Baldwin IV, the Leper King, as played by Edward Norton in the movie "Kingdom of Heaven".Baldwin's time was one of the high points of the medieaval kingdom of Jerusalem-- a relatively peaceful, stable, and prosperous 12 year reign.
He had leprosy the whole time of his reign, until he died at 24.
4 comments:
I saw that movie and especially liked his character. Wasn't Heath Ledger in that movie too?
I'm reading "The name of the Rose" right now and while the setting is different the conflicts are similar;warring religious ordersin the Catholic church.
I'm also developing a real desire to reconnect with my catholic roots. Perhaps becoming a neo-catholic or something like that.
I read "The Crusades through Arab Eyes" this summer, and I remember this Baldwin. It's a good book for anyone who's interested in what the hell the Arabs were thinking and doing all that time.
i read "the dream and the tomb", an account of the Crusades from a british historian whose name escapes me.
it's a fascinating and bloody period in european/arab relations.
His name was Robert Payne. They say he was ' the greatest historical prose writer of this age.' Or something equally bloated. But it was a good book.
So many of those Crusading types DIDN'T go on Crusade for Christs teachings of love, peace and tolerenac. CAN YOU BELIVE IT?! Some had only thier own personal gain in mind when they went to rape and pillage the Middle-East.
It's a good thing we learn lessons from history. It's also great that our leaders put those historical lessons into practice in thier approach to foreign policy.
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