Lady Sybil's Choice: A Tale of the Crusades
*HISTORICAL APPENDIX.*
*I. GUY DE LUSIGNAN*
The history of Guy and Sybil, after the story leaves them, is a sad one.Raymond Count of Tripoli, who had fancied himself sure of the crownmatrimonial, never forgave either. He immediately entered into a secretalliance with Saladin, by which he promised to betray Guy into his handsin the next battle. On the fourth of July, 1187, Tripoli, who wasstandard-bearer, so behaved himself in battle that the King was takenprisoner. Sybil, in conjunction with the Patriarch Heraclius, heldJerusalem until the second of October, when she gave up the city toSaladin on terms including liberty of ransom to all who could afford it.The Queen now retired to Ascalon, within whose fortified walls she andher little daughters remained until 1189, when Guy's ransom was effectedon the hard terms that Sybil should capitulate at Ascalon, that Guyshould abdicate, and that he should go beyond sea. Guy, who had beenkept in chains a whole year at Damascus, consulted the clergy as to thenecessity of keeping faith with Saladin. They were all of the Roman,but unscriptural opinion, that no faith need be kept with a Paynim.Instead of abdicating and going abroad, Guy, with Sybil and thechildren, marched to Acre, which he invested, with a hundred thousandmen who had flocked to his standard. The Queen and Princesses werelodged at Turon, looking towards the sea. In 1190 King Philippe ofFrance arrived before Acre, and on June 10, 1191, King RichardCoeur-de-Lion; and at last, on July 12, Saladin gave up the city to theallied forces. But the pestilence had been very rife during the siege.Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury, and numbers of French and Englishnobles, died in the camp: and among others the hero-Queen, Sybil ofAnjou, and her two fragile children.
Raymond of Tripoli was dead also. He died in his sleep, unabsolved; andevidence of his having formally apostatized to Mahometanism was foundafter his death.
After thus taking "last leave of all he loved," Guy--brave, rash,impetuous Guy--appears to have become almost reckless. Of course, byright, Sybil was succeeded by her sister Isabel; but Guy still clung tohis title of King, and the privileges appurtenant to it, and disputedwith Conrado of Monferrato, the husband of Isabel, the right to thecustoms of the port of Acre. Conrado was an extremely quarrelsome man,and Guy's opposition seems to have been personally directed to him; foron his death (which of course Guy and Coeur-de-Lion were accused offorwarding) Guy readily acknowledged Isabel and her third husband, oncondition of receiving the island of Cyprus as compensation for all hisclaims. King Richard had sold Cyprus to the Templars, but he coolly tookit from them, and gave it to Guy, who, being apparently more honest ofthe two, paid a hundred thousand crowns to the Templars as compensation.This is the last that we hear of Guy de Lusignan, except the mere dateof his death, which occurred, according to different authorities, fromone to four years after the cession of Cyprus.
Few historical characters have had less justice done them by modernwriters, than Guy de Lusignan and Sybil his wife. In the first place,Guy is accused of having, in 1167-8, assassinated Patrick Earl ofSalisbury, in returning from a pilgrimage to Saint Iago de Compostella.King Henry II., we are told, was greatly enraged, and banished Guy fromPoitou, whereupon he assumed the cross, and set out for the Holy Land.Now the truth is that in 1167-8, it is scarcely possible that Guy couldbe above ten years old. Either it was another Guy de Lusignan, or theoutrage was committed by persons of whom the child Guy was the nominalhead. But all the circumstances tend to show that Guy's arrival in theHoly Land was little, if at all, before 1180, and that at that time hewas a very young man.
We next find Guy accused of such boundless ambition, that he not onlyinduced King Baldwin IV. to put all the affairs of the kingdom into hishands, but even to promise him the succession after his death. But whenBaldwin had bestowed upon Guy his sister and heir presumptive, Sybil,how could he either promise him the succession or lawfully deprive himof it? The reversion of the crown was hers. Baldwin did her a cruelinjustice, and committed an illegal act, when he passed her over, andabdicated in favour of her infant son.
Then, on the death of Baldwin V., we are actually told that Sybil, urgedby her ambitious husband, _usurped_ the crown. Usurped it from whom?Surely not from her own daughters!--surely not from her younger sister!Matthew of Westminster distinctly remarks that "there was none tosucceed but his mother Sybilla." Sybil merely took back her ownproperty, of which she had been unjustly deprived.
Again, with respect to her action at her coronation, poor Sybil comes inagain for her share of blame. She had no business, we are assured, tochoose Guy, who had already proved himself an unsatisfactory governor;and in the interest of the kingdom, she ought to have married some oneelse. In other words, she ought to have committed sin in the interestof her subjects!
Lastly, a wholesale charge of poisoning is brought against both Guy andSybil. Probabilities are thrown overboard. They are accused ofpoisoning young Baldwin V.; and Guy is charged with the murder of hiswife and children, though their death entirely destroyed his claim tothe royal title. The truth is, that in the twelfth century, any deathnot easily to be accounted for was always set down to poison: and thenearest relatives, totally irrespective of character, were alwayssuspected of having administered it. Men of Guy'sdisposition,--impulsive, rash, and generous even to a fault, loving andself-sacrificing,--are not usually in the habit of murdering those theylove best: and considered merely from a political point of view, thesimultaneous deaths of Sybil and her children were the worst calamitieswhich could have fallen upon Guy.
*II. THE ROYAL FAMILY OF JERUSALEM.*
Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem, eldest of the four daughters of BaldwinII., and Morsise of Armenia, _succeeded_ her father in 1131, and _diedin_ 1141 or 1144. She _married_--
Foulques V., Count of Anjou; _married_ 1128; _died_ at Acre, byaccident, November, 1142. [He had previously been married to Ermengardeof Maine, by whom he had four children,--Geoffrey Plantagenet; HelieCount of Maine; Sybil, Countess of Flanders; and Alice, Crown Princessof England.]
_Issue of Queen Melisende_:--
1. Baldwin III, _born_ 1129, _died_ Feb., 1162, without issue._Married_--
Theodora Comnena, daughter of Isaac I., Emperor of the East
2. Amaury I., _born_ 1132-6; _died_ July 11, 1173. _Married_--
(A) Agnes de Courtenay, daughter of Josceline, Count of Edessa:_divorced_.
(B) MARIA COMNENA, daughter or niece of Manuel I., Emperor of the East:living 1190. [Character imaginary.]
_Issue of Amaury I. By Agnes_:--
1. BALDWIN IV., the Leper; _born_ 1158; _abdicated_ 1183; _d._ March 16,1185. Never married.
2. SYBIL I., _crowned_ Sept., 1186; _died_ at Acre, during the siege,1190. [Character historical] _Married_--
(A) Guglielmo, Marquis of Monferrato: _died_ 1180.
(B) GUY DE LUSIGNAN: _mar._ 1183; _died_ September (Fabyan) 1193 (ib.)1194 (Moreri, Woodward and Coates Chron. Cycl.) 1195 (Roger de Hoveden)1196 (Anderson). [Character historical]
_By Maria_:--
3. ISABEL I. [Character historical] _Married_--
(A) HOMFROY DE TOURS: _mar. circ._ 1183; _divorced_ 1190; _died_ 1199.[The legality of the divorce was very doubtful, and caused manysubsequent counter-claims to the throne.]
(B) Conrado, Marquis of Monferrato, Count of Tyre: _mar._ 1190;_assassinated_ at Tyre, Apr. 27, 1192.
(C) Henri, Count of Champagne: _mar._ 1193, _died_ at Acre, by accident,1196-7.
(D) AMAURY DE LUSIGNAN, brother of Guy: _mar._ 1197, _d._ 1205.[Character imaginary.]
_Issue of Sybil I. By Guglielmo_:--
1. BALDWIN V., _born_ 1180, _crowned_ Nov. 20, 1183; _died_ at Acre,1186. [Character imaginary.]
_By Guy_:--
2, 3. DAUGHTERS, died with mother, during siege of Acre, 1190. [Somewriters ascribe four daughters to Sybil.]
_Issue of Isabel I. By
Conrado_:--
1. Marie, or Violante, I. Married--
Jean de Brienne, third son of Erard II. Count of Brienne, and Agnes deMontbeliard; Emperor of the East, 1233; _died_ Mar. 21, 1237.
_By Henri_:--
2. Alix I., _died cir._ 1246. Married--
(A) HUGUES DE LUSIGNAN, son of Amaury de Lusignan and Eschine d'Ibellin:_died_ 1219.
(B) Bohemond IV., Prince of Antioch: _divorced_.
(C) Raoul, Count of Soissons: _died circ._ 1246.
3. Philippa, _mar._ 1214, Erard de Brienne, Lord of Rameru; living 1247.
_By Amaury_:--
4. Sybil, _mar._ Leon I., King of Armenia.
5. Robert, Abbot of St. Michael
6. Amaury, _died_ young.
_Issue of Marie I_.
Violante, _mar._ at Brindisi, 1223-5, Friedrich II., Emperor of Germany:_died_ 1228-9.
From this marriage the Emperors of Germany and Austria derive the emptytitle of Kings of Jerusalem. They have no right to it, since theposterity of Violante became extinct in the second generation. TheKings of Italy, on the contrary, have a right to the title, beingdescendants of Anna of Cyprus, the heir general of Alix I.