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Fulk, also known as Fulk the Younger, was the count of Anjou from 1109 to 1129 and the king of Jerusalem with his wife Melisende from 1131 to his death. During their reign, the Kingdom of Jerusalem reached its largest territorial extent.
Geoffrey II, surnamed Jordan, was the lord of Preuilly from 1067 and count of Vendôme from 1085, the son of Geoffrey II of Preuilly and Almodis of Blois.
William of Bures was Prince of Galilee from 1119 or 1120 to his death. He was descended from a French noble family which held estates near Paris. William and his brother, Godfrey, were listed among the chief vassals of Joscelin of Courtenay, Prince of Galilee, when their presence in the Holy Land was first recorded in 1115. After Joscelin received the County of Edessa from Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1119, the king granted the Principality of Galilee to William. He succeeded Eustace Grenier as constable and bailiff in 1123. In his latter capacity, he administered the kingdom during the Baldwin II's captivity for more than a year, but his authority was limited.
The role of women in the Crusades is frequently viewed as being limited to domestic or illicit activities during the Crusades. While to some extent this is true, some women also took part in other activities, including armed combat in the battles of the Holy Land. This article focuses on the first Crusades and identifies known participants. It also highlights some of the more famous women of the later crusades. For a discussion of the sociological and religious aspects of the mixing of women with the predominantly male crusaders, the reader is referred to the referenced documents.
Hugh II Bardoul of Broyes, son of Barthelemy de Broyes and Elixabeth de Valois. Seigneur of Broyes, Beaufort, d'Arc-en-Barrois, and Charmentray. Hugh allegedly attacked that lands of his grandfather Raoul after his death in 1074 with the consent of King Philip, although it seems more likely that the attack was carried out by his father or guardian. Hugh joined with the Lombard contingent on the second wave of the First Crusade, dated to late 1100, serving in the army of Stephen of Blois.
Cecilia of Le Bourcq was a Cilician fiefholder as lady of Tarsus. She was the daughter of Count Hugh I of Rethel and Melisende, daughter of Guy I of Montlhéry. Cecilia's brother was Baldwin II of Jerusalem.
Renaud II of Clermont was son of Hugh I, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and Marguerite de Roucy. Renaud became Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis upon his father's death in 1101.
The army of Hugh the Great was formed after the Council of Clermont, led by Pope Urban II in November 1095. Hugh, son of Henry I of France, and his wife Anne of Kiev, was Count of Vermandois, de jure uxoris, due to his marriage to Adelaide of Vermandois. In August 1096, Hugh and his small army left France in prima profectione, the first army of the third wave to leave France, and travelled to Bari, Italy, and then crossed the Adriatic Sea to the Byzantine Empire, in an armada commanded by Arnout II, Count of Aarschot. When Hugh entered Constantinople, he carried a Vexillum sancti Petri, a banner given to him by the pope, Hugh being the last such noble to carry the banner.
The army of Raymond of Saint-Gilles was one of the first to be formed after Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade. Raymond formed a Provençal army and left his County of Toulouse in October 1096, traveling over the land route. He was the only leader of a major army that did not swear an oath of fealty to Byzantine emperor Alexius I Komnenos.
The armies of Bohemond of Taranto, formed in 1097, include a major component of the First Crusade. He is regarded as the real leader of the First Crusade. He formed a second army in 1107 to defend Antioch but instead used it to attack the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, resulting in the Treaty of Devol, codifying Bohemond’s defeat. Runciman estimates that the first army included 500 cavalry and 3500 infantrymen and other estimates that the second army was at 34,000 personnel strength are likely greatly exaggerated.
Robert II of Flanders' army was formed shortly after that of his kinsman Godfrey of Bouillon, arriving in Constantinople considerably later. His wife Clementia of Burgundy was regent of Flanders in his absence. The known members of the army, mostly Flemish, included the ones listed below, as reported in histories of the First Crusade. Unless otherwise noted, references are to the on-line database of Riley-Smith, et al., and the hyperlinks therein provide details including original sources. The names below are also referenced in the Riley-Smith tome, Appendix I: Preliminary List of Crusaders. Those references are not shown unless they appear elsewhere in the text of the book. Articles that are hyperlinked to a more detailed article in this encyclopædia rely on the latter for references.
The army of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, left for the Holy Land on the First Crusade. Robert was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and brother to William Rufus, king of England. He was reportedly so poor that he often had to stay in bed for lack of clothes. In order to raise money for the crusade he mortgaged his duchy to his brother William II of England. His army joined the contingent of Robert II, Count of Flanders, and Stephen, Count of Blois.
Ilger Bigod was a Norman knight in the army of Bohemond of Taranto and constable of Tancred, Prince of Galilee. He fought with Bohemond's army in the First Crusade, not returning home until after 1099.
The armies of Count Stephen of Blois participated in both the First Crusade of 1096 and the Crusade of 1101. Stephen apparently fled the battlefield at the Siege of Antioch and returned home. He was coerced by his wife, Adela of Normandy, to form another army to return to the Holy Land in 1101, accompanied by Count Stephen I of Burgundy.
The army of William IX on the Crusade of 1101 was formed by William IX “the Troubador,” Duke of Aquitaine, to fight in the minor Crusade of 1101. His army was destroyed by the Turks at Heraclea. Defeated, he reached Antioch with only six companions still alive.
Baldwin Chauderon was a knight from Berry who was killed during the siege of Nicaea. It is unclear whether or not he belonged to any of the major armies of the First Crusade.
The following is an overview of the armies of First Crusade, including the armies of the European noblemen of the "Princes' Crusade", the Byzantine army, a number of Independent crusaders as well as the People's Crusade and the subsequent Crusade of 1101 and other European campaigns prior to the Second Crusade beginning in 1147.
Baldwinand Arnold(Ernoul) of Beauvais were brothers who participated in the First Crusade, although it is uncertain which army they were associated with. Their stories are recorded in the Chanson d'Antioche.
Corba of Thorigne, Lady of Amboise, daughter of Suplice I, beheaded for no known reason, and daughter-in-law of Fulk IV le Réchin, Count of Anjou. She inherited one of the three chateaux of Amboise.
The Crusade of 1129 or the Damascus Crusade was a military campaign of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with forces from the other crusader states and from western Europe against the Emirate of Damascus. The brainchild of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, the crusade failed to meet its military objectives. Its diplomatic preliminaries, however, secured the succession to the throne of Jerusalem and papal backing for the Knights Templar.
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