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As heir to and co-regent of Edessa, Baldwin’s first task was to repel the Turks, a task he set out to accomplish with much vigor. With a force of knights and Edessene mercenaries, Baldwin embarked on an expedition against Samasota, the neighboring emirate. He was accompanied by the Armenian princeling, Constantine of Gargar, a vassal to Thoros. The Edessenes, though, were poorly trained soldiers, and they weren’t well equipped. They were crushed by the Turks, a thousand of them slaughtered in the event. Baldwin, though, had better luck simply because of how skilled he and his troops were in the art of warfare.
Baldwin managed to capture St. John, a village situated near the Emir’s capital. He then fortified the village and ordered his knights to patrol the roads leading to and from Edessa. This resulted in a sharp decline in Turkish raids, giving the Edessenes reason to celebrate Baldwin’s prowess. His victory foreshadowed Thoros’s fate.
Sometime in February 1098, a conspiracy against Thoros was hatched. The people of Edessa, including Constantine of Gargar, plotted to dethrone Thoros in favor of Baldwin. Historians continue to debate over Baldwin’s involvement in this conspiracy. His friends, including the famed historian, Fulcher of Chartres, claimed Baldwin’s innocence. Besides, the Armenian Christians have always resented Thoros’s allegiance to the emperor Alexius I Comnenus and the Greek Orthodox Church. They hated him even more for the heavy taxes he forced them to pay. Above all, Thoros was unable to defend them. Understandably, the Edessenes wanted to replace Thoros with a leader who would protect and look after their best interests.
It was quite likely that Baldwin did support the conspirators given how determined he was to rule over Edessa. The Armenian chronicler, Matthew of Edessa, writing in the twelfth century, suggests that Baldwin did in fact betray Thoros. “Baldwin discovered evil counselors in Edessa, traitors who plotted with him to have Thoros killed and promised to hand Edessa over to him. Baldwin agreed to join them.”
Thoros, terrified and deserted by everyone, offered Baldwin a large amount of treasure: gold, silver and purple robes in exchange for his life. Moved by the Duke’s pleas, Baldwin “pleaded for him resolutely with the people’s leaders and urged that they should spare the prince.” But it was too late. The people wanted Thoros dead. “Baldwin and his people were greatly saddened at this since they were unable to obtain mercy for the prince,” Fulcher wrote.
In early March, the conspirators struck. Thoros attempted to escape by climbing out of the window in his throne room. He scaled the wall, but was shot down in the street by a raging mob. “Cutting off his head, they carried it fixed on a spear through all the quarters of the city for everyone to mock,” Matthew of Edessa wrote.
No one knows what had happened to Thoros’s wife because no evidence was recorded.
Baldwin Becomes the Count of Edessa
Baldwin had achieved what he set out to accomplish: he had obtained the principality of Edessa.
Edessa wasn’t in the Holy Land, Baldwin realized. It was in Asia Minor. But Baldwin realized that a Frankish state near the Euphrates would be militarily and economically advantageous to any Frankish state that might be set up in Palestine. He also discovered untold wealth in his principality: a vast store of treasure in the citadel, Thoros’s taxes. Those treasures enabled Baldwin to buy support from the Armenian Christians and also gave him the means to strengthen Edessa against the Turks.
Baldwin did not have much to worry about, though, because the Emir Balduk of Samasota was terrified of him. When he learnt that Baldwin was preparing to attack his city, he offered to sell his Emirate to the Frankish prince for ten thousand bezants. Baldwin gladly accepted this offer, making him wealthier. He made sure the Arabs living within his realm were leaderless, but allowed them the freedom to practice their religion.
Thanks to Baldwin, the decades long Turkish threat to the Armenian principalities in Asia Minor came to an end. When other crusaders learnt about his success, they were envious. Baldwin, once penniless, now possessed greater wealth and power than Raymond, Count of Toulouse. Under Baldwin’s leadership, Edessa flourished economically.
Baldwin persuaded several knights to abandon the siege of Antioch and join him at Edessa. He rewarded these men handsomely from his treasuring, urged them to marry Armenian ladies and appointed made them his vassals.
As for the Armenians; they were not much better off than they were under Thoros’s rule. Baldwin taxed them equally as heavily and exempt their men from high ranking positions in society. Yet, as deeply as the Armenians resented that, they didn’t dare revolt against Baldwin. He was, after all, their protector. Without him, Edessa would be doomed and so would all of the neighboring Armenian principalities.
Sources Used:
Krey, August C. The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesss and Participants. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1921.
Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades: The First Crusade. Vol.1. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1951.
Various contributors. Chronicles of the Crusades: Eye-Witness Accounts of The Wars Between Christianity and Islam. Bramley Books; Portugal, 1997.
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