The story of Baldwin IV — the leper king "without a face", which won even lying

Kings in all times is called sun and the subjects should have been familiar with his monarch in the face. But there is in history with the exception of the king of Jerusalem Baldwin IV without a mask seen of the unit the closest. For his people he became a "king without a face" fair, courageous and endlessly miserable. The tragedy of king was his illness — from his childhood he suffered from leprosy, the disease makes a person ugly is an outcast.

Baldwin IV is one of the most fascinating rulers in history. From the very beginning of his life he was haunted by tragedy and setbacks, but he not only could become king, but remained in memory as a beloved monarch, the defender of his people, a commander and a true hero.

King Baldwin IV was born in 1165 in Jerusalem, the family of the king of Jerusalem Amaury I and Queen Agnes de Courtenay. The only son was the pet of his father — the king has spent a lot of time to raising her son and even personally taught him the tricks of sword fighting, archery and horse riding.

Amory I was fascinated by the way Baldwin, being just a kid, endures the blows of the wooden sword, fall from horses and other troubles. But by the age of 9 the mystery of the dead Prince to pain was revealed — court doctors diagnosed the boy with leprosy, the first symptom of which is loss of sensation.

Leprosy, or as it is now called leprosy is tages chronic disease caused by the mycobacteria Mycobacterium leprae. It affects the entire body, from the skin, and ending with the nervous system, blood vessels and bone tissue. The leper is literally rotting alive, gradually losing the human form, and then sight, hearing and, at the last stage of the leg.

Scientist Guillaume of tyre inspects the hands of Baldwin, smitten with leprosy

Even today leprosy difficult to treat, and in the Middle ages such diagnosis was for a person sentence. A leper was expelled from society, before swiping a terrible rite of being buried alive. A patient dressed in a shroud, laid in a coffin and burial service. Then his face was covered with the hood of the hoodie and on the neck hung a bell.

The funeral service of the lepers. Medieval miniature

The knights of St Lazarus, who was a patron of Amaury I, the court gave not scared to send Baldwin the leper colony. They are sworn to protect him with a gun in his hand, and then, under oath, showed that leprosy does not apply to is highly contagious ailments such as the plague.

The Christian warrior-monks knew this firsthand, because it was the only order of chivalry, who took into their ranks leprosy patients. The knights, who fought for decades in the Holy Land and treated pilgrims and warriors, knew a lot about the disease and they were right — no one in the entourage of Baldwin was not sick with a terrible disease.

The knights of St Lazarus

The boy was allowed to remain in society, but for security reasons he was obliged to wear a long tight garment that covers the whole body and a mask hiding the face, wracked with illness. When Baldwin was only 13, his father died and the boy became king of Jerusalem.

We should also talk about the Kingdom, which fell to the young monarch. For 75 years, until his coronation by the French knights during the First crusade stormed which then belonged to the Muslims Jerusalem and founded the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But the Saracens did not want to accept the loss because in the city there were not only Christian relics but also the Holy places of Islam.

Sultan Saladin. The picture of the book of the 15th century

Baldwin was well aware that his days were numbered and tried to do as much as possible for his Kingdom. He didn't have wives and mistresses, he didn't kill time on the hunts and endless jousting tournaments — all his strength the young king spent on strengthening and protecting your Kingdom.

With its main enemy Saladin Baldwin faced in the first year of his reign. Army led by 13-year-old king suddenly laid siege to Damascus and forced the army of the Sultan to flee Aleppo. From this moment almost all the short life of the "king without a face" was held in military campaigns.

The army of Saladin is several times larger than the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but this did not prevent Baldwin IV to defeat the Muslims at the battle of Mongitore in 1177. This was the era when kings fought at the head of his troops, and Baldwin was no exception. Despite the fact that the disease has struck one of the hands of the monarch and it was hard for him to hold the reins, 16-year-old commander was always in the thick of battle.

The battle of Mongitore. Artist Charles Philip Lariviere. In the center on a stretcher Baldwin IV

On 10 April 1179 year, during the fight with the nephew of Saladin in Baneasa woods, Baldwin fell from his horse and the frightened animal noise escaped. Only the intervention of constable (Marshal) of Onfroy II saved the king's life, but he is a loyal officer killed. The enemy, almost celebrating the victory, was again defeated.

After this incident, the king went into field on a stretcher, but always demanded to carry him to the most dangerous places. The example of the king in the mask inspired his soldiers to heroic deeds. Saladin himself spoke about his young opponent with great respect and said: "While this boy in Jerusalem, the town will fall."

Baldwin IV passes the crown to his nephew Baldwin V

He was forced to hand over the reins to the Regent — guy de Lusignan, the husband of his sister, which was considered the sick king, will be able to continue his work. In November the year 1183 Saladin treacherously broke the truce, which lasted two years, and laid siege to the fortress of Kerak, which this time was celebrated the wedding of the second sister of Baldwin.

Indecisive guy de Lusignan was unable to organize the defense of the fortress and chained to the bed the king had again to lead the army. Baldwin IV at the head of the squad urgently moved from Jerusalem to help the defenders of Kerak, the king was carried on a camp bed, tied between two horses. Nova and hero won, forcing Saladin to escape.

The funeral of Baldwin IV, miniature 15th century

Unfortunately, Baldwin V, once named in honor of the heroic uncle, did not inherit his courage, determination and wisdom. It is relying on Regent Raymond II, feebly defended from the attacks of Saladin, preferring swift strikes and defense maneuvers. In the end, just two years after the death of the brave "king without a face", the Sultan captured Jerusalem and the history of the Kingdom over forever.