Reigning Among Conspiracy

By Julio César Martínez Romero

On July 14, 1099, the Crusaders took Jerusalem and founded the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. Not even a century had passed when, on Friday, October 2, 1187, Saladin recaptured the Holy City for Islam. Between those two dates, there was a kingdom ruled by Christians in Palestine.

Immersed in a Muslim world, influenced by the Byzantine Empire, subject to a constant flow of crusaders from Europe, the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem was turned into a melting pot of cultures and ideas. Soon the flexibility and tolerance of other cultures prevalent in the kingdom began to clash with the intransigence of the newcomers.

Due to the constant wars and unhealthy conditions faced during military campaigns, noblewomen became widows at a very young age. Being rich and powerful, they had many suitors and invariably chose the most attractive candidate. Thus, their daughters were even more beautiful and more desirable and, in their turn, married the finest crusaders who arrived. In a spiraling vortex of beauty and diversity of ideas, a kingdom of conspiracy and intrigue was founded.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palibrio
• Release date: Apr 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781506503202

Julio César Martínez Romero

Teaching mathematics is my life. I have been a mathematics teacher since 1985. I have taught students in their 5th and 6th grades of elementary education, in junior high school, in high school, in bachelor and doctorate levels. I have been teaching Differential Equations at the Undergraduate Program on Genomic Sciences of the National University of Mexico since 2006.

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Copyright © 2015 by Julio César Martínez Romero.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015906129

ISBN:   Hardcover    978-1-5065-0322-6

            Softcover       978-1-5065-0321-9

            eBook            978-1-5065-0320-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Rev. date: 20/04/2015

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Chronicles of a Kingdom beyond the Sea

BOOK I

Geoffrey Tells us about Matilda, his Wife

Geoffrey Tells us about Fulk of Anjou, his Father

Princess Alice of Antioch Tells us about her Brother-in-law, Fulk of Anjou

Prince Baldwin III Tells us the Tale of the Tortoise and the Hare

The Duke of Poitiers tells us about Princess Alice of Antioch

Baldwin III Tells us about Reynald of Châtillon

Count Raymond Tells us about Princess Odierni

Princess Odierni Tells us about Count Raymond

Raymond III Tells us about Manuel Comnenus, Emperor of Byzantium

Prince Amalric Tells us about his Mother Queen Melisande of Jerusalem

Prince Amalric Tells us about Agnes

Baldwin IV Tells us about the First Kings

Shawar Explains to us What Happened in the Caliphate of Cairo

BOOK II

Baldwin IV Tells us the Tale of a Small Kingdom

Sultan Saladin Tells us about Baldwin of Ibelin

Sibylla Tells us about Baldwin of Ibelin

Humphrey of Toron Tells us about his Wedding at Kerak

Sultan Saladin Tells us about Reynald of Châtillon

Sultan Saladin Tells us about the End of a Kingdom

Humphrey of Toron Tells us about King Richard, Lion Heart

Humphrey de Toron Tells us about Prince Baldwin IV

Sultan Saladin Tells us about Baldwin IV, a Legendary King

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author thanks Gilles Figuier-Huttin, Sergio I. Carrera Chávez, Lorna Blackmore, and Ismael Alvarez León for their valuable comments and reviews. The author also thanks Noelle Ann Mabry and Gilles Figuier-Huttin for kindly appearing in the cover photograph.

In this collection of monologues, the role of Saladin was written for Gilles Figuier-Huttin.

The cover photograph was taken by Ron Polk.

CHRONICLES OF A KINGDOM BEYOND THE SEA

I

In 1099 the Crusaders besieged Jerusalem, took the city, massacred its inhabitants and founded the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Over the decades, the people of this kingdom built forts and castles. They dwelt in an oriental world and built dynasties that grew more and more tolerant of religious diversity. This book is a collection of portraits of these characters, who on the theater stage of Palestine in the XII century, interpreted a play quickly forgotten by history.

II

Women in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem frequently became widows in their youth, usually before they were 20. Because of military campaigns, men died at an early age, not only in battle or as the result of their wounds becoming infected, but also because of the quick decay of supplies in the extreme temperatures of the desert. Food poisoning was common and lethal. For these widows the losses were not irreplaceable, dead husbands were substituted by young crusaders, who were constantly arriving from Europe.

Among aristocrats, the firstborn inherited everything, the youngest were usually sent to monasteries or convents to lead a religious life and the rest of the children, born between the first and last, were prone to engage in intrigue. The nobles usually sent these middle children to the Holy Land so they would not stay at home conspiring against their own parents or against their older brothers. In other words, the new arrivals to the Holy Land were not heirs, and they could only offer their physical beauty to the ladies of the local aristocracy. The women from beyond the sea were not interested either in wealth, or in the hierarchy of those men who arrived from Europe, but only in their physical beauty. On the other hand, the men they married did not care for the virginity or virtuous reputation of the ladies. Only their beauty and political position mattered. In a few generations, beautiful women marrying handsome men culminated in a kingdom characterized by the extraordinary beauty of its inhabitants.

Moreover, a woman was usually the widow of more than one husband, and as a result, she acquired greater sexual experience. A beautiful, sexually experienced woman possessing wealth and political power had many suitors and invariably she chose the most handsome. Thus, her daughters were even more beautiful, more desirable and could afford selecting the most attractive young man who arrived. Women were the centerpiece of this spiral of beauty, sexual experience, wealth and power. For this reason, the attitude of women in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem toward sexuality was very different from that of other XII Century European Catholic women. The history of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem abounds with smart, powerful, extremely beautiful and brave women, who were not afraid to use their sexuality to achieve their ends.

BOOK I

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GEOFFREY TELLS US ABOUT MATILDA, HIS WIFE

I

If you think that you have met controlling, self-centered women, it is because you have not met my wife. I am 22 years old and for the last eight years, I have been married to Matilda. She is the easiest person to understand in the whole world. You only need to keep in mind that Matilda really believes that she is perfect. She did not just suddenly acquire this peculiar condition, she grew up with it. Since her childhood, her incredible beauty made her believe that she was also intellectually, spiritually and emotionally perfect.

Please indulge me and let me tell you more about her. A few minutes of your life are nothing compared to the eight years of my marriage, and if I have survived, surely you will too.

In the court of King Henry I of England four boys and a girl lived, studied and played together. Three of them were there because they were the children of the King. William and Matilda were legitimate, and Robert was a bastard. The other two were the sons of the King’s sister, Stephen of Blois and his brother nicknamed The Little Monk. The five were the grandchildren of William the Conqueror. Matilda, the only girl, hated the four boys.

Matilda was extremely beautiful and intelligent, but she was also arrogant and disdainful. It was a relief when she was told that she would be sent to Germany. The reason for her trip was the great honor and distinction of becoming an Empress.

The court of Germany had a refinement that the court of England could not dream of. Matilda soon made the acquaintance of the princes and princesses of her new homeland, and once the marriage took place, her privileges as the Empress were unthinkable. However, the dream did not last long. The Emperor died and Matilda had not borne him a son. Although her husband was dead, she wanted to stay in the German court. However, her protests and those of her friends, princes and princesses, were in vain. Her father, King Henry, made her return to England. William, Matilda’s brother, had drowned in a shipwreck and England was thus deprived of the heir to the crown. The lineage of Henry had now only one legitimate candidate, Matilda.

Apparently, for Matilda a life of disappointments had just begun. First of all her husband, the Emperor, had died. Then, her father forced her to return to England. What was the purpose behind this? Matilda, the 25 year old German Empress, was to marry me, Geoffrey, a lanky 14 year old teenager, the son of the Count of Anjou. How could they ask her to marry me, an insolent and impudent youngster? In Germany there was a protocol for everything. What did I know of protocols?

The very moment she saw me, she had already made up her mind about me, and she knew that I did not care that she was the empress dowager. For her, it was inconceivable that once we were married I knew no respect or control, and I demanded her to fulfill her conjugal duties. The truth is that I was at the peak of the awakening of my manhood and there she was, so perfectly beautiful and mine. I simply did not care that she had been the empress of Germany, or that she was the most arrogant, self-adoring woman in the world. How on earth could Matilda’s extraordinary intelligence, education and refinement matter at all? All I wanted was to get into bed with her.

Matilda said that she was afraid to be by herself with me. It is true that I developed a great agility and dexterity, and in seconds I could unbutton all my clothes and I would stand stark naked with my hands caressing the Empress’s body. She complained that my impatient young fingers tickled her. She protested that I showed neither modesty nor dignity. As I jumped around her naked, it amused me to tell her that I had an energy that the old emperor of Germany had not known. Not until then Matilda started to understand that becoming pregnant with the Emperor would have taken more than his respectful attitude.

I must admit that I could undress my wife with amazing speed. She tried to cover her naked body with her hands. I tickled her, she resisted, but inevitably, she ended up lying on her back, on our bed, with me clinging onto her. Soon she started to like the whole routine and complained that it ended as quickly as it had begun and then I fell asleep. It is true, it did not last long, but it was very frequent. At dawn, my fingers woke Matilda again.

Everybody sweats, especially after a lot of night activity. When you are a teenager, you never get enough of this. During the winter, you are never in the mood of bathing. After a few weeks a certain odor starts surrounding you, and it never leaves you. I was sometimes inconsiderate. I frequently woke up at night and just felt that I wanted to do it again. I did not care if Matilda was sleeping pleasantly. She would scream, Not again, please! I cannot stand your sweaty, smelly body climbing over me, please no more. Luckily for Matilda, she soon became pregnant. In March 1133 she gave birth to Henry, our firstborn. Our second son, Geoffrey, was born in June 1134 and in August 1135, William was born.

II

Suddenly, King Henry I of England died, not before appointing Matilda as his successor. While our coronation as Queen and King of England was being prepared, the silliest conflict arose in court. Robert, Matilda’s bastard brother, and their cousin Stephen of Blois could not agree on who had a higher rank and, thus, who should take