The character of Baldwin IV raises inescapably emotion, as shown by its staging Ridley Scott in the now famous movie Kingdom of Heaven (2005). Struck by leprosy, one of the most symbolic ills of the Middle Ages, a synonym of sin, Baudoin IV became king of Jerusalem at age 14, in 1174. He is then faced with a critical situation of the Latin states of the East, threatened by a formidable opponent: Saladin. Three years later, Baudoin wins the battle of Montgisard an ephemeral success in the image of the existence of the young man. Baudoin, who despite the terrible suffering imposed by the disease remains a "king on horseback", however, is overwhelmed by the impulse of a unified Muslim world behind Saladin, by the intrigues of his sister Sibylla married to second husband Guy of Lusignan which, aided by the Seneschal Joscelin of Courtenay, spreads Raymond III of Tripoli, perhaps the only statesman of time can save what could be (it is the character of Tiberias in Kingdom of Heaven). Not to mention the fantastic conducted this character, but probably too decried by sources, as was Reynald of Chatillon (also present in the film, seen through this prism and then, precisely). Baudoin will ultimately have very little reigned, while the kingdom of Jerusalem is undermined by the defeats that flow against Saladin, by the unrest provoked by the quarrels of factions within the nobility and clergy of the Earth Ste. His successor Baudoin V reign a year before giving way to Guy de Lusignan, whose reign saw the disaster of Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem (1187). The reign of Baldwin IV, ultimately, is the image of the future of his kingdom, which did not fail to note the contemporary, as Archbishop William of Tyre, which is also a major source of the events.
The book by Pierre Aubé (professor at Rouen for thirty years) reads like a historical novel, and this also in some characteristics: the narrative is omnipresent, as untranslated Latin quotations for the layman (!). The bibliography is there, but very dated, with only a few recent books, but too little. The historian goes here in the tradition of René Grousset, great storyteller of the Crusades but also the history of peoples of the steppe. Unfortunately, too often, poor quality-cards -here are reported end of the book. So do not look to this book to update knowledge or approach on Baldwin IV in light of recent historiographical works, but a somewhat dated story on one of the great characters of the Latin East (the first edition dates back to 1980 ...).
