Sunday, March 16, 2014

Baldwin IV of Jersusalem

829 years ago today, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem succumbed to the leprosy that had afflicted him since childhood. Despite being almost crippled by his affliction at age sixteen, he personally led a force of only 375 knight into battle against the 26,000 strong Ayyubid army at the battle of Montgisard to total victory, wiping out all but ten percent of Saladin's army (the worst of his rare defeats) and postponing the inevitable siege of Jerusalem for a decade.

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