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Godfrey of Bouillon

Duke of Lorraine, first Latin ruler of Jerusalem

Duke from Lorraine and one of the leaders of the First Crusade. His men were among the first over the wall of Jerusalem in July 1099, and eight days later the leaders chose him to rule the city.

Anna Komnene describes Godfrey as rich and proud of his lineage, says that he had sold his land to make the journey, and tells how he took the oath demanded by Alexios I Komnenos only after a fight outside Constantinople (Anna Komnene, Alexiad 10.5) (Anna Komnene, Alexiad 10.9).

At Jerusalem the Gesta Francorum puts him and his brother Eustace in the siege tower from which the wall was first crossed (Gesta Francorum 10 (the fall of Jerusalem)). Eight days after the capture the leaders chose him as head of the city (Gesta Francorum 10 (after the capture)). Raymond of Aguilers, who calls him the duke of Lorraine and names him among the first to enter the city (Raymond of Aguilers, History the Frankish victory), says that the princes first urged Count Raymond of Saint-Gilles to accept the kingdom, and that he answered that he shrank from the name of king in that city (Raymond of Aguilers, History the choice of a ruler). The letter sent to the pope that September calls Godfrey, “by the grace of God”, defender of the Holy Sepulchre (Letter of the crusade leaders to the pope (1099)).

In the timeline

  1. 1095 to 1099, firm date
    The First Crusade

    In 1095 Pope Urban II calls the knights of the West to go east in arms for the remission of their sins. Four years later the armies storm Jerusalem and massacre its defenders and inhabitants, as their own writers report.

Primary sources

Alexiad

Anna Komnene · c. 1148 · Greek

Gesta Francorum

c. 1100 · Latin

History of the Franks Who Captured Jerusalem

Raymond of Aguilers · c. 1099–1105 · Latin

Letter of the Crusade Leaders to the Pope

Daimbert of Pisa, Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Saint-Gilles · September 1099 · Latin

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