Godfrey of Bouillon
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History: Godfrey of Bouillon was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1060 A.D., as the second son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida, daughter of the Lotharingian duke Godfrey the Bearded by his first wife, Doda. Unlike most second sons born to the nobility, Godfrey seem bound to become a landless knight subject to his elder brother who would inherit their father's lands and title. But in his sixteenth year, his maternal uncle Godfrey the Hunchback, died childless after having named the young Geofrey as the sole heir and next in line to his Duchy of Lower Lorraine. This duchy was an important one at the time, serving as a buffer between the kingdom of France and the German lands.
In fact, Lower Lorraine was so important to the German kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire that Henry IV, the German king and future emperor, decided in 1076 that he would place it in the hands of his own son Conrad and give Godfrey only Bouillon and the Margraviate of Antwerp as a test of Godfrey's abilities and loyalty. Godfrey served Henry IV loyally, supporting him even when Pope Gregory VII was battling the German king in the Investiture Controversy. Godfrey fought alongside Henry and his forces against the rival forces of Rudolf of Swabia and also took part in battles in Italy when Henry IV actually took Rome away from the pope.
From the beginning, Godfrey's skills in battle and leadership were tested by a wide array of enemies, both from within his family and from without. The year 1076 saw him succeed as the designated heir to his uncle's lands minus those the Henry IV gave to his own son in trust. From the outset, Henry IV designated this a test of Godfrey's abilities and as a youthful ruler he struggled to maintain control over those lands the German king had seen fit to bestow on him. Numerous noble claims were made against the lands controlled by Godfrey, some by his uncle's widow, the Countess Matilda of Tuscany and a veritable murder of aristocratic crows and noble clergy.
As these enemies united to take away all his lands for themselves, Godfrey's brothers, Eustace and Baldwin, both came to his aid. While the struggle was long, it was his loyalty to Henry IV that proved his worth and earned back the Duchy of Lower Lorraine in 1087. Despite these struggles, Godfrey's name and deeds would likely have been lost to all but the most obscure history books, were it not for his decision to join with other like minded nobles who joined the First Crusade. It was within the Crusade that he proved his worth time and again culminating in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.
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