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The Angevin Power
The Angevin Power; Part 3

The Angevin Power; Part 3

For a time the Crusaders held their own. Godfrey died, and was succeeded by his brother, Baldwin: he by a second Baldwin. Then there was none left but a daughter of Baldwin I. She was married to Fulk of Anjou, King Henry II of England's grandfather. Thus Fulk became king in Jerusalem, and so set up the Angevin dynasty there.

Years passed by. A second Crusade, led by Louis VII of France and the Emperor of the West, failed to enlarge or strengthen the Christian power in Palestine. And then the Moslems grew aggressive. Their great leader, Saladin, captured stronghold after stronghold. At length Guy de Lusignan, king in right of his marriage with the Angevin princess Sibylla, met Saladin in battle on the hills above Galilee. Tormented by a foe whom they could not strike, maddened by smoke from the brushwood which Saladin had fired, parched with thirst in sight of water they could not reach, most of the Crusaders of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem fought that day their last field. The Holy City surrendered soon after. Guy himself remained a captive in Saladin's hands. For the Angevins, as for another royal house, the crown that had come with a lass had gone with a lass.

The fall of Jerusalem had shocked all Christendom. Straightway there was a call for another Crusade. England echoed to it, as did other countries. But to Henry II the disaster came home with special force; it was the overthrow of his Angevin kinsmen. Accordingly Henry himself had meant to take a vigorous part in the new Crusade. Death, however, cut short his plans, but he left the task as a legacy to his son, Richard. Obedience to his father's wishes had not so far been Richard's strong point, yet to go on a Crusade was the very thing to which his warlike, adventurous spirit inclined him.

The third Crusade, in which Richard played the chief part, is the best known of all the Crusades. The character of Richard himself sheds a lustre over it. Medieval and modern story-tellers have been attracted by his reckless valour, his personal strength, his amazing exploits in war. Nor was Richard alone: his antagonist, Saladin, is renowned for his martial skill and courtesy, which drew from the Crusaders a respect which they seldom gave to any infidel. Further, the third Crusade was pre-eminent for the number of crowned heads who joined in it. The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa led a host across Asia Minor, losing his life in the enterprise. Philip Augustus, the King of France, accompanied Richard. Leopold, Duke of Austria, led his forces to the Holy Land also. In every respect, both in persons and in numbers of the combatants, the Crusade was on the grand scale.

Chronology

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