Pagan the Butler

Pagan the Butler (Latin: Paganus Pincerna; died around 1149) was lord of Oultrejordain in the Kingdom of Jerusalem from around 1126. He was first mentioned as the butler of Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1120. He ordered the erection of Kerak Castle which became his seat in 1142.

Career

Kerak Castle (at present-day Al-Karak in Jordan)

Pagan was an influential retainer of Baldwin II of Jerusalem who mounted the throne in 1118.[1] Baldwin soon reorganized the royal court and appointed his faithful supporters to the highest offices.[1] Pagan was first mentioned as the king's butler in 1120.[1] Hans Eberhard Mayer argues that Pagan the Butler (who was mentioned in 1120) and Pagan of Montreal (mentioned in 1126) were not identical, but other historians have not accepted Mayer's view.[2] Pagan replaced Roman of Le Puy as lord of Oultrejordain by 1126.[3] According to a royal charter which was issued in 1161, Pagan was the first lord of Oultrejordain, which implies that Le Puy had not ruled the whole territory of the lordship.[2]

Initially, Pagan had his seat in the castle of Montréal.[4] After he could not prevent a band of Syrian soldiers from making a raid across the Jordan River,[5] he decided to build a new fortress at a triangular plateau at the Wadi al-Karak which was located closer to the Dead Sea and Jerusalem.[4] He transferred his seat to the newly built Kerak Castle in 1142.[4][6] Pagan died in the late 1140s.[7] He was succeeded by his nephew Maurice.[6][8]

References

1. Murray 2000, p. 128.
2. Milwright 2008, p. 28.
3. Murray 2000, p. 228.
4. Kennedy 1994, p. 45.
5. Runciman 1989, p. 230.
6. Barber 2012, p. 163.
7. Barber 1994, p. 106.
8. Runciman 1989, p. 335.

Sources

• Barber, Malcolm (1994). The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-60473-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Barber, Malcolm (2012). The Crusader States. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11312-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Kennedy, Hugh (1994). Crusader Castles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79913-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Milwright, Marcus (2008). The Fortress of the Raven: Karak in the Middle Islamic Period (1100–1650). BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-16519-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Murray, Alan V. (2000). The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History, 1099–1125. Prosopographica et Geneologica. ISBN 978-1-9009-3403-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Runciman, Steven (1989). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-06163-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)