Baldwin I of Jerusalem death, thought that "al-Bardawil" had started the First Crusade. Presenting a fictional correspondence between Baldwin and Roger I of Sicily, Al-Athir claimed that Baldwin had initially wanted to conquer Ifriqiya, but Roger, who wanted to secure the territory for himself, talked into him into attacking Jerusalem. Among modern historians, Thomas Asbridge states that Baldwin was one of the commanders of the First Crusade "whose skill, ambition and devotion drove the enterprise, and by turns threatened to rip it apart". Christopher Tyerman emphasises that Baldwin was a talented military commander and a clever politician, who "established a stable kingdom with defined
Baldwin of Luxembourg good terms with the Capetian court of France. He was only twenty-two years of age when elected Archbishop of Trier in 1307. In 1308, he was consecrated bishop by Pope Clement V in Poitiers. He quickly became one of the most influential princes in Germany, influencing the election that year of his brother Henry VII as King and Holy Roman Emperor. From 1310 to 1313, Baldwin accompanied Henry in Italy, where he was crowned emperor in Rome on 29 June 1312. In the election which followed Henry's early death the next year, Baldwin lent his support to Louis the Bavarian.