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- Godfrey of Bouillon (1061?-1100), French nobleman, soldier, and leader of the First Crusade (see Crusades). In 1082 Godfrey was granted the title of duke of Lower Lorraine by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and had his capital at Bouillon in the Ardennes region of France. Godfrey and his brother Baldwin I, later king of Jerusalem, led an army from the Low Countries in the First Crusade. Arriving in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) in December 1096, he succeeded in establishing relations with the Eastern Roman Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. In 1099 Godfrey participated in the siege and capture of Jerusalem. He was offered the title of king of Jerusalem, but refused it for religious reasons and was instead named Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. In August 1099, when Egyptian forces moved to attack Jerusalem, Godfrey defeated them at Ascalon (now Ashquelon, Israel). As the first Christian ruler of Jerusalem, Godfrey later became the hero of many songs, legends, and literary works, including several of the French medieval epics known as Chansons de Geste and of the epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1575; translated in 1884), by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso.
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Godfrey of Bouillon (c. 1060-1100), Godefroy de Bouillon in French) was a leader of the First Crusade. He was the second son of Eustace II, count of Boulogne, and Ida, daughter of Duke Godfrey II of Lower Lorraine.
Early Life
He was designated by Duke Godfrey II as his successor, but in 1076 Emperor Henry IV gave him only the mark of Antwerp, which was part of the lordship of Bouillon. He fought for Henry, however, both on the Elster and in the siege of Rome, and in 1082 was given the duchy of Lower Lorraine.
Lorraine was heavily influenced by Cluniac reformers, and Godfrey seems to have been a pious man. Although he had served under Henry IV against the Papacy, he almost literally sold all that he had and joined the crusade after the Council of Clermont in 1095.
First Crusade
Along with his brothers Eustace and Baldwin of Boulogne (the future Baldwin I of Jerusalem) he led an army from Lorraine, some 40,000 strong, along "Charlemagne's road," starting in August of 1096. After some difficulties in Hungary, where he was unable to stop his men from pillaging fellow Christians, he arrived in Constantinople in November. He was the first of the crusaders to arrive, and came into conflict with Byzantine emperor Alexius I, who wanted Godfrey to swear an oath of loyalty to the Byzantine Empire. Godfrey eventually swore the oath in January of 1097, as did most of the other leaders when they arrived.
Until the beginning of 1099 Godfrey was a minor figure in the crusade, while Baldwin, Bohemund of Taranto, Raymond IV of Toulouse, and Tancred of Hauteville determining the course of events. Godfrey's only significant achievement during this part of the crusade was helping relieve Bohemund's army at Dorylaeum after he had been surrounded by the Seljuk Turks under Kilij Arslan I. Godfrey's army, however, was also surrounded, until another group of crusaders under Adhemar of Le Puy attacked the Seljuk camp.
In 1099, after the capture of Antioch, the crusaders were divided on what to do next. Most of the foot soldiers wanted to continue south to Jerusalem, but Raymond, by this time considered to be the leader of the crusade, hesitated to continue the march. Godfrey, who seems to have been influenced more by religious motives than politics, convinced Raymond to lead the army to Jerusalem. Godfrey was active in the siege of the city, and on July 15, 1099, he was one of the first to enter the city. On July 22, when Raymond refused to be named king of Jerusalem, Godfrey was elected in his place.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
However, Godfrey refused to be crowned "king" in the city where Christ had died. Instead he took the title Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri, "advocate" or "defender" of the Holy Sepulchre. During his short reign of a year Godfrey had to defend the new Kingdom of Jerusalem against Fatimids of Egypt, who were defeated at Ascalon in August. He also faced opposition from Dagobert of Pisa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who had allied with Raymond. Raymond prevented Godfrey from capturing Ascalon itself after the battle.
In 1100 Godfrey was able to impose his authority over Acre, Ascalon, Arsuf, Jaffa, and Caesarea. Meanwhile the struggle with Dagobert continued; Godfrey and Bohemund preferred Arnulf of Chocques as Patriarch, but Dagobert wanted to turn the kingdom into a theocracy with the pope as its leader. Dagobert was able to force Godfrey into a truce, giving Jerusalem and Jaffa to the church if the secular kingdom could be moved to Cairo. However, Godfrey died in July without having conquered Egypt, and the question of who should rule Jerusalem was still unanswered. The supporters of a secular monarchy called on Godfrey's brother Baldwin to take the crown. Dagobert backed down and reluctantly crowned Baldwin as king on December 25, 1100.
Godfrey in History and Legend
Because he had been the first ruler in Jerusalem Godfrey was idolized in later stories. He was depicted as the leader of the crusades, the king of Jerusalem, and the legislator who laid down the assizes of Jerusalem, and he was included among the ideal knights known as the Nine Worthies. In reality he was none of these things. Adhemar, Raymond, and Bohemund were the leaders of the crusade; Baldwin was first true king; the assizes were the result of a gradual development.
Godfrey's role in the crusade was described by Albert of Aix, the anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum, and Raymund of Agiles. In fictional literature, Godfrey was the hero of two French chansons de geste dealing with the crusade, the Chanson d'Antioche and the Chanson de Jerusalem. His family and early life became the subject of legends as well. His grandfather was said to be Helias, knight of the Swan, one of the brothers whose adventures were told in the fairy tale of "The Seven Swans" (a variation of the Lohengrin legend).
Adapted from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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1060 - 1100 (40 years)
d. 1076 (Age 58 years)