ابن الأثير الجزري
Fulcher of Chartres described Baldwin as his subjects' "shield, strength and support; their right arm; the terror of his enemies." The Muslim historian, Ali ibn al-Athir, who completed his chronicle a century after Baldwin's 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 him into attacking Jerusalem.