Central Catholic Nations (saints done)
France
Italy
Papal States
Venice
Crusaders
*Mahap you could add the Latin
Kingdom of Jerusalem? Or is the Crusaders the Kingdom of Jerusalem?
Kingdom of Jerusalem:
Nobles:
Baldwin II de Bourcq, aka
Baldwin II de Jérusalem (c 1070- died August 21, 1131) second king of Jerusalem, elected to the kingship on the death of his cousin. He defended the recently established kingdom against Egypt and Syria, and took the bold step in recognizing his daughter Melisende as his legal heir, which may have inspiried Henry I of England to designate Maude as his own heir. (Though Queen Urraca of Castille was crowned Queen in 1109, on the death of her father. This may have also inspired them to designate daugters to succeed them).
William of Tyre described Baldwin as "a devout and God-fearing man, notable for his loyalty and for his great experience in military matters," and said that he was nicknamed "the Thorny" (cognominatus est Aculeus). Ibn al-Qalanisi, who calls him "Baldwin the Little" (Baghdawin al-ru'aiuis) to distinguish him from Baldwin I, remarked that "after him there was none left amongst them possessed of sound judgment and capacity to govern." Melisende, by law the heir to the kingdom, succeeded her father with Fulk as her consort. The new queen and king were crowned on September 14.
Mélisende de Bourcq, aka
Mélisende de Jérusalem, (1105 – September 11, 1161), eldest daugter of King Baldwin II. Baldwin II raised his daughter to be his successor and she is known to have been well educated (some rival courtiers misunderstood her forthright nature). For the first five years after she became queen her husband belittled her legal authority in public and accused her of infedility with her cosin. She reasserted her legal authority in a palice coup and William of Tyre wrote that Fulk "did not attempt to take the initiative, even in trivial matters, without [Melisende's] knowledge". She is known to have founded a convent and given much to the Latin Chruch of Jerusalem, and funded the creation of the Melisende Psalter. Also, she sponsored many building projects in Jerusalem itelself.
William of Tyre, writing on Melisende's 30-year reign, wrote that "she was a very wise woman, fully experienced in almost all affairs of state business, who completely triumphed over the handicap of her sex so she could take charge of important affairs...", and "striving to emulate the glory of the best princes, Melisende ruled the kingdom with such ability that she was rightly considered to have equalled her predecessors in that regard.
Baldwin III d'Anjou, aka
Baldwin III de Jérusalem, (1130 – February 10, 1162 died in battle) Baldwin III was the eldest son of Queen Melisende, Baldwin and was an effective military commander for Jerusalem. Around 1150 Baldwin refortified Gaza to place some pressure on the nearby Egyptian outpost of Ascalon, and in 1153 Baldwin successfully besieged and captured Ascalon itself. Through-out his rule he led campaigns in Syria and Egypt. He also spent much of his spare time reading history and was knowledgeable in the
jus consuetudinarium of the kingdom, and is further descibed as friendly to people of all classes, and "voluntarily offered an opportunity of conversing with him to anyone who wished it or whom he casually met. If an audience was requested, he did not refuse it."
Baldwin IV d'Anjou aka
Baldwin IV de Jérusalem, and
Baldwin the Leper, (1161 – 1185), son of King Amelric I de Jérusalem and nephew of Baldwin III, grandson of Queen Mélisende. Baldwin often overcame his deteriorating handicap of lepersy and was a source of insperation for the kingdom. A fictionalised version of Baldwin is played by Edward Norton in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven. This portrayal succeeds in conveying his physical courage and dedication to his kingdom.
Philosophers (Great Scientists),
William of Tyre (c. 1130 – 1185) was archbishop of Tyre and a chronicler of the Crusades and the Middle Ages. William himself reports that he wrote an account of the Lateran Council which he attended, as well as a Historia or Gesta orientalium principum dealing with the history of the Holy Land from time of Muhammad until 1184. However, neither of these works have survived.
His great work is a chronicle of twenty-three unfinished books. The work begins with the conquest of Syria by Umar, but most of it deals with the advent of the First Crusade and the subsequent political history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Although he used older works, including chronicles of the First Crusade such as Fulcher of Chartres and other, unnamed sources, the work is also valuable as a primary source itself. It was widely translated and circulated throughout Europe after William's death. James of Vitry and Matthew Paris had copies of it and used it in their own chronicles. A translation into Old French was particularly well-circulated and had many anonymous additions made to it in the 13th century, including the so-called chronicle of Ernoul; one Renaissance author translated the Old French version back into Latin, unaware that a Latin original already existed. A Middle English translation of the Old French version was made by William Caxton in the 15th century
