Defending the City of God: A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem

Medieval historian Newman (The Real History of the End of the World) takes readers to the 12th century Near East, where European Crusaders clashed with Muslim denizens over the territory, with sacred Jerusalem at its center ruled by the dynasty of controversial Queen Melisende. We follow the queen’s father, Baldwin of le Bourq, from his acquisition of Edessa in the Middle East to his election as king of Jerusalem and his death, which resulted in Melisende’s joint coronation with her husband, Fulk. Melisende grew up “subject to the machinations of men with swords and armies” and developed both a keen understanding of the politics of multiculturalism and a sense of diplomacy from observing her father’s mistakes. Newman relates the challenges to her authority, first by her husband, and later by her son, King Baldwin III, and praises Melisende’s sister, Alice, and their shrewd mother, Morfia. Newman also provides the perspective of the Muslim Turks, the first development of “jihad” sentiment, murders of Sunnis by Shi’ite assassins, and atabeg Imad al-din Zengi’s reign of terror. Though Newman’s account relies on a good deal of speculation, it is well-reasoned and effectively corrects a bias against Melisende by historians. Maps. (May)