| WOOO!!!! Hurray! Hurray! Three Cheers Today! |
[07 Jul 2009|06:32pm] |
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WOOOO!!!! Guess what?! Kiwi-chan managed to procure The Leper King and His Heirs - along with seven other books about the Middle Ages/ Jerusalem/ Crusades!!! Wooo!!! Vanderbilt Library ROCKS! They were SUPER heavy, though. At least I got a bag. DId you know libraries have bags now? O.O Amazing, isn't it?
But alas, The Leper King and His Heirs isn't quite exactly what I thought it would be. Hamilton doesn't describe Baldwin IV too much (if at all, really) just the forces surrounding his life. I'm not quite exactly done with the book, only on the chapter about "The Kingdom" but that's the impression I have so far. While it is an invaluable source for my book and for any Baldwin IV fanatic in general, can't it be more abotu Baldwin?
And to address what klytemnestra (did I spell that right?) said before about degrading to Baldwin fanfics, I'd like to ask everyone how they think the King should be portrayed. I imagine him to be incredibly intelligent, devoted to his people and to God, courageous, tough, self-sacrificing, accepting if a bit melancholy - but who wouldn't be if they had leprosy?
P.S: YAY!! More people are posting!!! :D
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[06 Jul 2009|03:17pm] |
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Well, I'm here to adress the topic of why this community seems so dead. There's like 100 something members and barely anyone posts? I feel sad. It's the same on Facebook, too. It's as if we're abandoing our beloved King! I know that's slightly irrational and melodramatic but that's who I am.
On a happier (sorta XD) note, I have finished ONE PAGE of my novel. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I've FINALLY gotten a feel for King Baldwin's character - it was really hard, since he never complained and was so self-sacrificing and so Chrisitan. And to hype myself up, I lsiten to all songs on the Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack (almost all of them made me cry) and so, I present to you, MY FAVORITES:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mDmpd5Vxww The King (bawled my eyes out, for obvious reasons)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydUXwRSZnK0&feature=related Crusaders (Basically the theme song, made me cry)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkq-8wB1bjc&feature=related Swordplay (Definetly has that Medieval hype, I was actually happy to listen to it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V38nRWZQGvk&feature=related Light of Life (I feel like dancing to it, and look! It has moving pictures! :P XD)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcSYH69ZXu8 Europa (It's not from the movie, it's just cool)
XOXOLOVE(and lots of it!),
BAD-Q (Kiwi-chan)
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| Ah....the Death of Originality. |
[05 Jul 2009|01:32pm] |
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Well, since it's okay to obsess over King Baldwin...a least here, it is, I think I will. It's been about a week since I saw Kingdom of Heaven and right from the start when I saw the King, I said, "I like him," but alas, we had to return KoH to the freaking Holly wood Videos!!! *anger* And I've had to resort to Google to find out all I can (as in, historical facts to back my book). And I also read some Fanfics I read about in this community.
Now, the thing that so grieves me about the Fanfics I read was that most of them concerning King Baldwin were that he fell in love with some girl. GYARGH!! I suppose it's naive of me to think that no one's ever had quite an idea like that before, but WAAAAHH! I already had the plot and several scenes worked out in my mind and then I read these monstrous Fanfics (which were written quite well >.<) and I just kind of died inside. What if people think I copied?! Quelle horreur! My story is not EXACTLY the same, but it does have some things in common. Like King Baldwin falling in love, and one story even had him married which was also an idea I had. There is just no room for originality now! I bemoan my situation and am currently learning how to write like a person lviing in the Middle Ages.
XOXOLove + Pain,
BAD-Q (Kiwi-chan)
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| Hi! |
[03 Jul 2009|08:50pm] |
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Hi! I'm new here and the whole reason I joined LiveJournal is because of this community and their (your) love of Baldwin IV. It's a plague, I tell you! Ever since I saw Kingdom of Heaven I've been OBSESSING over the King. Didn't much care for the pretty boy Orlando Bloom, just the King. So I've just gotten out of a depressed slump because he died and how sad it all was - I am a sucker for tragic stories. I started researching the King because I've been inspired to write a book(one of my many that I'll probably NEVER finish), and I found you guys! Nice to meet you all ahead of time and can you please help me learn how to operate LJ?
Thanks ^.^,
BAD-Q (Kiwi-chan)
P.S. Sorry for the newbiness.
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[29 Jun 2009|04:52pm] |
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Dark Medieval Times - Satyricon |
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Today I started to search some classical books on my house library, and I found a book in Spanish that was published in 1961. The title is "Cuentos y Leyendas de las Cruzadas" (I translated it as "Tales and Legends from the Crusades") and it was written by Maguelone Toussaint-Samat.
It has a couple of tales based on the different crusades... Obviously, I started to search one by the time of the Third Crusade, and oh! Yes! I found a story that started with the life of our beloved king, Baldwin! :D (Oh joy, party! Seriously, I was so happy)
The legend is not very interesting, though. Is the typical Reinald/killer, Guy/stupid, Agnes/bitch kind of story. Anyways, I translated the Baldwin fragments so you could share my delight :D (I hope I did it decently...)
It touched my heart a lot the way that Baldwin is depicted here. It reminds me from Wilde's "The happy prince" by an odd reason, alas... *sigh* ( The leper king and Reinald the Perjurer )
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| Two little things :D |
[20 Jun 2009|06:39pm] |
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Vollmond - In Extremo |
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It really hasn't much to do with the community, but...
Yesterday I went to a concert in Barcelona. It was a group that played songs from mixed mediterranean cultures (arabs, jews, Spanish and Italian people... that kind of mix :D). Their third song was about southern Spain when it was occupied by the muslims (Al-Ándalus, as they named it) and since part of my family ancestors were from there I was so happy ^^
But then they played a jewish song from Jerusalem and I was SO MUCH MORE happy *___* They explained that this was a song to sing at the temples: churches, synagogues... It was absolutely breath-taking and beautiful, and I couldn't help myself to think about some blond leper king in outremer *sigh*
And! The serious, non/melancholic/Shakespearean topic XD
I love Arthurian legends. If someone here is into them too, perhaps they remind the Fisher King, who keeps the Holy Grail. He is wounded, so he can't have any heirs. His infertility is also the death of his land, so they will disappear together: a lot of knights travel from a lot of lands trying to heal him, but only the chosen could accomplish the feat. In the earlier stories it is Sir Perceval.
"Perceval, the Story of the Grail" was an unfinished romance written by Chrétien de Troyes between 1181 and 1191, and dedicated to Philip, Count of Flanders. It is the earliest recorded account of the Quest for the Holy Grail and the story of Perceval and the Fisher King is explained here. But what interests me is the parallelism between this legend and the life of Baldwin IV and Philip. The Count Philip was Baldwin's cousin (like Perceval and the King, as some sources suggest) and he went to the crusades to help Baldwin and his kingdom. Like Perceval, he failed on his first attempt. Perceval had to return to the castle later, in order to accomplish his mission. Philip also promised to return to the Holy Lands. He did it on 1190, but he died arriving at the Siege of Acre one year later because he developed an illness, so he cannot keep his promise.
What do you think? Is it possible that, in some way, Chrétien had written his story thinking about Philip and Baldwin's lifes, and representing them with symbols? :D
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| A little help, please! :3 |
[29 May 2009|04:42pm] |
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Seven Tears Are Flowing To The River - Nargaroth |
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As some of you know, I am writing a little story featuring our dear king. Unfortunately, I haven't purchased Hamilton's book yet (I think this could be very important to know historical Baldwin better) and though I have read a lot of him through Internet I fear to don't portrait him well. First of all, my story would happen by this historical time, but the most important part will focus more on philosophy, so I wouldn't classify it as an historical tale, for example.
I want to ask you how would you say that Baldwin was in real life to compare it with my point of view about him. I always see him as an intelligent young boy, mature enough to know when he has to let his kingdom affairs to more expert men. I think he was also very brave and dedicated to his kingdom, the kind of person who had nothing to lose in his life but also, someone who gave it all for the well of his kingdom. I suppose he would also have a more cynical, dark side that would have developed from the thoughts about his leprosy. I don't know why, but I always see him with a good sense of humor x)
Physically, I have heard he was tall, slender and blond, with blue eyes and an aquiline nose.
So, what do you think?
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[23 May 2009|12:38pm] |
Hi! At last with the help of my sister I sat at the table and translated one more part of Elena Haezkaya's "Kingdom of Heaven". That's the part when Baldwin got disappointed in Guy cos he failed to defeat Saracens and so Baldwin called back for his uncle. The first translation you can find at http://planeta.rambler.ru/users/balduin-anzhujjskijj/ See the new part in the comments)))
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[22 May 2009|12:34pm] |
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Lucifer - E Nomine |
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Hello there! I'm new to this community and to Live-journal :3
I am very interested into literature, music, aesthetics and history (mainly the Crusades and the French Revolution!) and I admire so much the historical figure of King Baldwin. My interest on him started when I saw KOH...XD But well, now that I have done some research I know more about what is an historical fact and what is "artistic creativity" from Scott...
I love writing as well, and I'm doing a little story about the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem at the time of Baldwin the Fourth (he is not the main character, but a pillar to the story ).
My name, by the way, is Mónica, and I'm from Spain.
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| Another Book |
[10 May 2009|03:04pm] |
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Title: The Road to Armageddon (The Last Years of the CRUSADER KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM)
Author : W.B. Bartlett
Published Date : 2005
This book is written in the same style as The Leper King & Heirs, and is a pretty smooth read. But whereas Hamilton strove to be as impartial as possible, this author often stuffs personalities into pigeonholes. Bartlett constantly reminds us that Reynald de Chatillon is a bloodthirsty, disobedient, slightly unhinged marauder and the bad side is only balanced by a simple "oh he was a good solider no doubt but dear readers please do not forget he really was bat shit insane". His treatment of Agnes would make William of Tyre smile because it's really biased and cruel. Templars as a whole sect gets mud slung at them often. Raymond, Balien and Baldwin of Ibelin are classed as the reluctant heroes but what really got to me is how he described King Baldwin's reign. His portrayal is confusing, the author sometimes states that he was too ill to stand up to the overbearing personalities around him and how various people ran roughshod all over him, but in the same paragraph says that he was by no means a pussy. Montgisard only gets two lines and an entire chapter titled 'The Leper King' is dedicated to describing how ineffectual Baldwin's reign was and how it wasn't really the poor boy’s fault because his story was such a human tragedy. Frankly, I think the author has two personalities.
The partitioning into evil vs good is apparent even in the summary by the simple fact that Bartlett uses the phrase "Hawks and Doves" .I don't know if anyone in this community has reviewed this book before but this is my humble but irate opinion. Btw: Has anyone read The Cross and the Dagger, the continuation of Alamut by Judith Tarr? (Does Baldwin play a major part in it or does it simply revolve around the two immortals with the oversized egos? LOL)
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| Youtube crap |
[03 May 2009|04:21pm] |
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Hey, Baldwinities. I want to say a few things about youtube. That video that I made about KoH and Baldwin was deleted! ;(( So, I don't know what to do. I actually made this video just for you, so I can re-upload it but you know, it will be deleted after some time anyway.. So, what should I do?
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| Easter in Jerusalem |
[12 Apr 2009|10:04pm] |
Easter in Baldwin's city, brought to you by Susan-Mrs.Baldwin-Delgado. If the links don't work copy them into a search thing whatever that is, I'm a fucking idiot to computers, you know what I mean.
The City (right) in spring
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09006.jpg
Jerusalem gardens
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09010.jpg
Older part of the wall in the Citywall - perhaps from Baldwin's time? Suuure!
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09016.jpg
In the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09026.jpg
The Holy Sepulchre
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09049.jpg
View from the Dome - unfortunately we were sent down after a few minutes. You cannot go up there normally. It's the Armenian part.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09059.jpg
Godfrey of Bouillon plaquet at the Latin part
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09070.jpg
VII-th station
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09084.jpg
The back of the Holy Sep and Coptic church
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09100.jpg
St. Jacob's church, renovated in the crusades' era
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09101.jpg
Plaquet
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09103.jpg
The gift shop of the previous church - the non-plus-ultra of good taste and decency...
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09106.jpg
You gotta agree, I had to film that;
http://s334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/?action=view¤t=2009-04-09109.flv
One of the few (medieval? I guess so) sculptures that remained intact on the Holy Sepulchre
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09133.jpg
Come with me to the Holy Sepulchre!
http://s334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/?action=view¤t=2009-04-09134.flv
Totally unrelated; pizza Obama. Had to shoot that.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/2009-04-09159.jpg
Good Friday;
Everybody is awaiting eagerly the arrival of the King...
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/2009-04-10004.jpg
...or not?
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/2009-04-10007.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/2009-04-10011.jpg
Franciscan friar
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/2009-04-10020.jpg
This is a sort of little chapel at the Latin part, opening from a smaller chapel, I photoed it as I can totally see William of Tyre and his bright little pupil studying here. Noble kids, incl. that of the royal family learned in the Basilica, I don't know where I have read that but seems pretty logical.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/2009-04-10024.jpg
The chapel. Prayer before and after every lesson.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/2009-04-10035.jpg
All light and sound; imagine it in the middle ages!
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/2009-04-10061.jpg
Last but not least; a video of the Procession;
http://s334.photobucket.com/albums/m405/SusanofMejis/My%20life%20in%20Israel%20from%202009-01-18/2009-d-april/April-10/?action=view¤t=2009-04-10072.flv
Baldwin sends his warm greetings and urges all of you to visit soonish. Don't keep the dude waiting ;D
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| Happy Easter! |
[11 Apr 2009|09:20pm] |
Paste Fericit!
(a.k.a. Happpy Easter)
It's that time of the year again! ^_^ Hope all Baldwinites have a great time this upcoming celebration!
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| Just wanted to say thank you |
[26 Mar 2009|03:19pm] |
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Hi everyone,
Thank you for recommending all the books about Baudouin's time. I went to the library and took out "Alamut', 'The Wandering Unicorn' and 'Jerusalem'. The first two books were so old that they had to fetch it from a dusty basement. LMAO. But I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading Cecelia Holland's Jerusalem, her portrayal of the King was very realistic. The last battle retelling moved me to tears because at several points in the story after Baudouin dies, people lament what the Kingdom has come to, and you KNOW it could've been prevented if Sybilla did as her brother wished. Or maybe...he was the glue that held Jerusalem together and even if Guy was never was crowned, the kingdom of heaven would have fallen.
I'm a Master's student in Bioinformatics and spend my entire time researching genes and DNA. I've never done any medieval history or had any interest in it, but the character of Baldwin in the movie led me into the wonderful world of crusaders and courts. I especially have to thank this community for having so much info on him (I confess that the slash makes me blush) . DNA sequences are so bloody uninteresting when you compare it with studying history so I'm very happy that I was inspired into journeying into that exciting world.
I'm a little apprehensive about reading the Wandering Unicorn because the fairy-character ticks me off. But I'll endure her somewhat annoying musings until I get to Jerusalem and Baldwin.
I wish all of you Baldwinites the best of luck!
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king_baldwin
creative
silly
(