William of Tyre, HIstory of the Otrtemer

 4. Baldwin IV Becomes King of Jerusalem 

[Adapted from Brundage] The union of Egypt under Saladin with Nur ad-Din's empire presented an obvious and immediate peril to the Latin states of the East. Attempts to convince the magnates of Western Europe of the urgency of the threat were unsuccessful and, although an attempt was also made to bind the Latin states closer to Byzantium, the final outcome of these negotiations is unknown. The power of Saladin as ruler of Egypt produced tensions, too, within Nur ad-Din's empire. Relations between Saladin and his nominal overlord worsened steadily during the first five years after Saladin's rise to power in Egypt. It seemed, almost, as if Saladin and Nur-ad-Din would be at one another's throats, thus saving the Latin states from the peril of imminent attack. Before an open break between the two Moslem leaders occurred, however, Nur-ad-Din died in 1174. This event changed the whole situation. Furthermore it seemed as if the empire which Nur ad-Din had created would soon disintegrate into a number of warring, bickering, rival states, Before King Amalric could intervene to take advantage of this situation, however, he died, leaving his son, Baldwin IV, to inherit the Latin Kingdom. 

The sixth of the Latin kings of Jerusalem was the lord Baldwin IV, son of the lord King Amalric of illustrious memory and of the Countess Agnes, daughter of the younger Count Jocelin of Edessa. . . . While Baldwin was still a boy, about nine years old, and while I was still Archdeacon of Tyre, King Amalric put him in my care, after asking me many times and with a promise of his favor, to teach him and to instruct him in-the liberal arts. [William probably became Baldwin's tutor in 1170] While he was in my hands, I took constant care of him, as is fitting with a king's son, and I both carefully instructed him in literary studies and also watched over the formation of his character. 

It so happened that once when he was playing with some other noble boys who were with him, they began pinching one another with their fingernails on the hands and arms, as playful boys will do. The others evinced their pain with yells, but, although his playmates did not spare him, Baldwin bore the pain altogether too patiently, as if be did not feel it. When this had happened several times, it was reported to me. At first I thought that this happened because of his endurance, not because of insensitivity. Then I called him and began to ask what was happening. At last I discovered that about half of his right hand and arm were numb, so that he did not feel pinches or even bites there. I began to have doubts, as I recalled the words of the wise man: "It is certain that an insensate member is far from healthy and that be who does not feel sick is in danger." [Hippocrates] 

I reported all this to his father. Physicians were consulted and prescribed repeated formentations, anointings, and even poisonous drugs to improve his condition, but in vain. For, as we later understood more fully as time passed, and as we made more comprehensive observations, this was the beginning of an incurable disease. I cannot keep my eyes dry while speaking of it. For as he began to reach the age of puberty it became apparent that he was suffering from that most terrible disease, leprosy. Each day he grew more ill. The extremities and the face were most affected, so that the hearts of his faithful men were touched by compassion when they looked at him. 

Baldwin was adept at literary studies. Daily he grew more promising and developed a more loving disposition. He was handsome for his age and he was quick to learn to ride and handle horses-more so than his ancestors. He had a tenacious memory and loved to talk. He was economical, but he well remembered both favors and injuries. He resembled his father, not only in his face, but in his whole appearance. He was also like his father in his walk and in the timbre of his voice. He bad a quick mind, but his speech was slow. He was, like his father, an avid listener to history and he was very willing to follow good advice. 

Baldwin was scarcely thirteen years old when his father died. He had an elder sister named Sibylla, born of the same mother. She was raised in the convent of St. Lazarus at Bethany by Lady Ivetta, the abbess of the convent, who was her father's maternal aunt. When Baldwin's father died, all the princes of the Kingdom, both ecclesiastical and secular, assembled. All were in agreement as to what they wanted and Baldwin was anointed and crowned solemnly and in the usual fashion in the Church of the Lord's Sepulcher on the fifteenth of July, four days after his father's death, by the Lord Amalric of good memory, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the presence of the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church.

 Source: William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum, XXI, 1-2, Patrologia Latina 201, 813-15, translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 141-43 Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover he gave permission for use of his translations.