
of the Byzantine empire was greater than ever, but the death of the
sultan Mahikcháh in 1092 diminished this
danger. As he had not appointed a direct heir for his successors,
exhausting family disputes divided his empire among his sons, nephews
and cousins. There were finally four separate sultanates. This
crumbling of the central authority weakened the young Turkish state
such that Alexis I Comnenos, who had
taken the Byzantine throne in 1081, considered the time ripe to launch
a counterattack.
But Alexis also understood that internal quarrels and conspiracies,
exhausting wars against the Norsemen and others had weakened
Byzantium's military too much to raise an army strong enough to fight
the Turks. So he urgently needed help.
In 1088 he had already made acquaintance with Robrecht de Fries, who had stayed in Constantinople on his way back from Palestine and from whom he had received an expeditionary army of 500 cavalry and 150 horses to attack the sultan of Nicea. He was thé man to get new help from. But as Robrecht I had meanwhile dead, he wrote a long passionate letter* to his son Robrecht II which described the misdeeds by the Turks and in which he expressed his fear that Byzantium would soon fall victim to the heathens. 'Come quick', he begged Robrecht, 'and come to Constantinople where great wealth awaits you'. He added that the charm of Greek women was irresistible!
A little while later he also sends a mission to the Concily in Piancenza that was summoned in March 1095 by pope Urbanus II to deal with the church reforms with regard to the Investiture Controversy. During this concily Alexis' envoys told the Fathers about the same story as in the letter to Robrecht. Alexis wanted auxiliary troops to set Jerusalem free. In reality mentioning Jerusalem was only a cunning way to get support for the planned recapture of Anatolia. But the word Jerusalem appealed a lot more to the Fathers than Anatolia. Alexis' request for Western aid had little to see with religeous zeal, it was rather political and military of nature.
In any case, both the letter to Robrecht and the appeal of Alexis' envoys were welcomed in almost whole Western Europe, both with nobles and common people. In this medieval world of religeous tensions, with neverending wars between the feudal powers, the ever present hunger and one epidemic after the other, there was suddenly something new, something that produced a kind of religeous extasy which gave hope to a liberation from a despairing world.
*According to some sources this letter was false and was thus never sent. In all probability there were no respresentatives sent to the concily either. This is logical as Alexis did not have a control of the situation at the time.
On 27 November 1095, the tenth day of the concily of Clermont which was held in the open field so that everyone could listen to the pope, the pope appeals to the crowd in their own language to go on a crusade to deliver the Holy Grave from the heathens. It was God's will to set Jerusalem free, he says. And the people extatically repeated the call that will set the whole of Europe in motion: Deus lo vult. God wants it!
The preparation
As soon as it was agreed to have a crusade, an enormous actitiy developed rapidly in the whole of Western Europe and particularly in Flanders to prepare for this great adventure in which everybody, knights and servants, peasants, priests, monks, traders and serfs, could participate. The knights wanted glory and wealth, the peasants wanted the end of hunger and disease(*), the serfs wanted freedom. Did the pope not say that Jerusalem was a paradise with delights and did he not promise that the serfs would return as free men while all who died on the way or in battle would go directly to the Heavenly Kingdom of the Lord? Who could resist to such a prospect?
(*) The years 1092, 1093, and 1094 all knew crop failures and were plagued by St Anthony's fire or ergot poisoning. This disease originated from eating bread or porridge that was prepared with rye flour in which ergot (i.e. rye poisoned by mould) has been grinded. The disease which dies off body parts and causes abortion, grew to an epidemic scale in the 11th century.
Almost no one. And neither Robrecht II, who had learnt from his father what a journey through the largely rugged and inhabitable South East Europe to Jerusalem meant and the problems involved. He must have known that Jerusalem was no paradise of delights as Urbanus had said in his notorious speech of 27 November 1095. Nevertheless he was quite enthusiastic to answer Urbanus II's call and he was immediately prepared to participate in this crusade that was God 's will.
His ties with the Church and his persuasion towards the pope
will surely have played a role in his decision. Another fact was that
his stepsister Bertha had been married to
the French king Filip I and had been disowned by him in 1092. In the
subsequent struggle between the French king and the Church, Robrecht
was at the pope's side. Furthermore, he was married to Clementia,
daughter to count Willem I of Burgondy and sister to Guy of Burgondy,
archbishop of Vienne, who would later, in 1119, himself be elected pope
under the name Calixtus II.
Clementia seems to have been an exceptionally gifted woman and,
probably influenced by her ecclesiastical ties, surely had a great
influence on her husband. In any case did Robrecht have full confidence
in Clementina. One of the most important measures Robrecht took before
his departure was the one by which he transferred the rule of Flanders
to his wife for the duration of his journey, as well as the care for
his only living son. That was the laterBoudewijn VIl
who was only three years old at the time and who would succeed this
father in 1111. Robrecht originally had three sons, Willem, Filip and
Boudewijn, but the first two died in the cradle.
Due to his position as count of Flanders, one of the mightiest counties of Western Europe at the time, and the fact that he had close family ties with many of the crusade leaders, Robrecht will take a prominent place as one of the leaders in this crusade. Were part of his group: his brother Filip, viscount of leper, and his sister Geertruid, widow to the count of Leuven, remarried to Diederik II, duke of Upper Lorraine and father of the later count of Flanders Diederik van de Elzas. There was also: Karel, son of Robrecht's sister Adela who, after the murder on her husband Knut IV, king of Denmark, had sought refuge in Flanders in 1088. Karel will later also, in 1119, get the title of count of Flanders. He will be known in Flemish history as Karel de Goede (Karel the Good).
It was a very distinguished company: the count of Flanders, two future counts of Flanders accompanied by an impressive force consisting of more than 65 high-ranked knights , more than 700 knight of lower ranks, all of them with their retinue, their chamber and stable men, their healers, their armour smiths and blacksmiths, followed by a few thousand armoured foot-soldiers. There was also a less distinguished company that accompanied the army: peasants with horse and cart, some accompanied by their wife and children, serfs, craftsmen and all kind of adventurors, traders who want to back out from debts, thieves, highwaymen, fled murderers and the unavoidable whores, some with horse and cart, most on foot. A total of men and women that can be estimated at 5000 souls.
On road to Constantinople
In September 1096
Robrecht leaves with his retinue that had gathered between Brugge and
Gent, and went south. Via Amiens he arrived in Vezelay where he joins
the army of the Normen that was led by duke Robert
Corthose (image) of
Courtheuse, also an important crusade leader. A family tie also existed
between the duke and Robrecht. Both nobles were cousings as the duke
was the (oldest) son of William the Conqueror who was married to
Mathilde, the sister of Robrecht the Fries. In Lyon the army gets
reinforced by Etienne, duke of Blois and
Chartres who was married to Adela, oldest daughter of William the
Conqueror and thus brother-in-law of Robert Corthose and cousin by
marriage to Robrecht II.
This considerable force now goes straight through France and crosses the Alps via the pass of the Great St Bernard. In Lucca (Toscane) they are greeted by pope Urbanus II, who had pulled back from Rome to the north under pressure of the antipope Wibert or Guibert, who had taken the name Clément III. With Urbanus' blessing, the army marches to Rome but finds nothing but hostility there. Rome, which had been plundered a few years before by Norsemen under the command of Guiscard of Apulia, was still in ruins and was now posession of followers of the forementioned antipope, who was supported by the German emperor Henderik IV. The crusaders who were part of the camp of Urbanus II were not welcome there and therefore left the city.
Arrived in Apulia, the most southern part of Italy, Robrecht is welcomed by his sister Adela, Knut IV's widow, remarried to duke Roger I Borsa of Apulia, son of Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria. As winter was coming - we are in December 1096 - Adela asked the three commanders to winter there with their armies. But Robrecht refused and crossed the Adriatich Sea before the end of the year to arrive in Epirus in Northern Greece. From there on he marches straight through Macedonia and reached Constantinople in the first months of 1097. Robert Corthose and Etienne of Blois did remain in South Italy during the winter and also arrived in Constantinople, somewhat later than Robrecht, around May 1097.
Meanwhile the army of Godfried IV of Bouillon, who had started the crusade via Hungary, had also arrived in Constantinople. This was on 23 December 1096. A bit later also Bohemond of Tarente, also son of Robert Guiscard, arrived with his army and at the end of April 1097 it was Raimond IV de Saint-Gilles, count of Toulouse, who joined the others at the capital of Byzantium. He had departed with an army in October 1096 from Southern France and had traveled via North Italy and Dalmatia.
The four armies had now been gathered and could now start the real crusade.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem!
Early May 1097 the joint army crosses the Bosporus and marches to Nicea which lies about 150 km south. After one month of siege, it is taken without any resistance. Between 26 and 29 June 1097 the crusaders leave Nicea and march southeastwardly in the direction of Doryleum where they engage an army division of the Turks. Robrecht II is in command of the right wing of the crusaders' army and manages to put the Turks to flight and to seize a considerable loot of gold, silver, horses and donkeys. This was a valuable victory as it would be a long time before the Turks would again dare to engage the crusaders in open field.
After only three days of rest, the crusaders continue their march southeast, straight through Phrygia, cross the Taurus mountains and reach Marasch on 13 October 1097 after a terrible journey during which many crusaders had died of misery. They are greeted by the Christian Armenians as their potential liberators of the Turks. This was good fortune as the Armenians showered them with the most urgent foods.
Barely equipped, the army now went to Antiochia, which was a metropolis at the time. They arrived on 21 October in the city which was the biggest hurdle on the way to Jerusalem. It will take the crusaders eight months to occupy the city and at the great cost of thousands of lives.
Antiochia was built on the east flank of the mountain Silpius, and bordered to the west to the river Orontes. It was surrounded by a gigantic wall with 360 towers. Due to its vastness it was practically impossible to surround the city. Robrecht, Robert Corthose and Etienne van Blois made a stand north of the city while Godfried of Bouillon and Raimond of Toulouse took on the western part. It was in vain, despite two months of long and fierce fights, the crusaders had not accomplished anything. We are now end of December 1097 and the hunger and cold winter months are having their influence. Nevertheless the siege continues but without any direct result. Until June 1098, when the city falls into the hands of the crusaders, thanks to the betrayal by an Armenian commander with whom Bohemund had made a secret agreement.
The taking of Antiochia can undoubtedly be credited to Bohemund of Tarente. One way or another he had found a way to get in touch with a certain Firuz, an Armenian who had the command of one of the city's tower. On 3 June 1098 this Armenian opened the gate so that the crusaders could get into the city. This was just in time as a mighty Turkish army, commanded by the Persian Kerboga, arrived to relieve the city. Now it were the crusaders who were besieged. On 28 June their army made a sortie and crushed the Turks. The way to Jerusalem was open now, but it will take nearly another year, until 7 June 1099, before they will reach the so desired city.
The first assault of the city occurred on 13 June 1099 but gave no result. Two days later Robrecht and Godfried succeeded to move a turret near the city wall and to let down a drawbridge. Two Flemish soldiers from the army of Robrecht II, Letold and Gilbert from Doornik, went in as first while at all sides of the turret crusaders were climbing over the walls to take the city. A useless and terrible bloodbath follows that will make any future cooperation with islam impossible and that will severely damage the interests of the christians in the East.
Anyway, after nearly three years of war with all the accompanying hunger and misery, the crusaders had reached their goal. Jerusalem was freed of the islamic occupation. But not for long. In 1187 Jerusalem will be lost to sultan Saladijn of Egypt.
Historic cynicism: Pope Urbanus II, the man who invented the crusades, dies on 29 July 1099 which means he did not live to see the journey to and taking of Jerusalem.
Back to home
On 12 August Robrecht fights for the last time in the area of Ascalon, where he gains a last magnificent victory on the islamites. With this battle Robrecht concludes his military career in the East and decides to return to Flanders. He follows the same road. He remains a while in Italy with his sister Adela, but at the end of the 1099 winter, he marches with his troops to the north and arrives in his county in the spring of 1100.
More than three years after his departure to Jerusalem Robrecht arrives in his homeland. He is less rich than when he left, but is a lot wiser through experience. He will need that wisdom when in 1102, barely two years after his return, the German emperor Hendrik IV will come to Flanders and threaten Robrecht II's county.
Bibliography:
1. BRANDT, C.D.J. Prof. "Kruisvaarders naar Jeruzalem", W. De Haan NV
1956.
2. DE SMET, J.J. "Mémoire sur Robert de Jérusalem", M. Hayez de
l'académie royale 1861.
3. LEHMAN, Johannes. "De kruisvaarders", Forum boekerij, Baarn 1976.
4. LUYKX, Theo Prof. "De graven van Vlaanderen en de kruistochten",
Heideland, Hasselt 1967.