The Stavelot Bible (1093–1097): A Masterpiece of…

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, whom Ladislaus I had supported against Pope Urban II in his last years, writes a letter to Duke Álmos after Coloman's victories over the marauding crusaders.

The emperor states that Coloman had "neglected" imperial "interests because of his own necessities" and asks the duke to intervene on his behalf at Coloman.

However, Coloman—a former bishop—does not continue his predecessor's foreign policy and joins the pope's camp.

Coloman marries Felicia, a daughter of Roger I of Sicily—a close ally of the Holy See—in 1097.

Her sister Constance had married Conrad, the elder son of Emperor Henry IV, in 1095, after he rebelled against his father and joined the pope's camp.

Prince Boleslaw’s childhood had occurred at a time when a massive political migration out of Poland was taking place, due to Sieciech’s political repressions.

Most of the elites who has become political refugees had found safe haven in Bohemia.

Another consequence of Sieciech’s political persecution had ben the kidnapping of Zbigniew by Sieciech’s enemies and his return from abroad in 1093.

Zbigniew had taken refuge in Silesia, a stronghold of negative sentiment for both Sieciech as well as his nominal patron Wladyslaw I Herman.

In the absence of Sieciech and Boleslaw, who had been captured by Hungarians and kept captive, Prince Wladyslaw I had then undertaken a punitive expedition to Silesia, which was unsuccessful and subsequently obliged him to recognize Zbigniew as a legitimate heir.

In 1093, Wladyslaw had I signed an Act of Legitimization that had granted Zbigniew the rights of descent from his line.

Zbigniew had also been granted the right to succeed to the throne.

Following Sieciech and Boleslaw’s escape from Hungary, an expedition against Zbigniew had been mounted by the Count Palatine, its aim the nullification of the Act of Legitimization.

The contestants had met at the battle of Goplo in 1096, where Sieciech’s forces had annihilated the supporters of Zbigniew.

Zbigniew himself had been taken prisoner, but regains his freedom a year later, in May 1097, due to the intervention of the bishops.

At the same time his rights, guaranteed by the Act of Legitimization, are reinstated.

Simultaneously a great migration of Jews from Western Europe to Poland has begun, coincident with the First Crusade.

The tolerant rule of Wladyslaw I Herman attracts the Jews, who are permitted to settle throughout the entire kingdom without restrictions.

The Polish prince takes great care of the Hebrew Diaspora, as he understands its positive influence on the growth of the country’s economy.

The new Jewish citizens will soon gain trust of the gentiles during the subsequent rule of Boleslaw III.

Bretislaus II, who in 1092 had succeeded his uncle Conrad I as Duke of Bohemia, is a major enemy of paganism who works for the destruction of the old Slavic culture.

In 1097, he expels the Slavonic monks of the monastery in Sazava, founded in 1033 by Procopius.

Bretislaus also wishes to end the elective principle of succession and replace it with a type of seniorate as conceptualized by Bretislaus I: the eldest prince of the reigning family will hold Bohemia as sovereign over the entire state while the younger scions of the dynasty will rule as territorial dukes over the regions of Moravia.

This is to the benefit of his half-brother Borivoj II.

He invests Borivoj as duke of Brno in 1097, thus removing the sons of Conrad I from the succession.

Petar Svačić had assumed the throne of Croatia amid deep tension throughout the Kingdom.

His predecessor, Stjepan II (1089–1091) had died without leaving an heir, sparking a major political crisis.

Jelena or Ilona, the widow of King Dmitar Zvonimir had supported her brother, King Ladislaus I of Hungary, in the inheritance of the throne of Croatia.

A part of Croatia's dignitaries and clergy who did not support Ladislaus' claim had meanwhile elected nobleman Petar as King, who immediately deployed the military to defend Croatia's borders from Hungarian attack, but too late.

Ladislaus, who had probably devised a military strategy two years earlier, launched an offensive and managed to breach Croatian lines along the Drava River.

The well-prepared Hungarians had soon occupied the entire province of Slavonia but were halted by the Croats at Mount Gvozd (nears today's Karlovac).

Ladislaus died in 1095, shortly after his army's success, leaving his nephew Coloman to continue the campaign.

King Petar's troops have maintained their resistance, repelling Hungarian assaults for nearly two years.

Coloman, grown frustrated at his army's impotence, in 1097 assembles an enormous force at the eastern foot of Mount Gvozd.

The subsequent offensive is brutal and absolute, resulting in Petar's death.

Five years of negotiations between Croatia's remaining noblemen and Coloman follow.

The Hungarian troops reach as far as the Adriatic Sea and occupy Biograd na Moru, an important port.

The citizens of two other towns—Trogir and Split—threatened by the advance of Coloman's army, swear fidelity to the Doge of Venice, Vitale Michiel, who has sailed to Dalmatia.

Coloman, having no fleet, sends his envoys with a letter to the doge in order to "remove all the former misunderstandings concerning what is due to one of us or the other by right of our predecessors".

Their agreement of 1098—the so-called Conventio Amicitiae—determines the spheres of interest of each party, by allotting the coastal regions of Croatia to Hungary, and Dalmatia to Venice.

Peter travels south in 1097 to inspect his fortress at Castellón, though the Historia Roderici claims that he came to help Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called El Cid.

He meets Rodrigo in Valencia and with a large force already assembled they decide to reinforce the southern frontier fort of Benicadell, rebuilt by Rodrigo in 1091.

As they are passing by Játiva they are met by an Almoravid force under the command of Mohammed, the nephew of Almoravid leader Yusuf ibn Tashfin, and the commander whom Rodrigo had defeated at the Battle of Cuarte in 1095.

They decide to hastily restock Benicadell and retreat to Valencia via the coast, but are met at the Battle of Bairén by Muhammad's forces encamped on the high ground that reached almost to the sea.

A small Almoravid fleet had been assembled from the southern ports, including Almería, and the Christians are trapped between arrow fire from the ships and the cavalry perched atop the hill.

Rodrigo rouses the troops with a speech and the next day at midday the Christians charge.

The Battle of Játiva ends in a rout, with many Almoravids killed or forced into the river or the sea, where many drown.

Peter and Rodrigo return to Valencia in triumph and thanking God for the victory, as the Historia records.

The Cid had been married in July 1074 to kinswoman Jimena de Gormaz (spelled Ximena in Old Castilian), the daughter of the Count of Oviedo and a kinswoman of Alfonso VI.

This was probably on Alfonso's suggestion; a move that he probably hoped would improve relations between him and El Cid.

Together El Cid and Ximena have had three children.

Their daughters, Cristina and María, have both married high nobility; Cristina, to Ramiro, lord of Monzón and bastard descendant of kings of Navarre; María, first to Infante of Aragon and second to Ramón Berenguer III, count of Barcelona.

El Cid's son, Diego Rodríguez, is killed while fighting against the invading Almoravids at the Battle of Consuegra in 1097.

Peter's first marriage, to Agnes of Aquitaine (betrothed 1081), had been arranged by his father and performed in the capital of Jaca in January 1086.

His second marriage, to a certain Bertha, probably from Lombardy, is officiated in Huesca on August 1097.

This represents the transfer of the capital of Aragon from Jaca to the larger city of Huesca.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, had conquered the province of Valencia on June 17, 1094, then joined forces with Peter I of Aragon later that year in Burriana to cement an alliance with the end goal of doing battle with the Almoravids.

Under this agreement, El Cid departed in December of 1096 with the aid of Aragonese troops to bring weapons, ammunition and general supplies to the castle of Sierra de Benicadell.

The castle itself had been retaken by El Cid in October of 1091 to control access to Valencia from the south via the interior route.

Muhammad ibn Tasufin, commander of the Islamic forces, marched to intercept the combined Christian forces at Xàtiva.

Throughout January of 1097, from that position, he threatens and harasses the forces of El Cid and Peter I of Aragon, who manages nevertheless to reach the castle at Sierra de Benicadell and resupply it.

While El Cid and the king are marching north, they camp at Bairén, a place situated a few kilometers north of Gandía.

The Almoravids manage to take the nearby high ground at Mondúver (at eight hundred and foirty-one meters above sea level), from where they were able to harass the Christian camp.

In addition, General Muhammad has managed to bring a fleet of ships, both Almoravid and Andalusian, onto the nearby seashore from which archers and crossbowmen are able to catch the Christian forces in a crossfire.

The situation appears desperate, but El Cid harangues his troops one morning, ordering them to conduct a frontal charge and assault on the Almoravid forces, breaking their center.

By midday, the attack is in full swing.

The Almoravids, taken aback by the courage and desperate nature of the attack, break and flee the field in disarray.

The chaotic nature of the Muslim retreat leads many Almoravid soldiers to drown in the river that crosses their path of retreat or in the sea as they try to reach the safety of the Almoravid armada.

The Christian army is able to come away from the battle with a great deal of victory spoils after looting the Almoravid camp.

After the battle, they are able to continue, in safety, to the city of Valencia.

Emperor Henry IV had attempted to reverse his fortunes by seizing Matilda's castle of Nogara in 1095, but the countess's arrival at the head of an army forced him to retreat.

In 1097, Henry withdraws from Italy altogether, after which Matilda reigns in Tuscany virtually uncontested, although she will continue to launch military operations designed to restore her authority and regain control of the towns that had remained loyal to the emperor.