Baldwin Chauderon

Baldwin Chauderon (died 1097) was a knight from Berry who was killed during the siege of Nicaea.^[1][2] It is unclear whether or not he belonged to any of the major armies of the First Crusade.

Baldwin was described by William of Tyre as “a rich man and a good knight”^[3] and is associated in William's work with Baldwin de Ghent^[4] (presumably Baldwin II, Lord of Aalst,^[5] part of the army of Robert II of Flanders), and Guy de Possesse^[6] of Champagne. All three died on the same day, with the two Baldwins dying of an unknown illness and Guy dying from a stone that the Turks had catapulted onto his head. (Note that other sources say Baldwin de Ghent died when shot by an arrow.)

Their bodies were carried to a church dedicated to St. Simeon by men from Flanders and Burgundy who held a vigil, lighting 30 candles until the sermon the next day. They were buried in a nearby churchyard. The three knights were immortalized in the poem La Chanson d’Antioche.

Sources[]

• Handyside, Philip D., The Old French William of Tyre (a Translation of William of Tyre's History of the Crusades and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1095-1184, Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, 2015
• Sumberg, Lewis A. M., La chanson d'Antioche, Picard, Paris, 1968
• Riley-Smith, Jonathan, The First Crusaders, 1095-1131, Cambridge University Press, London, 1997
• Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades, Volume One: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Cambridge University Press, London, 1951
• Prof. J. S. C. Riley-Smith, Prof, Jonathan Phillips, Dr. Alan V. Murray, Dr. Guy Perry, Dr. Nicholas Morton, A Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land, 1099-1149 (available on-line)

References[]