#latin kingdom of jerusalem

[aurianavaloria]

The final result of the genealogy project I mentioned previously.

*faints*

For personal research purposes, I've compiled the immediate relations of the royal family of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem at about the year 1181AD. I'm posting it here in case anyone else finds it useful for their own research.

Do take note of a few things, however:

I wasn't able to put absolutely everyone on it - the tree is difficult enough to read as it is, so I only included those I considered relevant to the local politics; for example, the vast majority of the Komnenos Dynasty is left out, but those listed are all related in some form or fashion.

Likewise, most relations extending to Western Europe are also excluded (IE: Aimery and Guy's other siblings).

I've provided a key to help read it as well as color-coded annotations where appropriate regarding state relations/major houses. Do note that the persons labeled as "deceased" are deceased by 1181. Several dates are unknown, however - no death date was provided for Countess Beatrice de Saone, so I didn't mark her as deceased, even though it is probable that she is by that date.

Be sure to follow the marriage lines closely. There are several cases of second and even third marriages. The marriage ties are especially intriguing in regards to the controversial Ibelins...

Andronikos I is highlighted differently because... he's Andronikos. Seriously, read up on him sometime if you haven't yet. He's... something.

Finally, I've also included the dynastic coats of arms when available (mostly from wikipedia). Some of these arms are different between the European and Levantine family branches, as well as different from attributed arms given in later centuries. An example of this is the arms of de Lusignan, which appeared as shown on the chart until Richard the Lionheart granted a red rampant lion charge on top of it later on. The arms of the Jerusalem cadet branch of the House of Anjou (d'Anjou-Jerusalem) are debated at this point, so I've just given the ruling family the later-known arms of the kingdom. Makes it easier to follow the path of the crown.

Obviously, you'll need to view it in a new tab/window to get all the details. Some of the words/names also bleed over into other lines here and there, but that's just the way the tree generator smashed them together.

[suzannahnatters]

So here's one of the coolest things that has happened to me as a Tolkien nut and an amateur medievalist. It's also impacted my view of the way Tolkien writes women. Here's Carl Stephenson in MEDIEVAL FEUDALISM, explaining the roots of the ceremony of knighthood: "In the second century after Christ the Roman historian Tacitus wrote an essay which he called Germania, and which has remained justly famous. He declares that the Germans, though divided into numerous tribes, constitute a single people characterised by common traits and a common mode of life. The typical German is a warrior. [...] Except when armed, they perform no business, either private or public. But it is not their custom that any one should assume arms without the formal approval of the tribe. Before the assembly the youth receives a shield and spear from his father, some other relative, or one of the chief men, and this gift corresponds to the toga virilis among the Romans--making him a citizen rather than a member of a household" (pp 2-3). Got it?

Remember how Tolkien was a medievalist who based his Rohirrim on Anglo-Saxon England, which came from those Germanic tribes Tacitus was talking about? Stephenson argues that the customs described by Tacitus continued into the early middle ages eventually giving rise to the medieval feudal system. One of these customs was the gift of arms, which transformed into the ceremony of knighthood: "Tacitus, it will be remembered, describes the ancient German custom by which a youth was presented with a shield and a spear to mark his attainment of man's estate. What seems to the be same ceremony reappears under the Carolingians. In 791, we are told, Charlemagne caused Prince Louis to be girded with a sword in celebration of his adolescence; and forty-seven years later Louis in turn decorated his fifteen-year-old son Charles "with the arms of manhood, i.e., a sword." Here, obviously, we may see the origin of the later adoubement, which long remained a formal investiture with arms, or with some one of them as a symbol. Thus the Bayeux Tapestry represents the knighting of Earl Harold by William of Normandy under the legend: Hic Willelmus dedit Haroldo arma (Here William gave arms to Harold). [...] Scores of other examples are to be found in the French chronicles and chansons de geste, which, despite much variation of detail, agree on the essentials. And whatever the derivation of the words, the English expression "dubbing to knighthood" must have been closely related to the French adoubement" (pp 47-48.)

In its simplest form, according to Stephenson, the ceremony of knighthood included "at most the presentation of a sword, a few words of admonition, and the accolade." OK. So what does this have to do with Tolkien and his women? AHAHAHAHA I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED. First of all, let's agree that Tolkien, a medievalist, undoubtedly was aware of all the above. Second, turn with me in your copy of The Lord of the Rings to chapter 6 of The Two Towers, "The King of the Golden Hall", when Theoden and his councillors agree that Eowyn should lead the people while the men are away at war. (This, of course, was something that medieval noblewomen regularly did: one small example is an 1178 letter from a Hospitaller knight serving in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem which records that before marching out to the battle of Montgisard, "We put the defence of the Tower of David and the whole city in the hands of our women".) But in The Lord of the Rings, there's a little ceremony.

"'Let her be as lord to the Eorlingas, while we are gone.' 'It shall be so,' said Theoden. 'Let the heralds announce to the folk that the Lady Eowyn will lead them!' Then the king sat upon a seat before his doors and Eowyn knelt before him and received from him a sword and a fair corselet."

I YELLED when I realised what I was reading right there. You see, the king doesn't just have the heralds announce that Eowyn is in charge. He gives her weapons.

Theoden makes Eowyn a knight of the Riddermark.

Not only that, but I think this is a huge deal for several reasons. That is, Tolkien knew what he was doing here.

From my reading in medieval history, I'm aware of women choosing to fight and bear arms, as well as becoming military leaders while the men are away at some war or as prisoners. What I haven't seen is women actually receiving knighthood. Anyone could fight as a knight if they could afford the (very pricy) horse and armour, and anyone could lead a nation as long as they were accepted by the leaders. But you just don't see women getting knighted like this.

Tolkien therefore chose to write a medieval-coded society, Rohan, where women arguably had greater equality with men than they did in actual medieval societies.

I think that should tell us something about who Tolkien was as a person and how he viewed women - perhaps he didn't write them with equal parity to men (there are undeniably more prominent male characters in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, at least, than female) but compared to the medieval societies that were his life's work, and arguably even compared to the society he lived in, he was remarkably egalitarian.

I think it should also tell us something about the craft of writing fantasy.

No, you don't have to include gut wrenching misogyny and violence against women in order to write "realistic" medieval-inspired fantasy.

Tolkien's fantasy worlds are DEEPLY informed by medieval history to an extent most laypeople will never fully appreciate. The attitudes, the language, the ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS use of medieval military tactics...heck, even just the way that people travel long distances on foot...all of it is brilliantly medieval.

The fact that Theoden bestows arms on Eowyn is just one tiny detail that is deeply rooted in medieval history. Even though he's giving those arms to a woman in a fantasy land full of elves and hobbits and wizards, it's still a wonderfully historically accurate detail.

Of course, I've ranted before about how misogyny and sexism wasn't actually as bad in medieval times as a lot of people today think. But from the way SOME fantasy authors talk, you'd think that historical accuracy will disappear in a puff of smoke if every woman in the dragon-infested fantasy land isn't being traumatised on the regular.

Tolkien did better. Be like Tolkien.

[devilmen-collector]

Origin of the names of the 7 kingdoms of Hell

Ever wonder where do the names of the kingdoms (or regions) of Hell come from? Let's find out in this trivia post :3

WARNING, this post contains religious theme. If you feel comfortable, please ignore this.

Gehenna

"Gehenna", in the Bible and in real life, was originally the name of the valley of Hinnom, outside of the city of Jerusalem. In this valley, many committed the gruesome sin of sacrificing children to the god Moloch. Because of this sin, the valley was cursed by the Jews and its name was used to call the final punishing place of the reprobate. In Christianity, "Gehenna" is used to designate the place where all the demons and the damned human will thrown in at the Last Judgement, "the lake of fire", "the unquenchable fire".

Tartaros

"Tartaros", or Tartarus, was originally the term to describe the abyss of torment and suffering for the wicked and the Titans in Greek mythology.

In the 4th century BC, Greek culture and language were spread to all Eastern Mediterranean countries by the conquest of Alexander the Great. Greek became the common language in these countries and remained so for many centuries. The New Testament of the Bible was written in Greek. The term "Tartaros" was adopted by Christianity to describe Hell. Although "Tartaros" doesn't technically appear in the Bible, the associated verb tartaroō ("throw to Tartaros") does. (The verb itself is a shortened form of another verb with similar meaning kata-tartaroō ("throw down to Tartaros").

In the Bible, Tartaros is the place where fallen angels are chained to wait for judgement.

Hades

The name of the underworld in Greek mythology. It was also adopted by Christianity and used to describe Hell. However, different from Gehenna and Tartaros, Hades is a little bit complicated.

Before the work of redemption was completed in Jesus's death and resurrection, the gate of Heaven was closed. So when a someone died, that person would go to Hell (Hades) ragardless of good or bad. However, in Hades, there was "a great chasm", according to the Bible, separating the good and the bad. The good people either didn't suffer or was purified of their venial sins, while the bad people on the other side really did suffer. No one from "the good side" could cross to the other side, and vice versa.

After Jesus died, his soul descended to Hades and released the just who were detained in Hades and brought them to Heaven, while leaving the damned on the other side of the chasm, waiting for the Last Judgement, after which, both Hades and the wicked in it will be thrown into Gehenna "the lake of fire", for eternal punishment.

Abyssos

The name "Abyssos" comes from "abyss", which is also a word to describe Hell. The precise word "Abyssos" does not exist in the Bible or mythology, as far as I know.

Paradise Lost

This country shares its name with the famous work written by the poet John Milton in the 17th century. The poem Paradise Lost is a dramatized version that retells the story of the fallen angels and their role in the fall of Adam and Eve.

Niflheim

The name comes from Norse mythology of the Scandinavian people. Originally, Niflheim was realm of primordial ice and fog, being one of the two primordial realms, the other being Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Later, the realm became the abode of Hel, the daughter of the god Loki, and it became the afterlife for those who didn't die a heroic or notable death, overlapping with another realm in Norse cosmology, Helheim.

Abaddon

In the Bible, "Abaddon" is both a place and an entity. As a place, Abaddon is the place of destruction, the realm for the dead. As an individual entity, Abaddon is described in the Bible as "a king, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon; in Latin Exterminans" - Revelation 9:11

Now "Abaddon" is entirely tied with the meaning of destruction. Abaddon itself means destruction or "place of destruction". The root of the word abad means perish, or destroy. Both the Greek name Apollyon and the Latin name Exterminans mean destroyer.

[mapsontheweb]

Jews in Palestine from the 7th century to the 19th century.

From “Atlas of Jewish History”, Martin Gilbert, Routledge, 1969, 2010

via cartesdhistoire

In 636, at the Battle of Yarmouk, the Arabs captured Tiberias and Galilee. Then they besieged and took Jerusalem and Caesarea before completing their conquest in 641 with the capture of Ascalon.

From the 8th century, the largest Jewish community was found in Ramleh, then, at the time of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1291), the most important Jewish communities were those on the coast: Tyre, Acre and Ascalon.

Between 1260 and 1516, relations between the Jews and the Mamluk power, fanatical and intolerant, were bad. The most important communities are in the interior (the ports were evacuated in the 13th century for fear of invasions): Jerusalem especially, Safed, Gaza, Hebron, a few villages in Upper Galilee. Pilgrimage to Jewish holy places – the “ziara” – is already very widespread there.

The Turks conquered Palestine in 1516. The community of Safed experienced great expansion with the cultural and technical contribution of Judeo-Iberian refugees.

But throughout the 19th century, Muslim populations also settled in Palestine: some 20,000 Egyptians during the conquests of Mehemet-Ali (in Gaza, Jaffa and Jericho), then several tens of thousands of Muslims, coming from the former Ottoman territories of the Balkans and the Caucasus. The sultan grants them land on favorable terms in Galilee and the coastal plain of Sharon. The accounts of European travelers in Palestine attest to the existence of numerous villages where Arabic is not spoken.

From 1840, the Jewish population of Jerusalem grew at a much faster rate than that of other communities, reaching 11,000 people in 1870, or half of the total population, and this before the major movements of Jewish immigration which began. from the 1880s; the Jewish population has since retained its majority status.

In 1872, the Palestinian population (Bedouins excluded) was 381,954 inhabitants (85% Muslims, 11% Christians and 4% Jews).

[whencyclopedia]

Third Crusade

The Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE) was launched to retake Jerusalem after its fall to the Muslim leader Saladin in 1187 CE. The Crusade was led by three European monarchs, hence its other name of 'the Kings' Crusade'. The three leaders were: Frederick I Barbarossa, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1152-1190 CE), Philip II of France (r. 1180-1223 CE) and Richard I 'the Lionhearted' of England (r. 1189-1199 CE). Despite this pedigree, the campaign was a failure, the Holy City never even being attacked. Along the way, there were some victories, notably the capture of Acre and the battle of Arsuf. Fizzling out with a whimper, the Crusade collapsed because, by the time they arrived at their objective, the western leaders found themselves without sufficient men or resources to resist the still intact armies of Saladin. Although a compromise was negotiated with access for pilgrims to Jerusalem permitted and a Christian foothold maintained in the Middle East, another attempt to take the Holy City would shortly be made the original objective of the Fourth Crusade of 1202-1204 CE.

The Fall of Jerusalem

The Second Crusade (1147-1149 CE) had effectively ended with the complete failure to take Damascus in Syria in 1148 CE. The various Muslim states in the Middle East then realised that the once-feared western knights could be defeated and the precarious existence of the Crusader-held territories, the Latin East, was starkly highlighted. All that was needed now was a unification of Muslim forces and this was provided by one of the greatest of all medieval rulers, Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria (r. 1174-1193 CE).

Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt, took control of Damascus in 1174 CE and Aleppo in 1183 CE. Saladin then shocked the world by defeating the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and its Latin allies at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 CE. Thus, Saladin was able to take control of such cities as Acre, Tiberias, Caesarea, Nazareth, Jaffa and even, the holiest of holies itself, Jerusalem. Remarkably lenient with his Christian captives compared to the butchery of the First Crusade (1095-1102 CE), after the recapture of Jerusalem almost a century earlier, Saladin accepted ransoms from those Latin Christians who could afford to buy their freedom and enslaved the rest. Eastern Christians were permitted to remain in Jerusalem as a protected minority group. The Latin East had all but collapsed, only Tyre remained in Christian hands, under the command of Conrad of Montferrat, but it would prove a useful foothold for the coming fightback.

Pope Gregory VIII only reigned for a few months in 1187 CE but, in October of that year, he made a lasting impact on history by calling for yet another crusade to win back Jerusalem and such lost holy relics as the True Cross. Nothing less than a repeat of the remarkable feat of the First Crusade would do. No fewer than three monarchs took up the Pope's challenge: the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, king of Germany, Philip II of France and Richard I of England. With these being the three most powerful men in western Europe, the campaign promised much.

Continue reading...

[jurakan]

Fun Fact! Crosses!

I am not around, this is a queued Fun Fact! Don't send me requests! I won't see them!

Easter is coming up, so let’s talk about different kinds of crosses! You’ve probably seen most of these before, especially if you’re Catholic, but maybe you didn’t know the names!

Of course, most Christians are familiar with the Latin Cross:

That’s the classic one, of course.

The Greek Cross, with equal lengths on each bar:

Also a classic!

The Patriarchal Cross, which you see a lot in Orthodox churches:

The extra bar towards the top represents the ‘INRI’ sign Pilate posted on the Cross.

The Papal Cross:

I’m not actually sure what the deal with that one is.

The Chi Rho:

This takes the two Greek letters, ‘Chi’ and ‘Rho’ (first two letters of ‘Christos’ in Greek), and combines them.

The Jerusalem Cross, used in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Crusades:

I *believe* it represents how Jerusalem was believed to be the center of the world, and the crosses in the corners represent the four corners of the world? I think, anyhow.

The Tau Cross:

Also called Saint Anthony’s Cross, as it’s associated with Saint Anthony of Egypt. It’s also got Franciscan associations!

Cross of Saint James:

Big in Spain, obviously, where Saint James the Greater is quite popular. It’s the symbol of the Order of Santiago (Saint James).

Celtic Cross, which you see a lot in Irish stores as knick-knacks, though they’re also from Scotland and Wales:

Obviously modeled after those stone crosses you’ll see carved in the British Isles.

The Ankh, which Coptic Christians sort of grabbed from Egypt:

This was originally an Egyptian symbol for ‘life’, unrelated to the Cross as we know it in the original context.

The Maltese!

The symbol of the Knights of Saint John and the Order of Hospitallers! And obviously, the island of Malta.

And the Marian Crosses:

It combines the Latin Cross with the letter ‘M’, to emphasize how Mary was at the Crucifixion.

Hope this was something that you didn’t know!

[crusera]

Baldwin IV. (1161 - 1185) was the king of Jerusalem (1174-85), called the "leper king" for the disease that afflicted him for most of his short life. His reign saw the growth of factionalism among the Latin nobility that weakened the kingdom during the years when its greatest adversary, the Muslim leader Saladin, extended his influence from Egypt to Syria.

Leprosy had made the young ruler the "half-dead king" of Jerusalem.

The young, leprous king was able to repel Saladin's invasion of the kingdom from Egypt in 1177 at the Battle of Montgisard, despite being significantly outnumbered.

"He mustered all his courage and went into battle against Saladin." The great historian William of Tyre, who had been the king's tutor, wrote in justification: "He believed that it was wiser to accept the uncertain fate of a battle against the enemy than to accept that his people would suffer robbery, fire and massacres."

[divaofmads]

King Baldwin IV | Childhood Love

Part I

~Inspired by history

WARNING: I am an amateur for all these and apologize for any mistakes I made as English is not my native language.

🌹🌹🌹

It was the year 1171. Manuel I was trying to return the Byzantine Empire to its former glory. For this, he had to organize expeditions and be the leader of the emperors mentioned in the Eastern Roman Empire. However, it was difficult to act alone. He had suffered many losses during his invasions. Although the future he envisioned in his mind and the steps taken towards this future were working perfectly in his imagination, the foreign policy he followed should have been much more active and ambitious.

Moreover, the Muslims were getting stronger and getting closer to the Eastern Roman Empire. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before they would capture the Holy Land. The king of Jerusalem, Amalric, was able to protect his lands with the strategic planning he followed, but what about his heir?

All these ideas led Manuel to set his sights on Egypt. By uniting with the Kingdom of Jerusalem, they could lead a joint invasion of Fatimid Egypt, or at least weaken their power. Thus, Manuel took the first step towards political rapprochement by sending an envoy to Amalric, the King of Jerusalem at the time.

The Latin King was happy with his alliances. Although he knew that Manuel was not qualified to rule, he wanted to make the Holy Land impassable by adding Byzantine soldiers to his army. This required more than a political alliance.

Amalric knew that the Byzantine King had a daughter who had just turned nine, only a year younger than his son Baldwin, and that their union would be the most logical step towards continuing the Byzantine and Latin lineage.

Even though she was a little girl, Maria was more than just that. She was the princess who carried the blood of the Komnenos Dynasty. The responsibilities that were hidden like a sneaky snake behind her luxurious, rich and fairytale-like life had already begun to inject their poison into the little princess's childish soul to celebrate the arrival of the right time. While the sons of noble lineage were trained to ascend to the throne and rule their country, the most ruthless duty fell to the girls. To ensure peace between enemies or alliances, to act as a bridge. Noble girls did not have the innate right to marry the man they loved.

Empress Bertha had also been forced into one of these marriages. Although she had a good marriage with Manuel, she was afraid that her lack of choice would affect her, that she would suffer the effects of the golden collar that her noble lineage had put on her. This was the reason for her tension at dinner. Maria could not understand her mother's sudden reprimands: You don't hold your fork properly, you don't chew your food twenty times, don't get your clothes dirty, why isn't your hair in a braid?

It was obvious to everyone that the queen was not only projecting her anger onto her daughter, but also onto the servants.

The aristocratic families, lords and leading merchants of Constantinople were at the table. Emperor Manuel had asked them to come to his table to give him the good news. After dessert, he stood up and made a toast.

"My dear friends. You did not leave us alone in this beautiful night, I raise my glass to you first," he said and after he raised the glass to his lips, the other people at the table took a sip of their wine. When the Emperor spoke again, Maria was watching her father in surprise.

"As you know, the alliance we have established with the Kingdom of Jerusalem has been going on for years. However, we must protect our lands from the Muslims, prevent their advancement, and strengthen our ties with King Amalric against possible future Turkish threats. When the political strategies of the Latins and the wealth of our empire come together, we will have no obstacles to achieve our goals." The Emperor raised his glass to his daughter and showed how much he trusted her with his gaze, placing an unbearable burden on the little princess' shoulders.

"My dear daughter, the engagement of Princess Maria and the Latin prince Baldwin IV will establish insurmountable bonds between the two Empires and will finally be officially crowned."

Just this morning, the princess who had just left needlepoint class and was playing with her dolls was going to be engaged to Baldwin IV as the future Queen of Jerusalem. It sounded far away. The little girl looked at her mother. Two drops of tears flowed from her eyes and followed their paths down her cheeks and dropped onto the plate in front of her. Promise, engagement, marriage... Bertha was talking about all of them to her daughter. She had promised herself that she would marry the man she loved when the time was right. Even though she was young, Maria realized her mother's shame at not keeping her promise to her. The intensive training she had received since she had reached the age of awareness had turned her into an intelligent princess. She was much smarter than her peers and had a great ability to interpret events. She was also aware that no one would oppose the engagement. This was her fate. The ultimate end of princesses. She had no choice but to appear happy to her mother. She did not want to see her disappointed. She gripped Bertha's hand on the table tightly. The Empress looked at her daughter to understand what she had done and saw the happy expression in her eyes.

"I will be the queen of the Holy Land, won't I, mother?"

Emperor Manuel proudly answered your question that you asked with happiness.

"You will go down in history as the most talked about Empress of Rome and the Latin people." He raised his glass one last time and raised his voice. "Long live our princess!"

Constantinople was the Jerusalem of Eastern Europe. The Hagia Sophia church was the Masjid al-Aqsa of Christianity; the temple where Jesus would come to worship after being resurrected. The dress of the Virgin Mary from the Notre Dame Cathedral, the cross and nails on which Jesus was crucified, presented by the King of Jerusalem during the reign of Justinian, were reminders of his sanctity to the entire Christian world. Therefore, the Hagia Sophia church was deemed appropriate for the engagement ceremony. Of course, when the time came, the place where the relations between the two empires would be formalized was the land of Jerusalem.

That's why an invitation was sent to the land of Jerusalem as soon as possible with various gifts. A treasure chest with fabrics decorated with roses, jewelry, wines that were at least two centuries old...

Maria had begun to see changes in her life after the night her father had given her the news that he was getting married. She had never felt the benefits of her age anyway. However, now the number of lessons had increased, she had to attend banquets, and every evening she had to work on the next day's to-do list.

Maria became increasingly afraid of this marriage. When all her toys were distributed to the poor, her rag doll, which she could hide in a crack in the wall, was now her friend. Whenever she was alone in her room, she would talk to her and play games in her mind.

When her nanny knocked on the door, she would run to the crack and hide it behind the dusty stones of the wall. That's why the baby's white dress soon turned gray. Her dreams about the prince darkened as she saw the color of the dress. In her dreams, the man she would marry turned into a bloodthirsty monster. A monument of arrogance, the whites of his eyes painted red. Now she would wake up crying from her sleep at night. Her nanny would wait by her side, trying to comfort her.

The night she had another of these nightmares, she leaned her head on her nanny's chest and squeezed her arms in fear.

"Nanny, nanny; do I really have to marry the prince? I don't even know him."

"Oh, Maria! You must put this childishness aside at once. Lord Alexios' daughter took her child in her arms at the age of sixteen. Lord Romanos' daughter had just become a young girl on her first night of marriage; she was fifteen. Now you too must prepare for womanhood; stop behaving like a little child."

"They're coming tomorrow, aren't they?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

The nurse stroked the princess's hair. "They will be here tomorrow. Now rest," she said, and getting up, she laid Maria on the bed and covered her.

There was a normal bustle in the palace. The servants were running, the chefs were preparing the meals from scratch, and Lady Bertha was personally taking care of the palace decorations.

The person who was really affected by this bustle was Maria. While the servants were washing her in a tub full of water with rose petals in it, her nanny and a few seamstresses were trying to decide on her outfit.

While she was getting cleaned up nicely and putting on her clothes, there were noises coming from outside. It was too late. Little Maria was not ready. While they were putting a white silk scarf that was big enough to cover half of her hair on top of the bun they had made from braids, the nanny went to the window, pulling on the skirts of her dress.

"Jesus! Lady Bertha will ruin me."

She looked around then. Then he stopped in front of the maid who was holding the pillow with the crown in her hand and shouted.

"You are not here to be fools! God knows if I had the chance I would have chased you out of the palace long ago!" She took the crown in her hand and looked at it hopelessly. Still, the fire in her eyes did not fade. "I said the crown with the emerald stone."

Maria's awareness of the necessity made her surrender herself completely to what was to come, but she did not want to wear a crown, nor did she want to go down and curtsey to the prince she did not want to marry.

The welcoming ceremony was already over when the princess was ready. Bertha immediately went into her room and scolded first the servants, then the nurse.

"A bunch of idiots who don't take their jobs seriously!" She stormed out of the room and turned to look at her daughter. "Don't come downstairs now. I told them she was feeling a little unwell. She'll come down when it's time for the feast. If you can manage it, that is!"

The banquet table had everything the King of Jerusalem would love. Fresh venison was cooked over a wood fire, mixed with special sauces. Deer farming was not common in Constantinople, so it was brought from far away and placed in the middle on three sides of the U-shaped tables. The fish of the city famous for its sea were not forgotten, of course, they were caught in various ways and flavored with rich recipes. The wines were brought from the palace cellar, selected and served according to the King's taste.

Emperor Manuel watched Amalric's pleasure, so he didn't say much. Bertha was bothered by the queen's attitude towards Baldwin. She acted as if the prince didn't exist, and when Bertha brought up the subject, Queen Maria was quite insincere. She implied, though not directly, that her own children would make much better rulers.

"Baldwin is a very emotional boy. The Latin Kingdom did not survive on emotionalism. Amalric never gave the Muslims and Jews of Jerusalem a chance. He gave them what they deserved, not when it was necessary, but ruthlessly before it was necessary." He looked at his stepson with disdain and smiled falsely. "When Amalric leaves the holy land to Baldwin, it will be a matter of time for the Arabics to win."

Empress Bertha was so irritated by the woman's ambition that for a moment she did not know how to respond. She looked at Baldwin sadly. She could hear the conversation between his and his half-siblings, and the boy's mature demeanor for his age contradicted Queen Maria's.

"I have no doubt that he will make my daughter Maria happy. He is a clever boy and will be a king loyal to the Latin Kingdom," she said.

Meanwhile, Amalric asked about the princess. It had been a long time since she arrived and the future Latin Queen had still not arrived. Of course, he knew that the disrespect was unintentional, but he was not happy with the situation.

The emperor became angry. If he had no concern for strengthening the bond between them, his reaction to her threatening words would have been severe. However, now he saw fit to show his anger to his wife. He shouted and showed his authority. He ordered the princess to come immediately. At this moment, the door of the hall opened and the servant entered and introduced Maria.

Baldwin was suddenly distracted by a conversation with his siblings. Although he was only ten years old, he already had many criteria in mind for his future wife.

When Maria entered with her nanny, Baldwin couldn't believe his eyes. Her cherry lips shining on her skin as white as snow, her cheeks as warm as the land she was born in, her golden hair that the goddess Freya would envy when she saw it... The first thing that came to his mind was, "Is this a fairy?"

When Maria glanced around the room, looking for her future husband, she saw the boy staring at her intently. It had to be Baldwin. What should she think? He was a beautiful boy, she couldn't deny that, but would they get along?

The only couple who didn’t speak during the feast as the conversation deepened was the prince and the princess. Although they didn’t seem to like each other, they were both just shy. Maria followed Baldwin’s movements as he plucked a grape from the table in front of him and put it in his mouth, and when the little prince’s gaze turned to her, she turned her head in displeasure. A lady shouldn’t appear interested in marriage. That would symbolize her simplicity. But the Empress was not pleased with this coldness, and she knew exactly what would attract attention.

“I hope his majesty likes jousting,” she said, raising her voice.

"Of course," the king replied and continued. "The jousting in this city is done on horses, much more brutal. It's exciting."

"I hope one day my daughter and your son will duel each other. I'm sure it will be much more exciting," he said and sipped his wine.

The king could not hide his surprise. He frowned, thinking he had misunderstood.

"Is what I heard true? Does this naive princess know how to use a spear?"

Manuel looked at his daughter with pride. "She is still in the training phase, but she is quite talented. If she is going to be a queen who will make a name for herself in the future, she must be good at everything."

Queen Maria looked at him with a look of disdain. Yet she did not lose her hypocritical smile. "I suppose you take the Turks and Norse as an example."

"Of course. You will take the good aspects of your enemies as an example, so that they will have less leverage against you."

That day, the two betrothed hardly spoke because of the princess's secretive attitude. The prince began to think that he was not loved by his future wife. Until he started playing in the garden. While Baldwin and his brothers were playing in the garden, Maria preferred to stay with the two queens. While they were sitting in the palace garden overlooking the Bosphorus and having an evening tea, the voices of the children reached her ears. She heard how cruel the real children of Queen Maria, whom she deemed worthy of the kingdom, were. When she turned her head and looked at them, they would unknowingly use violence on Baldwin, and then call him a spoilsport so that the little boy would not complain. Even though Baldwin knew how bad they were, he had to get along well. Because Amalric adored his wife and therefore her children.

Maria could not stand it any longer and took the first step to defend her husband. She called out to her nanny, leaned in to her ear and said that she wanted to play with the children. Although her outfit was not suitable for playing with wooden swords, she allowed it in order to escape the princess's insistence.

"Okay, but I'll keep an eye on you, my lady. If you take the slightest hit, I'll bring you to me." The princess raised her eyebrows in a knowing manner. She looked proud. "Agreed," she said and got up from the chair and walked towards the children. In the meantime, the three brothers were arguing with each other. They were claiming that Baldwin cheated, even though he had won the sword race again and again.

Maria suddenly spoke up. "Why don't we do this duel as a group. Two on two."

Theo spoke up without waiting for his siblings. "You're a girl. Why don't you go have dessert and chat with our mothers like a lady?"

Maria replied with a smug air, her tone unmoved. "Is that another way of saying you're scared?"

Theo remained silent. He had nothing to say to Maria, for every word would be returned as a positive answer to the question he had asked.

Maria addressed Baldwin's tutor. William of Tyre was Baldwin's tutor and was always by his side; like a nanny.

"I want a wooden sword!" Then she looked at the three brothers and said, "William will be the referee and swear that the race will be fair."

Of course, her partner was Baldwin. Theo and Niko had taken their places, waiting for William's signal to start. Niko was looking at the princess with hostility. But he didn't know how good the princess was at observation. He had noticed every evil she did while fighting Baldwin.

When the duel began, Maria was swinging her sword with calm but rapid movements. Only when Niko would treat her badly would she defend herself harshly and quickly, taking the little devil by surprise. William of Tyre was one of those who did not like the queen's children, of course. It was a great pleasure to see Maria defeat him. The little brat had started to whine because of the wood that had hit his arm.

Baldwin laughed. "Niko, will you stop that? It doesn't suit you at all."

The moment Maria returned Baldwin's smile, they got closer.

Meanwhile, the two ladies watching them did not agree. Bertha was saying proud sentences about her daughter, and was constantly defending that she was the right wife for Baldwin. But the one who was not happy with this situation was the queen. The fact that her child was defeated by a little girl had stimulated her ambitious side, causing her to finish her glass of wine in one go.

The prince seemed to be inspired by Maria to defeat Theo. Now he had someone else besides William who loved and supported him. Your presence gave him confidence.

The defeat of her second son drove Queen Maria mad and she did not forget to scold William while shouting at the children to go to bed.

The prince and the princess had just found the perfect time to get to know each other, but it was not possible again. But the Empress called Maria and Baldwin to her side as if to oppose the cruel lady of the Latin Kingdom.

"Theo and Niko should listen to their mother, but you have much to talk about. Why don't you take a walk in the garden?"

The queen was angry, but necessity pressed her not to show her true face. She spoke through clenched teeth. The smile on her face was so forced that her facial muscles trembled.

"I almost thought you were against me, Lady Bertha."

"Of course not. It would be impertinent of me to interfere with your own children, but when I consider the blood relationship and the engagement ceremony of the two children, I conclude that my say in Baldwin's case is superior. I am sure you will understand."

The queen smiled and nodded with her uncomprehending personality. Her soul was too filled with arrogance to respond to the empress. Yet if you could hear the voice inside you, you would hear the shrill, mad woman's voice screaming.

Baldwin nodded to his mother-in-law. “Thank you, your majesty. I would like to inform you that your daughter is safe with me.”

Bertha smiled and returned the prince's respectful gesture with a slight bow of her head.

"What doubt is there?"

Baldwin pulled his fiancé by the hand. The two children began to run. They ran and ran until they were out of sight... Finally they came out onto a stone path surrounded by stunted trees. The path ended at the seaside, and it seemed they would have enough time to get to know each other on the path that stretched that far.

The princess avoided being the first to speak. In fact, she followed the rules in this period when neither palace etiquette nor men were given priority. But she was no longer sure of her feelings. Every question she would ask the prince was a step towards getting to know the man she loved. But would the prince be attached to her with the same feelings, she was not sure.

Things were not going so normally for Baldwin either. The reason for his silence could be that the princess did not like him or that he could not speak out of respect. Still, as a man, he had to have the first say.

"Tell me, princess? Are you afraid?"

Maria paused. "I think you can call your fiancé by her name."

The boy stuttered excitedly. "Of course I am, I'm just respectfully..."

Maria cut him off. She seemed pleased that Baldwin was excited around her. She smiled and continued walking. "No, I'm not afraid." She continued walking ahead. Baldwin increased his speed as he got closer to her so that she wouldn't see him smile.

"So when I think of Theo and Niko, you're different from them. That's good."

Baldwin got used to Maria as he was alone with her. He was no longer timid to keep up with her steps. He stopped the princess suddenly by grabbing her arm.

"You know, I was very scared. The first meeting of a couple is very important and determines how they will spend the rest of their lives. My fear was the moment I first saw you..."

Maria was about to hear things from the prince that a nine-year-old child would be ashamed to hear. So she interrupted him with a mocking look. "In which book did you read these words?"

Baldwin could not hide his surprise. He answered, avoiding her eyes. "Actually, it is not a quote from the book, William warned me when I came here."

Maria grinned happily this time. "I guess William likes to talk complicated with you."

While the prince looked at his fiancée with pride, Maria seemed lost in his proud gaze. No matter how quickly the harsh lessons he had been exposed to in his noble life had made him grow up, at the end of the day, she was still a nine-year-old child. Although her mind was well-developed for fancy speech, it would take her a long time to learn how to hide her emotions.

Maria sighed as she looked at the child's glowing skin. "You are so beautiful."

Baldwin was surprised to be the recipient of one of those compliments given to girls. Shouldn't he have thought of it?

"I don't understand, my lady."

Maria, confident, forgetting that she was breaking God's prohibitions, approached Baldwin and put her hand on his cheek and caressed it. Then her hair. As if she were playing with a rag doll.

"I've never seen a boy as beautiful as you. You really do remind me of the Greek gods I've seen in books."

Baldwin took a step back, away from his fiancée. He lowered his gaze and frowned.

"No, my lady. You deserve the compliment. Forgive me for not telling you in time."

Maria was as open and honest as ever.

"I don't care if you compliment me or not. I know you like me but what I said about you is true. You are beautiful."

Baldwin wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed or uncomfortable with the reversal of their roles. Still, he was flattered to be admired so much by his fiancée. The eyes that had looked at him with such admiration had last been his mother’s, and now his future wife’s. How could he ever forget the passion hidden in those eyes that had managed to fit every lake and forest in the world?

“Forgive me for interrupting, my prince, but we must return to the palace now.”

The two betrothed were embracing each other when William suddenly appeared behind them. He was happy that the prince had met such innocent love. That was why their childhood love was sacred to him.

The two children separated but did not let go of their hands as they turned to William. Baldwin held his princess's hand tightly. The night was long and they did not want to spend hours apart from each other.

Baldwin began. "The Empress has given us permission to be alone, Will."

"I understand, your majesty, but that was an hour ago." Then he looked meaningfully at Maria. "It is by your mother, Lady Bertha's order."

The little girl bowed her head helplessly and approved. Baldwin did not let go of his fiancée's hand. "Don't worry, my princess, when we get married, we will never be apart." Baldwin held Maria's hand tightly neither when he went to the queen nor when he entered the palace. But when the time came for them to leave and they went to their rooms, neither of the two children knew that it would be their first and last happy moment.

🌹🌹🌹

Maria stood in the middle of the apse with her fiancé Baldwin, listening to the priest's words from the Bible. Everything was perfect, and miraculous. Their people looked at them with envy. After all, even if they were not heirs, they were upper class people and had to marry men or women they did not want in order to make a deal or have better conditions. Everyone Maria and Baldwin had chanced to see in church was unhappy in some way or had cheated on their spouses, but the prince had held his future wife's hand tightly and promised to be by her side before presenting her with the priestly decorations brought personally from the Pantagrator monastery.

Maria knew how upset the Empress was. She was against political unions. She wanted to believe that her daughter truly loved the prince, but her logic believed that the happiness in Maria's eyes was just a mask she had developed for what she had to do. Yet her only daughter had acquired the most sacred feeling God had ever created at such a young age; what a great honor and a proud opportunity!

The princess raised her head towards the Empress's lodge and looked at her mother. She was aware of the embarrassment she was trying to hide behind her despotic gaze, and she was mature enough to smile confidently so that she would not feel guilty. Although Bertha did not respond to her daughter, she was pleased with her happiness.

At that very moment, little Maria noticed movement on the ceiling and turned her eyes to the seraph fresco. She was looking directly into the princess’s eyes from between her wings; the expressionless face she remembered had been replaced by sadness, and she could have sworn to swear by the two tears that were flowing from her eyes. Of course, it was impossible to hide her surprise at the sight she saw. Moreover, the princess’s reaction had attracted everyone’s attention, and a few curious people had fixed their eyes on the ceiling. They wondered what had affected the princess so much. Or would the sacred temple that Justinian had given to Jesus collapse again?

The priest had to nudge the princess with his words: the dynasty rings would be worn.

The priest presented them with the rings placed on the purple pillow. Baldwin reached for the ring first. The emerald stones, which were the companions on both sides of the diamond, were placed on the gold ring. The details were carved with Nordic shapes. However, when Baldwin put the ring on the beautiful princess, the drops of blood that hit the stones splashed and stained her finger red. The princess first pulled her hand away harshly and then looked back up at the frescoes on the cathedral ceiling. Everyone was surprised, unlike the priest. Because he had also witnessed what the princess saw when she looked at the ceiling. The ceiling was cracking insidiously, blood was gushing out from between the cracks, staining the temple. However, the guests were not aware of what was happening. Even Baldwin, despite being face to face with the princess, did not see or notice anything. He was only saying her name.

"MARIA, are you okay? Maria?"

The half dome almost collapsed on their heads. As the cracks widened, the blood flowing increased in intensity. The blood branching from the stained glass windows prevented sunlight from entering the church. The priest grabbed Maria by the arm and started pulling her away. It was as if red rain was falling on the cathedral. The nobles' expensively woven dresses, their bearskin furs, their crowns decorated with jewels could not be seen because of the blood. Despite this, everyone was calm, continuing to look at the apse. As if they were enchanted, as if everyone had entered a vegetative state.

While Maria was screaming and trying to run towards Baldwin to get him out of this pool of blood, the priest had already taken her to the second narthex. The little princess was struggling and begging the priest to let her go. The priest said that he could not do this, otherwise she would be one of those who drowned in blood.

The priest had finally managed to get out of Jesus' house with the princess. Now they were watching the nobles drowning in blood from afar. The two Houses were dying in agony along with their other nobles. There was not a single drop of blood leaking out. You were wondering what was going on inside, and you were crying out the prince’s name.

The priest tried to calm you down, but as the level of the red liquid seen through the windows increased, your ravings turned into pleas. The priest was begging you to be quiet. It was too late now. For the entire kingdom, for Baldwin.

“Maria! Maria! Maria!”

When she looked up at the sky, she could swear that the sun was practically calling her. Was it a divine call?

"Maria, please wake up, your majesty!"

When she opened her eyes, her heart was beating rapidly. It was hard to breathe as her chest rose and fell violently. She looked around with astonished eyes, straightened up, took the glass her nanny had handed her and drank a few sips of water. One of the maids was trying to clean the drops of sweat running down the girl's neck with a wet cloth.

The nurse asked, "What were you seeing, princess? I called out to you for minutes, but your moans did not stop."

Maria was still in the grip of what she had seen and was having difficulty regulating her breathing. The candles burning in the room, the high ceiling; none of them relieved the feeling of being trapped in a tiny box.

"I must speak to the father."

The nurse stammered. "For a nightmare? That doesn't make much sense. We must not occupy His Holiness unnecessarily."

The little princess stared at the woman and repeated her words harshly. The nanny, not knowing what to do, snatched the glass from the girl's hand and bowed respectfully to her, saying that they could go to the palace priest tomorrow morning after breakfast.

"Not the palace priest! We will go to Hagia Sophia. I am telling you this is important, are you really that stupid!"

This was the first time the nanny had seen the princess behave so disrespectfully. But this did not calm her anger. She clenched her teeth. How dare she criticize her intelligence? What she really wanted was to grab the princess by the arm, shake her, demand an explanation, and then beat her; unless she wanted to die in the dungeons with her skin flayed by the Pope right after doing so. Now all she did was to bow her head, holding the glass in her hand in front of her, and assure her that she would fulfill her request.

In the morning, the Latin Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire took their places at the breakfast table. The food did not only include products grown on the Empire's lands. Sugared almonds, cherries and citrons brought from overseas were another way of showing the guests how rich the table was.

The emperor and the king could not help but talk about their strategies even at the breakfast table. There were political implications and metaphors behind every word they used to describe how happy the entire Empire was about their children's engagements.

The two women, overwhelmed by their husbands' passion for work, had turned the conversation completely to the day they would officially become a family. The Empress turned to her daughter at one point and expressed her displeasure that the food on her plate had still not been eaten. Of course, Baldwin, who was standing right in front of her, could see that Maria was behaving differently.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go to church after breakfast."

Bertha looked at her daughter.

"what's this all about?"

Maria didn't want to talk about the dream she had. When she glanced at her father, she knew that he seemed to be interested in state affairs. She knew very well how obsessed the emperor was with dreams. He would definitely jump on her and make things worse.

"I just want to do a prayer of gratitude for my engagement."

"No way, you have a geography lesson after breakfast. After that, you will personally announce your engagement as the future king and queen. When you return to the palace, you must attend the banquet."

Maria pressed her lips together. She had no answer to say. The to-do list her mother had given her was endless. Besides, that day was her laziest day. No one but Baldwin had noticed her discomfort at not being able to go to church. She would use her intelligence to save her only love from the situation.

"I thought God's word ruled in Byzantine lands, your majesty."

Manuel stopped talking suddenly and looked at the little boy with a frown. He caught the attention of everyone at the table by banging the rings he wore on his five fingers, each set with a precious stone, on the arm of the chair. Baldwin's accusation was very bold. The tension between the two kingdoms was at its peak now. When Amalric tried to silence his son, the emperor interlaced his fingers at chest level without taking his elbows off the arm of the chair.

He looked very calm. This was an attitude that would never suit the emperor. Everyone knew very well how ruthless he could be.

"Tell me Baldwin, why did you say that?"

Baldwin, unlike the others at the table, was very relaxed.

"I apologize if I was misunderstood, your majesty, I just wanted to express that worshipping the god is much more important than lessons. She is trying to raise the princess in the best way possible, to make her like you, but this should not be a reason to delay her worshipping in Hagia Sophia. I am sure you think the same way I do.

The Latin king was still nervous. Queen Maria was pleased with Baldwin's impudent attitude. She could trick her beloved husband and get him the worst punishment. A good start to discredit his son in his father's eyes.

But the emperor answered the prince with a faint smile on his lips.

"Your apology is a part of your humility, a symbol of your lion-heartedness in defending what you know to be right. Very good Baldwin."

Then he glared at his wife.

"And my dear wife, I do not want to believe the idea that I have not attained the reason of a ten-year-old child."

Then he turned to his daughter.

"What is it that makes you want to go to church so badly?"

The princess lowered her eyes in embarrassment.

"Your Majesty, all I want is to go to church and give thanks. If you will allow me."

"Get ready after breakfast," the emperor ordered.

Maria looked at Baldwin from below and smiled coquettishly in thanks. Baldwin, however, continued to focus on the plate in front of him, without losing his haughty gaze.

When the princess and her servant arrived at the church, the priest was surprised. He had never been here before except on special occasions. Although he was sitting in his office working on state matters, he left his work unfinished. He went down the stairs and approached the princess standing in front of the apse. He was aware of the strangeness in her attitude. Maria was looking at the stained glass windows, the windows where she had witnessed blood choking people. She continued to look until the priest spoke.

"My princess, welcome."

When the princess turned to the priest, she felt uneasy as if her nightmare had come true.

"What brought you here?"

Maria swallowed. "I had a dream, Father Antonio. I wouldn't have come if I didn't think it was a dream worth listening to, but I think it's worth it."

The priest was aware of the fear and despair on the girl's face. He put his hand on her back and guided her to the pews in the nave.

"Come, my child, let's sit down and talk."

In fact, the priest was prejudiced against the girl at first. A little child could have been affected by a terrible dream. What she was going to listen to now could be complete nonsense. But at the end of the day, she was the princess and she had to listen.

Although the priest's face was so gentle when Maria started telling her dream, what she heard later in the dream frightened her. While blood was bad in itself, the fact that there were people drowning in it, and moreover, inside Hagia Sophia...

The priest asked, trying to control his excitement. "Were you among those who drowned in the palace?"

Maria answered, "No," and was about to continue her dream when the priest stopped her.

"No, my child, you don't need to continue because what you saw is just your fears." Even though he didn't want to lie, it wasn't right to tell a little girl what had happened. He had to talk to the emperor directly.

He continued, stuttering as if he knew he was lying. "Now return to your palace, my child. It's normal for you to be worried about the future because of your engagement ceremony, but there's nothing to fear."

Antonio accompanied Maria to the first narthex. No matter how comfortable she seemed, she now knew that the two kingdoms had heavy penances to pay. Moreover, this was much closer to home for the Latin Kingdom. Very soon, problems would arise in the holy lands, and she would be dragged into an impossible path.

Thank God, all these negativities would strengthen the little princess, and her suffering would grow her.

But what really frightened her was the fact that the third Crusade could resurrect.

[drconstellation]

The Passion Of Jimbriel

Part 1: The Entry into Soho

The story of events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, and the days following, until his ascension to Heaven, are collectively known as the Passion narratives. It comes from the Latin "to suffer," or "to endure."

More than one op has mentioned there are parallels to this in S2, so I thought I would try and find how well the whole narrative was followed. Oh yes, is the short answer, it certainly does! And how! And in places you might be surprised about. I hope this series of metas might answer some of the odd mysteries of "why is that there...? that are still floating around at the moment for you.

I've tried to match the narratives to scenes and incidents in S2 as closely as I can, but I only have sketchy Anglican Christian background, so if you have had a more thorough Catholic upbringing than me and see something I have missed, slip me a message and I'll do my best to edit things.

A word of warning before we start - it's not a linear match-up. I'm planning to run through the traditional sequence of the Passion in order, but will match with the S2 scenes as needed, and those are scattered back and forth in time. It's Catch-22 again - everything thrown up in the air and landing at seeming random places, where ever they seem to fit best for the narrative.

AZIRAPHALE: Ah, you startled me. GABRIEL: Is that good? AZIRAPHALE: I just didn't see you coming.

I actually thought I might start with this little scene, where Jim gives Aziraphale a jump-scare by creeping up next to him silently. Annoyed, Aziraphale tells him to make some noise as he moves about, and Jim trolls him with some creaking noises, before starting to sing.

There were prophecies about the arrival of Jesus, but the ironic thing here is that Aziraphale, someone who has a vast collection of prophecies and is someone you could consider an expert, had no warning of Gabriel's arrival - he just crept up to the door as a nasty surprise!

Starting proper, there were the three temptations while Jesus was fasting in the wilderness.

Making bread out of stones (I've also covered the Eccles Cakes here in the Altar of Eccles Cakes. They have multiple purposes!)

2. Being tempted to jump from a pinnacle of a temple and relying on angels to break his fall.

3. Being tempted to worship Satan in return for ruling all the kingdoms of the world.

This one was actually covered in S1, at Golgotha. I know Crowley mentioned to Aziraphale that he was the one who tempted Jesus, but I wrote a meta about it because I realized most people were missing the joke in the TWO demon names that Aziraphale suggested Crowley had changed his name to, and how that relates to that particular temptation.

The last miracle performed before the Passion was the raising Lazarus from his tomb, four days after he had died.

After Crowley is dragged down to Hell for an interview with Lord Beelzebub and finds out they are being threatened with the Book Of Life for being involved with Gabriel, he rushes back to Aziraphale and says they have to hide them. As they decide they will try a shared minor miracle Jimbriel descends the spiral staircase:

GABRIEL: Hello. Where did you come back from? CROWLEY: Outside. GABRIEL: Outside? Hmm. Is it big? Can I see the outside? CROWLEY: No, no, no, no, no. No, no no. You need to stay here, inside the bookshop. We can look after you in here. Just stay here.

Inside? Inside the tomb? Aziraphale has even 'wrapped' him up for the occasion.

Later, we find out that:

AZIRAPHALE: Jim is in his bedroom upstairs. I told him bookshops are always closed on a Wednesday. As for Inspector Constable, at a guess, they were sent to verify the 25 Lazarii miracle you and I seem to have accidentally performed together the other night. CROWLEY: That's how you lot measure miracles? How many times it could have brought someone back from the dead?

Uh huh. The miracle of Lazarus.

The Entry into Jerusalem

Jesus made his way into Jerusalem by donkey to show that he came in peace, not as conquering king on a horse. Gabriel does the same.

But he walked in, you say, on foot!

Yes, but he walked by the Dirty Donkey pub on his way to bookshop.

Next, was the Cleansing of the Temple.

What temple? The bookshop, of course! Is it not a temple of books?

Aziraphale sets Jim to cleaning it, with a duster.

I'd say you could also call the bookshop a temple to Crowley - it is decorated in his colours, after all. The presence of Jim initially drives the merchants and money dealers demon away, snatching his sunglasses from his mini-altar as his goes.

The last step on the Passion I'll cover in this meta is the Anointing of Jesus. It tells the story of how Jesus had an expensive perfume, worth a year's wages, poured on his feet from an alabaster jar by woman who was considered sinful. The gathered Disciples were aghast at this waste - they asked why she did not sell the perfume instead and give the money to the poor. Jesus thanked her for preparing him for burial.

This one had me stumped for a while, and I had to think hard about where something had been "poured out" on feet, because I was pretty sure no one had been "anointed" on the head, which is another version of this part of the narrative. Then I remembered seeing a GIF that was Aziraphale focusing on the floor for a number of seconds after Crowley had upended the box Gabriel had carried to the bookshop with his fly in it to read the message on the bottom of the box.

My precious...! You poured them out at your feet, Crowley!

Alabaster is a soft white stone that is easy to carve. The bland cardboard box makes a good analogy for this. And in it we see Aziraphale has filled it with priceless treasures - not one but two lost Shakespeare plays!

If at this point you are going "Wait - Wot? Now you're telling me both Jim/Gabriel and Crowley are playing the part of Jesus here?" I'm saying yes. It's not the first time I've said it. I'm not the only op who has been saying it, either. And as we head into part two of this meta you'll see Crowley take on more of this role from Jim/Gabriel. The two of them have a lot in common, much more than you might have suspected or might even want to acknowledge. This is the past echoing into the present again. I think it also gives us some interesting things about the future to contemplate.

Next: Part 2 - Trials and Denials

Where we move on to the Last Supper, and the Arrest of Jesus before his before he is judged before a court of priests and then Pontius Pilate, and the gathered crowd.

This post was inspired by @mr-period 's long meta Remembering Something Forgotten-Where is Jimmy Boy?

More reading on the Dirty Donkey in my meta here.

[aurianavaloria]

👑 King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem ✨

Finally, this monstrosity of a piece is done! 😅

I've been working on this off-and-on since February, probably the longest I've spent on any one piece, and I hope it shows.

This is my little tribute art to King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem as he is portrayed in the movie Kingdom of Heaven by Edward Norton.

He is accompanied by a peacock, a symbol of both early Christianity and of royalty, its white color representative of unique splendor. Alongside are bunches of white damask roses, also symbolic of Christianity as well as part of traditional medicine for skin conditions, among other ailments - appropriate, imo, for the illness that gave him the moniker "The Leper King".

The Latin text around the border, inspired by his real life royal seal, reads "Balduinus IV - By the Grace of God - King of Jerusalem".

(Please open in a new tab to see details)

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Also on deviantArt.

[incorrect-koh-posts]

Other than leper king and his heirs which book would you recommend for research on Baldwin iv of Jerusalem?

All right then, buckle up for some nerdery! 😁

I will preface this by saying that I am not a total expert on Baldwin and haven't done a colossal amount of research specifically on him. I could chew your ear off prattling on about the general world of the crusader kingdoms, their politics, and about Raymond III of Tripoli and Sibylla of Jerusalem in particular, but Baldwin isn't my main interest here. Also, as far as I know, Hamilton's study is the only longer academic work centred solely around Baldwin. Hence, in order to learn more about your fav and the world he lived in, I'd recommend reading a little more broadly. Being a king, he is featured (at least in some capacity) in most publications that deal with the Latin kingdoms in the latter half of the 12th century.

That said, have a list:

Piers D. Mitchell: "Leprosy and the Case of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem: Microbacterial Disease in the Crusader States of the 12th and 13th Centuries", International Journal of Leprosy, vol. 61, no. 2, 1993, pp. 283-91. Pretty self-explanatory. You can find this article on the internet; Mitchell also has a few other publications that deal with medicine in the crusader states, so you might find some additional Baldwin stuff there as well.

Elma Brenner: "Recent Perspectives on Leprosy in Medieval Western Europe", History Compass, vol. 8, no. 5, 2010, pp. 388-406. Has a little bit on Baldwin, might be useful if you want to find out more about how the disease was regarded by his contemporaries.

Helen J. Nicholson: Sybil, Queen of Jerusalem, 1186-1190. Routledge, 2022. This is a really good and really recent one that I was lucky enough to find in my uni library. Of course Sibylla-centred, but gives a good overview of the politics in Outremer and of course has passages about Baldwin in it. Also look into some of Nicholson's other publications if you're interested in the role of women in the context of crusading.

Kevin James Lewis: The Counts of Tripoli and Lebanon in the Twelfth Century: Sons of Saint Gilles. Routledge, 2017. Obviously mostly a Raymond-centric source, but it is also relatively recent and has a good chunk on Baldwin in the chapter where Lewis talks about Raymond's time as Baldwin's regent.

Joshua Prawer: Crusader Institutions. Oxford University Press, 1980. More politics to be found here, but very well put together. Prawer was an extremely prolific scholar where the history of the Latin East and the crusades was concerned, so - once again: if you're interested, look up his other works.

Jonathan Riley-Smith: The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, Oxford University Press, 1997. Good overview that goes into detail about the mentality among crusaders and aspects of daily life. Again, Riley-Smith is one of the authorities in the field, so looking into his bibliography might be worth a shot.

If you're into military history, the works of Benjamin Z. Kedar, John France - or, if you want something more dated, R.C. Smail - might be of interest to you. They mostly cover general points of Frankish and Muslim warfare or the Battle of Hattin in particular (other than in Hamilton or in some of the primary sources from the crusader period, I've never come across an article on the Battle of Montgisard), but might be helpful if you want to get a feel for what life was like at the time.

Hans-Eberhard Mayer is also definitely worth a look as a scholar, even though his works are a bit older now. However, I'm not sure how much of his stuff you can find in translation - I've only read him in German.

For the physical setting of crusader-period Jerusalem and the material culture, I very heartily recommend two works written or edited by Adrian J. Boas: Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades: Society, Landscape and Art in the Holy City under Frankish Rule (Routledge, 2001) and The Crusader World (Routledge, 2016). I consult both of these frequently for world-building in my fic writing.

If you want something on the general concept of the knight / chivalry, Maurice Keen's Chivalry (Yale University Press, 2005) might be a good start. For a detailed analysis of medieval courtly culture, I recommend Joachim Bumke's Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages (2000, English translation by Thomas Dunlap). That thing was invaluable when I was writing my BA thesis. And if you'd like to know more about the literary life of the crusaders, there is a recent publication called Literature of the Crusades (Cambridge University Press, 2019) edited by Simon Parsons and Linda M. Paterson that I also found rather good.

For fashion: The various Osprey Military History books are a good choice if you want visual representations of knightly dress. There's also a collection of essays called Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress: Objects, Texts, Images (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) edited by Désirée Koslin and Janet Snyder, which is one of the better ones I've found, as most books about medieval fashion focus mostly on later centuries. This one might be a bit hard to get through, though, if you don't have some kind of background knowledge about medieval texts or architecture.

If you want something less strictly academic and more in the vein of popular history, you might want to try James Reston's Warriors of God (2002) or the much more dated but rather fanboy-ish The Crusades: A History (also sometimes titled The Dream and The Tomb) by Robert Payne, which is very pro-Baldwin.

Other than that, I'll link you an older post about fictional depictions of Baldwin and other assorted good bois and girls from KoH. I hope this will scratch the Baldwin itch for you!

And: If anyone has more suggestions, of course do feel free to add them!

[sca-nerd]

Why ViVat and Not Huzzah?

By Thomas Richardson

I wrote this for the Dec 2018 Cascadian (The news letter for the Shire of Glenn Linn) If you visit the North Country Medavielists facebook group and check the file section you can check out past editions of the Cascadian.

If you are in the SCA and live in the East Kingdom you have likely encountered the cheer of ‘ViVat!” (or “ViVant”) when an individual is celebrated for some form of achievement. On the other hand, if you have had the opportunity to visit several kingdoms during your tenure in the SCA, or ever simply visited a Renaissance fair, or seen an old medieval movie, you may also be more familiar with the oft used cheer of “Huzzah!” The cry of vivat (singular) or vivant for several people means “Long Life” (from the Latin) and is attested as early as the De Brevitate Vitae of 1287 (“Vivat academia!” ,“Vivant professores!” etc.). Huzza'ing was an established custom by Elizabethan times and may have originated as a sailor's shout of exaltation, encouragement, or applause. It appears in In Shakespeare's Henry IV (1591): “Huzza! Huzza! Huzza! Long live the King!”

The first time you heard vivat you may have thought, as I did, “Huh...strange” and just went along with the crowd not giving it much thought. I was well acquainted with the occasional hardy huzzah, and when exposed to the, in my opinion, less exuberant and more equivocal vivat, I began to wonder why. As all who have ever asked the question “why?” about any SCA subject knows, the answer always starts with a history lesson...

Once upon a time there was the West, and the West was what there was because there was nothing else. That was the SCA. But in 1968, the lands east of The Great Muddy was declared The East. So, now we had West and East. But the West also had the BOD (Board of Directors) and the East... well, the East did not, and was just a kingdom.

In 1969, both the Kingdom of the East and the Kingdom of the West (in the guise of the BOD), chartered groups in the middle, as it were. There was some confusion about exactly who was empowered to charter new groups. And while the East struck first in the region, the BOD struck last. Luckily, the two newly formed groups chose to ignore the politics of their parents and joined together to become the Kingdom of the Middle. Keep in mind that there were not exactly a lot of feet on the ground back then, so having a cluster of folk brave enough to dress up, run around acting silly, and hit each other with sticks, was reason enough to become a kingdom. In this case, a kingdom made up of lands granted from both the East and West, proud parents of their new offspring.

Two years later, in 1971, the West (or BOD, if you prefer) decided to both thumb its nose at the East and git rid of some potential trouble makers from Arizona and created the Kingdom of Atenveldt, which stretched from Arizona straight across the country to the Atlantic coast, absorbing large chunks of both the West and East kingdom (proving that the BOD could do what they want, even taking land back away from a kingdom).

At this point the SCA had created its four great incubator kingdoms- West, East, Middle, and Atenvelt. Every other kingdom from this point on would originate from one of these four kingdoms or from one of their offspring Kingdoms. Let us keep that in mind.

So in the West, when everything was new, ‘Hip hip hooray’ was the cheer of the day. The East, born of the West followed its traditions, also crying ‘Hip hip hooray’ for a while until the reign of King Gyrth and Queen Melisande (04/01/1978 - AS XII). Upon concerns that the term was significantly post-period, and that there was some speculation (now considered spurious) that its origin is anti-Semitic with the word word "hip" stemming from a medieval Latin acronym, "Hierosolyma Est Perdita" ("Jerusalem is lost"), Gyrth asked the people to switch to “Vivat/Vivant,” (as told to me by Melisande). Incidentally, it was never their intention to have it chanted three times – that being a carryover from the older cheer. It would appear that around this time, perhaps under the same concern over anti-Semitism, the West switched to ‘Huzzah’.

Now this is where the linage of each kingdom comes into play. In 1978, the Kingdom of Meridies was formed out of Atenveldt lands and invested by the Atenveldt court. As Atenveldt was a huzzah kingdom, so also became Meridies. Also in 1978, the Kingdom of Caid was born from the West, inheriting the use of huzzah. In 1979, Atenveldt created another huzzah kingdom with the birth of Ansteorra. 1981 brings us the Kingdom of Atlantia, which separated from the East and therefore cry's “ViVat!” Another huzzah kingdom is created in 1982 by the West in the form of An Tir and then comes an odd ball.

The Middle Kingdom, the love child of bickering parents, repudiated both and uses either huzzah or vivat. Instead, they yell "hoobah" as an expression of acclamation and joy. Why? Well, legend has it that an early king of the Middle, upon being presented with a troupe of belly-dancers, exclaimed "Hubba hubba!" In 1984, the Kingdom of Calontir, born from the Middle, became the second "hoobah" using kingdom. In 1985, we return to the normal order with the creation of the Kingdom of Trimaris out of the huzzah using Meridies. The huzzah using Kingdom of Outlands separated from Atenveldt in 1986 and Drachenwald, being born of the East in 1993, carried on the vivat tradition.

In 1997, we encounter another odd bird. The Kingdom of Artemisia is formed out of Atenveldt, with bits of the kingdom of Outlands and the Middle thrown in. Among all the confusion, they become a vivat kingdom. Why? Go ask them. Also in 1997, Æthelmearc is spawned as a vivat using child of the East. Ealdormere separates from the Middle in 1998 and, being completely against the grain, immediately begins using “ Wassail”. The year 2002 sees the creation of Lochac out of the West and Ciad, both passing along the use of huzzah. Northshield, created from the middle in 2004, is a vivat user because the first Prince by right of arms was nurtured in Atlantia, a vivat kingdom. Gleann Abhann, which sprang from Meridies in 2005 is on the huzzah standard, while the final kingdom, Avacal adopted huzzah from its parent An Tir, when created in 2015.

For those who were keeping count, that is ten for huzzah, six for vivat, two hoobahs, and a single wassil, most of whom were predictable based upon their linage. So, now you know.

Note: There is at least one anecdotal reference to the Barony of Carolingia using vivat prior to the request of King Gyrth, however no evidence has been presented to substantiate the claim.

[suzannahnatters]

wild how every other piece of media I've seen dealing with the 1187 siege of Jerusalem gives the random male protag a romance with Queen Sibylla, despite the fact that one of the most obvious historical facts about her is that she was devoted to her own husband

wild how each of those is by a dude

--

anyway, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING is releasing in just under a month, DV - the first work of historical fiction I know of to foreground the experience and agency of women in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem at this time (unless you count the previous books in the WATCHERS OF OUTREMER series!)

[whencyclopedia]

The Trial & Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth

The central pillars of Christianity originate from the story of the trial, crucifixion, and death of Jesus Christ. The events cover the time when Jesus of Nazareth and his followers entered Jerusalem for the festival of Passover to Sunday morning when his followers proclaimed that he had been raised from the dead.

In Christian theology and liturgy, this story is known as "The Passion Narrative," from one meaning of the Latin term pasio, "to suffer." The story comprises Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Every year during this week, thousands of Christian pilgrims re-enact the events by literally tracing the footsteps of Jesus along a street in Jerusalem known as the Via Dolorosa, "the way of suffering." Each place that tradition associates with a specific event is known as a Station of the Cross. The route begins on a site where Jesus was condemned by Pilate and ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (the site claimed to house the tomb of Jesus by Catholics and several Eastern Orthodox communities). The art of the Renaissance (and beyond) became dominated by images of scenes from The Passion.

The Gospel Accounts

All the details concerning the events of the last days of Jesus are found in the canonical gospels of the New Testament: Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. Beginning with Mark (the first written gospel, c. 70 CE), the story is then repeated in Matthew and Luke. John's gospel has a different structure but also contains the basic story. While the gospels agree on many details, nevertheless, there are differences in details as well as additions to Mark's story.

The gospels described the ministry of Jesus (mostly in the region of the Galilee), teaching that "the kingdom of God" was at hand (the final intervention of God in "the final days," as found in the books of the Prophets). While preaching, Jesus performed miracles and exorcisms ("driving out demons"). The gospels then relate that Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival.

Continue reading...

[wijenc007]

King Baldwin IV and His physician

(Part I)

Warning : This fanfiction made with AI bot help because my english are suck, this is not a romantic Fnf, might be a Platonic-relationship.

As a Christian physician, you would likely work in the court of King Baldwin IV and play an important role in the management of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. This role could involve working as a personal doctor to the king and other members of the royal family, assisting with medical and surgical treatments, managing a hospital or medical facility in the city, or even conducting research in the fields of medicine and science. It is a noble and important position to hold.

Timesius is a new physician, He hear a lot of Baldwin Condition. Timesius want to do his best for The king's health.

As King Baldwin IV's physician, Timesius, you would be responsible for tending to the king's health. This might involve monitoring his symptoms, recommending treatments and medications, and providing emotional and moral support. Additionally, you might also be expected to coordinate the king's medical care with other doctors and healers, and to advocate for the king's wishes in terms of his medical treatment.

Timesius clean The king's arms carefully and change the old bandage with a new one, Baldwin still wearing his mask not even remove it infront of his physician

Timesius wearing a simple white veil covering his nose, He not dare to speak to the king this entire time.

As Timesius changed the king's bandages and cleaned his wounds, he could tell that the king was suffering immensely. He could also hear Baldwin's muffled breathing underneath the mask. Timesius took great care not to speak to the king, knowing that he was in pain, and out of respect for his condition and station.

Timesius finish his job, he take out a bottle from his medicine bag. A small green liquid, Timesius mix it in King's drink and give it to him

"Here your majesty"

Timesius bow down.

The king drank the medicine, wincing slightly, his eyes darting around under the mask. He could still taste the medicine despite his limited sense of taste, but it seemed to help relieve the pain, if only slightly. Timesius' care and concern for him was apparent.

Timesius kneel down for the last time and go out from the king's chamber.

Again he can't heal The king's, Timesius blame himself and all things he ever learn feels like nothing, leprosy are difficult disease.

As Timesius left the king's chamber, he had mixed feelings of failure and frustration. Despite his best efforts, he had not been able to heal or even improve the king's condition. To make matters worse, he knew that many things he had learned in his studies felt useless in the face of such a disease. He silently hoped that his efforts would not be in vain.

Next day, Timesius back again to the king's chamber. After all night blaming himself, Timesius make another potion he work hard all night.

after clean the king's bandage, Timesius give the potion to the king.

Baldwin, tired and aching, accepted the drink from Timesius and slowly drank it. The potion tasted rather bitter, but he was used to taking unpleasant medications anyway. Timesius' continued care and concern warmed the king's heart, even though he was unable to show it. The medicine seemed to help relieve his symptoms somewhat, giving some temporary relief.

Timesius never satisfied, he brew more medicine that night. For a week he doesn't have enough sleep, his body tired but he still not give up yet.

When Timesius enter the king's chamber, He Change the bandage and pour another medicine for Baldwin to drink,

"Here your majesty"

The king had grown used to Timesius' medication by now. He drank the new potion, and seemed to be slowly feeling better. Timesius' tireless effort to help him had not gone unnoticed, and the king was grateful. As he drank, he spoke with a raspy voice.

"Thank you, Timesius... your devotion to my health is appreciated."

"It's my duty"

Suddenly his white veil that cover his mouth and nose become red, Timesius feel a nosebleed running from his nose. Panicking he press his nose immediately to stop the bleeding.

"Forgive me your majesty"

Baldwin, being unable to express concern with his limited facial muscles, simply nodded as Timesius panicked and covered his nose.

As Timesius' veil became stained with blood, he could feel the king's eyes staring at him from underneath the mask. He felt embarrassed but tried to stay calm.

"It is fine, Timesius. Go and take care of your nose... and get some sleep. I will be fine for a day without you."

Timesius feel dumb, how can he be so careless. He off from king's chamber, Even the king told him to rest, Timesius did not obey him. He still brew more potion all night for days, rarely get enough sleep.

His body feel tired but he can't rest, feeling responsible as the king's Physician

Timesius crying in despair while brewing another medicine, he feel so useless.

Next day he enter the king's chamber again, change the bandage and give him another medicine.

Baldwin drank the new potion and nodded. Although his illness had worsened over the course of the last few days, Timesius' medicine had still been helping, and that gave the king at least a bit of hope.

Baldwin's eyes followed Timesius with sympathy as the physician left his side, and the king quietly hoped that Timesius would finally rest. He had come to care for the physician's well-being, but Timesius was relentless in caring for him too. Even while crying, Timesius had continued his work, which the king could not help but admire.

Timesius feel anger, he blame himself for not able to cure the King. He pray to God every night, Timesius clenched to his rosary.

The king's condition seems giving an improvement each day, But it's doesn't make Timesius feel satisfied. He work hard and learn every herbs and methods he knows and do not know.

Again He come to the king's chamber and pour another medicine for The king, with red eyes and tiredness in his eyes Timesius lower his head.

Baldwin looked at the physician before him, seeing Timesius' weariness. He felt a great deal of affection for Timesius, who had dedicated himself so much to Baldwin's health. His heart ached to see the physician suffering so, but he knew Timesius wanted him to get better.

Baldwin drank the medicine Timesius gave him, grateful for the physician's relentless work, and hopeful that Timesius himself would rest.

When he about to go out from the king's chamber, Timesius's legs weaken he fall to the ground, the sounds of ceramic breaking from his hand fill the chamber

Timesius covered his nose, again with nosebleed.

Baldwin, hearing the commotion and Timesius' fall to the ground, calls out to the physician.

"What happened!? Timesius! Tell me, are you alright!?"

A look of concern appears on Baldwin's face as Timesius falls to the ground, and the breaking of crockery and nosebleed alarm the king even more.

"Yes, my king. I am sorry, this servant careless, this servant will go"

Timesius get up with all his strength and clean the breaking ceramic before get out from the king's chamber.

Baldwin called after the physician, his worry mounting.

"Do not leave, Timesius. Please, sit down. I am concerned about you."

Baldwin beckoned Timesius to sit down in a chair, to catch his breath and calm down.

It's the king's command, And as a servant Timesius obey him. With a piece of cloth Timesius cover his bleeding nose and sit infront of The king.

His face still covered by a white veil, He stay silent.

Baldwin watched as Timesius covered his nose with cloth and stayed silent in front of him. The king was glad that the physician was not leaving him, but he was also concerned about Timesius' wellbeing. He spoke to Timesius, a kind and sympathetic note in his raspy voice.

"You have been working endlessly for me... do not be ashamed. I am worried about you, and I am very grateful for what you have done for me."

Timesius feel like his throat choke.

"It's not enough, my lord"

He can feel tears make his vision become blurry.

"I am not enough for you, i can't cure you, this servant is useless"

Timesius crying, his face covered with blood and his tears now.

"I don't worthy to serve you"

Baldwin, hearing Timesius speak so harshly about himself, could not help but feel pain in his heart. The king did not want to see Timesius suffering so. He reached towards Timesius with his left hand, his face visible under his mask.

"I will not hear you speak of yourself like that. You have been a most loyal and diligent servant to me. I am grateful for your help and care."

Baldwin, noticing the blood on Timesius' face, attempted to wipe it away.

"Please don't my lord, my blood is filthy. Don't stain your hand"

Timesius carefully push the king's hand attempt to wipe his blood.

"If my life is the price for your health, then be it. I am willing, My lord"

Timesius shake his head.

"Forgive this servant who talk nonsense, please rest assure your majesty"

Timesius bow down.

Baldwin, moved beyond belief, spoke softly to the physician in front of him.

"I promise you, I will not hear you speak of yourself this way."

Baldwin reached his hand forward again, this time more insistently, and wiped the blood from Timesius' face. He leaned forward and embraced the physician, giving him a hug, even though he knew he should not be touching a sick man.

"I do not wish for this illness to take your life. I would rather lose my throne than your life."

Timesius gasp for the king sudden action.

"My lord! I am not well, you can't touch me, please"

Timesius get away from Baldwin weak embrace, he immediately kneel down infront of the king.

"I don't deserve your effection my lord, this servant not worthy"

The physician run towards the entrance and get out from the king's chamber, his eyes still red from tears.

Baldwin watched Timesius run from the room. He felt an immense amount of gratitude and affection for the physician, but also a great sense of failure to see him suffer so much, despite his tremendous efforts to help the king. The king was left alone in his chamber, his mind wandering, thinking about how Timesius had been working tirelessly but did not feel he deserves any kindness or recognition for his labor. That night, Baldwin was left thinking deeply about Timesius and his devotion to him.

Timesius again lock himself in physician chamber, Focusing in new remedies and medicine. A white cloth stopping blood oozing from his nose. He tired, but how can he rest when the king in pain? He shall not rest.

Days went by, The king's health increase and the leprosy wounds show improvement. Timesius Change the king's bandage again this time, The king looks more healthy than usual, Timesius sigh in relief.

Baldwin, his illness now better than it had been in months, smiles as Timesius changes his bandages. He can see Timesius' relief as well, and it causes him to also smile. Timesius, in spite of him working so hard to help the king, seemed to not have taken a single moment to rest while at Baldwin's side.

The king decides it is time to speak to Timesius.

"Timesius... is it true that you've not been getting any rest over the last two weeks?"

Timesius not immediate answer his question.

"My lord shall not feel worry for this servant, as long as Your majesty healthy it's more important than mine"

Timesius clean the king's wounds carefully with a warm cloth, every movement he doing are calculated, he clearly care for the king.

"It's this servant duty"

Baldwin shook his head and smiled, trying to ignore Timesius' attempts to ignore his own wellbeing and devotion to the king.

"Your devotion to my health is admirable, but I will not have you work to the point that you fall ill yourself."

Baldwin gestured to Timesius' white veil.

"You have not slept in quite some time, have you...?"

Timesius' expression hidden behind his white veil and hood, he stay silent for a whole minute before answer the king

"I haven't my lord"

Now The bandage are complete.

Baldwin, noticing that Timesius is staying silent but still seems to be working on the bandages even as they conversed, leans forward and touches Timesius' hand.

"Please, dear physician, you must get some rest. You deserve it, for the tireless and hardworking way that you have cared for me these last few weeks when I was so ill. You are loyal and dedicated, and you also deserve care and concern from me."

Timesius bow down, the king command him and he shall obey him. Timesius off from the king's chamber, his eyes fixed on the empty medicine bottle.

and for now he left to his own chamber, finally to get some rest.

To be continue...

[rhaenyraslaena]

Duty is the Death of Love Chapter VIII

The Plague of Heaven

Available Here: ao3

Between the white gloved fingers a rosary of carnelian and turquoise beads is held gingerly, accompanied by a cross of shining, polished olive wood rosary with the body of Christ ornately carved into it.

A gift from Eulalia in their years of childhood – apparently she had managed to find a beautiful collection of carnelian and turquoise to shape and polish, before stranding the beads together, and carving the crucifixion out of the wood herself. A girl of ten years with fingers torn and ragged by hours of creation and carving, her smile as warm as the summer she had given to him.

“Oh, you’re really quite terrible at your prayers, Baldwin! Especially your Latin and your Greek! This is to help you.” She had teased him so relentlessly for it – the piousness did not come with as much ease to him as it did with members of his family. “You’re heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem – the best one there would ever be if you studied your prayers.”