Geoffroy de Lyon (1163-) was a French crusader knight who served the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Principality of Antioch during the Crusades of the late 12th century. He came to the Holy Land in 1187 and first swore himself in service to King Guy de Lusignan of Jerusalem through his vassal Count Joscelin III of Edessa, later choosing to serve Antioch during its war with the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
Biography[]
Journey to the Holy Land[]
Geoffroy on the ship to the Holy Land, 1187
Geoffroy de Lyon was born in Lyon, Kingdom of France in 1163, the son of a nobleman. He was trained as a knight, but, as he was his father's second son, he decided to take up the cross in the Levant in 1187 and spend the rest of his life in service to the Christian cause during the Crusades. He was ferried from Italy to Palestine by the Pisan captain Gentile Valier, and both of them were eager to arrive in the land of Jesus' birth, the "legendary land full of milk and honey" which Geoffroy recalled from the Bible. On 20 January 1187, the ship arrived at a Templar outpost near Acre, where Geoffroy first set foot in the Holy Land. He met with the traveller Yvo Pascal, who told him of the present situation. In recent years, both King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and his son Baldwin V of Jerusalem had died, and Guy de Lusignan was now on the throne. Saladin and "his Turkic dogs" were up to something, with Jerusalem being their inevitable target. Pascal then told Geoffroy about the history of Jerusalem, about the Ayyubid sultan Saladin, about the military orders (with Pascal explaining that he was a Templar, dedicated to safeguarding the repopulation of the Holy Land and exterminating "the shadow of infidel and idol worship"), and about the fearsome Turkish horse archers.
Arrival in Acre[]
Geoffroy then entered the city of Acre to see the city for himself, riding into the city on horseback and passing by townswomen, pilgrims, priests, nobles, and guards who were coming and going through the gate. He met the guild master, Guimart De Saint-Pierre, who told him that Acre was the most dangerous city in the Holy Land, as it had the highest rate of bandit attacks on travellers of 42 towns. He then visited the castle, where he met with Count Joscelin III of Edessa and offered to serve the Kingdom of Jerusalem; Joscelin agreed, telling him that he would be bound to King Guy de Lusignan for no less than one month.
Pilgrimages[]
Geoffroy entering Jaffa
Geoffroy then decided to visit Jesus' childhood home of Nazareth, and, along the way, he and his party of European knights and Turcopoles were ambushed by Hennequin Hauet's band of Frankish brigands. They killed all of the brigands, and they then entered Nazareth, finding that the once-quiet village had been turned into a fortress. Geoffroy visited the castle and paid his respects to Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem before leaving, deciding to visit Caesarea (the former Judean and Roman city of Caesarea Maritima, visited by Paul the Apostle during the 1st century AD). There, he spoke to both Latin guards and Arab townsfolk while walking its streets and taking in the history, and he also introduced himself to Lady Juliana Grenier at the castle. He then visited Jaffa, an ancient coastal city named for the Biblical prophet Japheth, and then the towns of Lydda (where he spoke with village elder Ambroys Deniau) and Jesus' birthplace of Bethlehem (where he spoke with elder Luquin Simon). Finally, Geoffroy decided to travel to the holy city of Jerusalem itself, the ultimate goal of his pilgrimage. He visited the Tower of David, which had been converted into the royal palace of the Kings of Jerusalem in 1099, and he met the guild master Aubin About before wandering the streets of the Old City (including a trip to the Western Wall).
First battles[]
Geoffroy in Azotus
Along the way, he met William IV of Saint Omer, who hired him to track down and slay the criminal Raurque of Suno, who was hiding out in Azotus. He met with the village elder Laurens Beaubois, who told him that he could search around the village for the criminal, as people frequently came and went. Geoffroy found and confronted Raurque, and he slew him after Raurque attempted to attack him. After leaving town, Geoffroy slew the Saracen bandit Humaidaan al-Radwan and 12 of his 16 fellow bandits near Mirabel, and he then met Lady Marie de Tripoli before returning to William on 22 January and collecting his reward of 300 denarii. William then sent him to collect taxes from the village of Le Destroit, meeting with the village leader Robert Sylvestre before enforcing the collection of 2,863 denarii from the villagers. At dusk on 24 January 1187, while riding out of Le Destroit, Geoffroy came across a battle being fought halfway between Jaffa and Lydda, and he decided to join Geoffrey I of Lusignan's army. He was wounded amid the battle, but he took part in the final charge which smashed al-Kamil's Saracen force. Afterwards, Geoffroy met with William of Saint Omer, who told him that he wouldn't forget the great battle near Jaffa when they "broke through the enemy lines and they ran screaming before (them)." He then collected the Le Destroit tax income from Geoffroy, but he let him keep 573 of the denarii - a fifth of the tax - as payment. Afterwards, Geoffroy then spoke with Count Geoffrey, who needed him to capture three Ghulam Askaris for a prisoner exchange. Along the way, he helped Raoul of Saint Omer fight off a band of deserters, and he later came across Radwa al-Aboud's band of Arab brigands and bribed them with 1,088 dinars in exchange for their service. This was seen as a disgrace by his men, as they hated the presence of Muslims in their army. Shortly after, he hired a band of pilgrims to join his ranks. He then sought out a tavern where he could ransom off his prisoners, but, along the way, his party was ambushed by Enguerrand Affré's Frankish brigands, who were mostly well-armed deserters. The 14 brigands overpowered and massacred Geoffroy's 23 men, and Geoffroy was taken prisoner. He managed to escape after several days in captivity, although he lost his irreplaceable old comrades, who had ridden into battle after battle with him.
Geoffroy then hired Garnot Deniau and 3 fellow crossbowmen to serve in his recreated warband, paying them 704 dinars. Geoffroy then visited the castle of Nablus, and he and his party fought off Intisaar el-Ashraf's band of desert bandits as they left. He then went about hiring new warband members, and he met the former Queen Maria Komnene of Jerusalem at Nablus castle and interacted with various Christian war and trade parties travelling throughout Palestine. During his travels, he met Hugh II of Saint Omer, who introduced himself as the Lord of Tiberias and Hattin, and Guy de Brisbar, who was Lord of Ramla and Montgisard. He later met King Guy de Lusignan on a visit to Jerusalem, and Guy hired him to bring three fleeing parties of peasants from Jericho back to the town before they could escape Guy's taxes and head to Tiberias. Guy convinced all three groups to return home, but, as only one group succeeded, Guy only paid Geoffroy a third of the reward. He then hire Geoffroy to deliver a letter to Gerard de Ridefort at Tortosa within 30 days, so Geoffroy travelled into the Principality of Antioch to deliver the letter to the Grand Master. He did not find him in Tortosa, so he travelled further into Syria to find Ridefort. He visited the major city of Tripoli, where he met Hugh and Raoul of Saint Omer's mother Eschiva of Bures, and he later met the Templar seneschal Aimon de Ais, from whom he learned of Ridefort's location; Ridefort was on campaign in Armenian Cilicia.
Service to Antioch[]
The Siege of Ayas
Geoffroy delivered the letter to Gerard, and he then went on to meet Robert de Sable in Antioch; de Sable then hired Geoffroy to deliver a letter to Baron Simon of Amouda in Servantika. He did so successfully, but, as he left, he noticed a large Antiochene army invading Armenian territory in Cilicia. He rode to meet Bohemond III of Antioch, and, as his month-long service to King Guy had just ended, he offered his sword to Bohemond, who offered to feed him, pay him, and give him room for promotion as a soldier in the Antiochene army. He went on to fight at the Siege of Ayas, distinguishing himself by slaying the last two defenders. Geoffroy then remained with Bohemond's army, being paid weekly for his service.