King Fulk of Jerusalem (1131–1143)

King Fulk of Jerusalem or Count Fulk of Anjou V, later Fulk, King of Jerusalem. He was the grandfather of Henry II, ruler of England and France. Fulk was born between 1089 and 1092 in Angers, Pays de la Loire in France. He was the son of father Count Fulk IV of Anjou and mother Bentrade de Montfort. In 1092 Bentrade later left her husband and went to marry  King Philipe I  de France, despite  never officially obtaining a divorce from Fulk’s father. Fulk became count of Anjou after his father died in 1109; in 1110, he married Erembourg of Maine. He had a daughter Matilda and a son Geoffrey of Anjou. Fulk was a gentle and pious man, although said to have an embarrassingly bad memory for names and faces. 

Fulk  went  on  a  Crusade  in  1119  or  1120;  his  involvement  with  the  Knights  Templar  began  during  this expedition to the Holy Land, including the stipend of two Knights. He returned to France in late 1121 and was planning to go back to Angiers in 1127. He received a group of ambassadors from King Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1127. While, Baldwin had no male heir  to  the  throne,  he  had  chosen  his  daughter  Melisende  to  rule  Jerusalem  upon  his  death.  However,  Baldwin needed a powerful lord to marry her and safeguard his daughter’s inheritance. Fulk  was  good  nominee,  because  he  was  a  wealthy  crusader,  an  experienced  military  commander  and  a widower, as his wife Erembourg had died in 1126. Fulk, however, did not immediately agree to Baldwin’s terms and insisted on not only being the consort of the Queen. Rather, he wanted to be King of Jerusalem in his own right. Baldwin reflected Fulk’s proposal and accepted it.

His relations with the Templars, and his marriage to Melisende. He came not by conflict, but from political relations.

Once he and Baldwin came to an agreement, Fulk gave the county seat of Anjou to his son Geoffrey and went to Jerusalem. He and Melisende married on 2 June 1129. Their son Baldwin III was born in 1130. The couple became joint rulers after Baldwin II died in 1131. Fulk brought French influences to the kingdom. For example: he allowed countrymen from Anjou to settle in Jerusalem. Other Crusader states from the North of possible invasions from Fulk to their territory. These states included the Principality of Antioch or the County of Tripoli. The leaders  of  the  Crusade  states  saw  Fulk  as  illegitimate  for  possible  reasons:  They  saw  him  as  less powerful then Baldwin, Fulk didn’t follow Baldwin’s orders on the throne, and he was not from Jerusalem, he was from far away. In 1136, Fulk and Melisene’s second son, Amalric I, was born. 

After Baldwin’s death, Fulk quickly took sole control of the governance of Jerusalem, excluding Melisende. The second  Generation of Jerusalem Christians on the whole supporting  the  Queen’s family, including her cousin Hugh II of le Puiset. He was very devoted to the Queen and saw Fulk as a rival. In 1134, Fulk accused Hugh of infidelity with Melisende. Hugh rebelled in protest and secured the city of Jaffa. He resisted Fulk’s army until the Patriarch, the Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem intervened the Conflict.  •  This was called the revolt of Hugh of Jaffa. Later, a peace treaty was signed; Hugh was exiled for four years. When Hugh was assassinated in his exile, Fulk or his supporters were accused, but there was no concrete proof to show their involvement. The  scandal  was  enough  for  those  who  supported  the  Queen  to  initiate  a  palace  coup  and  take  over  the government. Fulk’s supporters were terrorized in the palace, and the king was unable to fight back. This resulted in Queen Melisende’s direct control over the government from 1136 onwards. 

Fulk aimed to secure Jerusalem’s northern borders; in particular his greatest concern was the rise of Atabeg Zengi of Mosul, a Turkish King of the north Zengrid dynasty. In 1137, Fulk was defeated in a battle at Barin by Zengi. He subsequently allied himself with Mu’in ad-Din Unar,  the  vizier  of  Damascus,  as  the  vizier  was  threatened  by  Zengi  as  well.  Fulk  captured  the  fort  of Banians, in the north lake of Tiberias and then secured the northern border. Fulk also strengthened the southern borders; fortresses were built in Kerak to the south of the Dead Sea. And have connection with Jerusalem to the Red Sea. Fulk also had forts built in the south – west in order to overpower the Egyptian fortresses at Ascalan. The city was  a  base  to  launch  frequent  raids  on  the  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  His  plan  was  to  neutralize  the  threat against the Egyptian Fatimids. In 1137 and 1142, the Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus arrived in Syria attempting to impose control over the crusader states His arrival was ignored by Fulk, who declined an invitation to meet the emperor in the capital city. Because of being against John’s assertion of authority. He was willing to cooperate with non-Christian empires to succeed in his goals, including Adin Unur, leader of Damascus.  

In 1143, as the king and queen holidayed in Acre, Fulk died in a horse riding accident. When carried back to the city, he lay unconscious for three days before dying. He was buried in the church of the Holy Sepulch in Jerusalem. Melisende mourned him privately and publicly, despite the previous conflict in their marriage. Queen Matilda of Jerusalem succeeded to the throne, which was later taken by her son Baldwin III. 


References:

Conder (C. R.), The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, New York, 2011.

Tyerman (Ch.), God's War: A New History of the Crusades, Harvard University Press, 2006.

Melisende of Jerusalem (1131–1153)

Melisende was probably born around 1109, the eldest daughter of Baldwin II, count of Edessa, and his wife Morphia. Baldwin became king of Jerusalem in 1118, and named Melisende heiress to the kingdom in 1127 after it was apparent that he would have no male heir.

Melisende and Fulk’s marriage was celebrated in early June 1129, and at that time her father the king endowed them with the cities of Acre and Tyre to be held during his lifetime.

Through Melisende, the status of heir to the throne was transmitted to Fulk. Their marriage must have been a grand occasion of celebration in the kingdom, and all of the important barons and churchmen would have been present.  Within a few months of the wedding, Melisende became pregnant with the couple’s first child and heir, the future Baldwin III, who was born in 1130.  

Baldwin II died on August 21, 1131, and he was mourned with “great pomp and ceremony.”  He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, next to his predecessors at the foot of Mt. Calvary known as Golgatha.  On September 14, Holy Cross Day (an important feast day in the crusader kingdom), Fulk and Melisende were “solemnly crowned and consecrated, according to custom, in the Church of the Sepulcher of the Lord, by William, patriarch of Jerusalem, of happy memory.”

One of the most interesting developments at this time during Fulk and Melisende’s reign was an alliance between Jerusalem and Damascus.  Zengi, the leader of Aleppo, had entered the territory of Damascus with a hostile army and Mu’īn ad-Din Unur, the Muslim ruler there, appealed to the crusaders for aid against this common enemy who threatened all of them.  Not only did Unur agree to pay for the campaign, but he also promised to restore the city of Banyas, which had been conquered from the Christians some years before but had come to be held by Zengi.  He also promised to ensure the treaty with noble hostages, relatives of his army commanders.

Fulk and Melisende agreed to the treaty’s terms, but not before lengthy deliberations with the barons and clerics in the High Court were held.  After the hostages had arrived, Fulk’s army marched out to join the Damascenes accompanied by Patriarch William and, although Zengi retreated, the two armies began a fierce siege of Banyas, where the prince of Antioch and the count of Tripoli and their forces joined them as well.  The city surrendered in 1140 and keeping his word, Unur handed it over to the crusaders.  Patriarch William and Fulcher, archbishop of Tyre, who was also present chose Adam, the archdeacon of Tyre, to be the city’s bishop, and then it was returned to its former Lord Renier de Brus, the constable of the kingdom.

Fulk’s death in November of 1143 dramatically altered Melisende’s political life and the future of the kingdom’s monarchy.  Her political power and authority as queen were to grow far beyond that which she had enjoyed after her second son Amalric was born.  William of Tyre recorded the circumstances of Fulk’s tragic accident.  Visiting Acre with Fulk, Melisende of Jerusalem had proposed a trip outside the city to a place that had many springs.  The king and queen had ridden together with the royal escort and a party of servants.  Along the way, the group surprised a hare, which fled from its burrow and aroused shouts and attention.  Fulk grabbed his lance, joined the other men in the hunt, and urged his horse on recklessly.  Suddenly, his horse stumbled and fell, throwing him onto the ground where his heavy saddle struck his head and crushed his skull.  The members of his escort who had joined him in the pursuit rushed to his aid but it was too late.  

Melisende and the rest of the train caught up quickly and were horrified by the sight. The queen “tore her garments and hair and by her loud shrieks and lamentations gave proof of her intense grief.  Flinging herself upon the ground she embraced the lifeless body.  Tears failed her through continual weeping; frequent sobs interrupted her voice as she tried to give expression to her grief; nor could she do justice to it, although she cared for naught save to satisfy her anguish.  The people of the household also manifested their grief by tears, words, and aspect and gave plain proof of great sorrow.”

They bore Fulk to Acre, and still unconscious, he died three days later on November 10.  He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher next to his predecessors at the foot of Mt. Calvary.  As Fulk and Melisende’s son Baldwin was only thirteen years old at this time and Amalric only ten, “the royal power passed to the Lady Melisende, a queen beloved of God, to whom it belonged by hereditary right.”

Thus, Melisende took over the government but, as William of Tyre emphasized, did not do so as regent for her eldest son.  Future events would demonstrate that she took up her new role at the death of her husband because she knew it was her responsibility to do so as the kingdom’s reigning queen.  Through her unexpected widowhood, she gained an extraordinary amount of independence.  She would make the most of it and do whatever she would have to in order to protect it.  It is no surprise, then, that she did not remarry, even though the pressure to do so must have been great.

During the feast of the Nativity, 1143, “Baldwin [III] was solemnly anointed, consecrated, and crowned, together with his mother, in the church of the Sepulcher of the Lord.  The ceremony was conducted by William, patriarch of Jerusalem, before the customary assemblage of the princes and all the prelates of the church.”

Crowned at his mother’s side, he was, however, under the legal age to rule.  Melisende was required to rule alone until Baldwin came of age and could rule with her.  Nevertheless, despite her sacred status and abilities, because she was a woman, she was immediately forced to cope with the limitations of her gender.  Alone for the first time, she had the added responsibilities of controlling and administering the crown’s offices and fiefs as well as defending the crusader states from the constant threats of invasion from Zengi, the leader of Aleppo, and the other neighboring Muslim powers.  Although she marshaled and directed the kingdom’s army as the reigning monarch, she did not lead it herself.  By 1144, she appointed and deputized her cousin Manasses of Hierges, who had recently arrived in the East, as constable of the kingdom.  Owing his new prestigious position to her, Manasses would loyally lead the kingdom’s military affairs for her.  

Melisende and the kingdom’s first challenge was at hand because the crusader lands were all facing a dangerous threat from the still undefeated Zengi, who had laid siege to the city of Edessa “during the interval between the death of King Fulk and the elevation of Baldwin to the throne.”

It is very likely that Zengi and the rest of the Muslim world viewed Melisende’s throne in the Latin Kingdom as empty or as if the kingdom was in a period of interregnum.  The timing was perfect for the prosecution of a jihad to restore the lands taken by the crusaders back to Islam, and Zengi would be the most successful Muslim warrior to present himself as a leader for such an endeavor.

References:

Hamilton (B.), "Medieval Women", in, Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem. Oxford: Ecclesiastical History,ed. by. Derek Baker, Oxford, 1978.

Gaudette (H.), The Second Crusade: The War Council of Acre, 1148, March 2009.

Baldwin II of Jerusalem (1118–1131)

King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, or Baldwin II of Edessa, or Baldwin of Bourcq was the son of Hugh, count of Rethel, and his wife Melisende, daughter of Guy I of Montlhéry. He had two younger brothers, Gervase and Manasses, and two sisters Matilda and Hodierna. He left his own family behind to follow his cousins on the First Crusade in 1096.

Baldwin, Count of Edessa:

Baldwin of Boulogne became the first count of Edessa, while Baldwin of Bourcq entered the service of Prince of Antioch, acting as an ambassador between Antioch and Edessa. Baldwin of Boulogne was elected king of Jerusalem upon the death of Godfrey, and Baldwin of Bourcq was appointed count of Edessa. In 1101 Baldwin married Morphia of Melitene, the daughter of the Armenian prince Gabriel of Melitene.

In 1102 Baldwin and Tancred (his nephew) assisted King Baldwin against the Egyptians at Ascalon. 1104 the Seljuk Turks invaded Edessa and with help from Antioch, Count Baldwin met them at the Battle of Harran. The battle was a failure and Count Baldwin was captured; Tancred became regent of Edessa while he was away. Tancred and Bohemund preferred to ransom their own Seljuk prisoners for money rather than an exchange them for Baldwin, so the count remained in captivity in Mosul until 1108 when he was ransomed for 60,000 dinars by Joscelin of Courtenay. Tancred refused to restore Edessa to him, but with the support of the Kurds, Arabs, Byzantines, and even the Seljuks, Tancred was forced to back down.

Baldwin II King of Jerusalem:

After the death of Baldwin I in 1118, the crown was offered to the king's elder brother Eustace III, but Joscelin of Courtenay insisted that the crown be passed to Baldwin of Bourcq, despite Count Baldwin having exiled Joscelin from Edessa in 1113. Baldwin of Edessa accepted and was crowned king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II on Easter Sunday, 14 April 1118. Almost immediately, the kingdom was simultaneously invaded by the Seljuks from Syria and the Fatimids from Egypt. By showing himself ready and willing to defend his territory, Baldwin forced the Muslim army to back down without a battle. 1119, the crusader Principality of Antioch (crusader state) was invaded, and Baldwin hurried north with the army of Jerusalem. Roger of Salerno, prince of Antioch, would not wait for Baldwin's reinforcements, and the Antiochene army was destroyed in a battle the crusaders called Ager Sanguinis (the Field of Blood).

Although it was a crushing blow, Baldwin helped Antioch recover and drove out the Seljuks later that year. Baldwin called the Council of Nablus in 1120, where he probably established the first written laws for the kingdom, and extended rights and privileges to the growing bourgeois communities. In 1122 Joscelin, who had been appointed count of Edessa when Baldwin became king, was captured in battle. Baldwin returned to the north to take over the regency of the county, but he too was taken captive by the Ortoqids while patrolling the borders of Edessa in 1123, and was held captive with Joscelin. Eustace Grenier acted as regent in Jerusalem, and at the Battle of Yibneh defeated an Egyptian invasion hoping to take advantage of the king's absence. Baldwin and Joscelin escaped from captivity with help from the Armenians in 1124. In 1125 Baldwin assembled the knights from all the crusader territories and met the Seljuks at the Battle of Azaz. Although the Seljuk army was much larger, the crusaders were victorious, d they restored much of the influence they had lost after the Ager Sanguinis. Baldwin attempted to take Damascus in 1126 with the help of the Templars, but the attempt was pushed back by Emir Toghtekin.

Succession of Baldwin II:

Baldwin had no sons with Morphia, but four daughters: Melisende, Alice, Hodierna, and Ioveta. In 1129 Baldwin named Melisende his heir, and arranged for her to marry Fulk V of Anjou. Fulk assisted Baldwin with the attack on Damascus. His daughters Alice and Hodierna also married important princes, Bohemund II of Antioch and Raymond II of Tripoli.In 1131 Baldwin fell sick and died on 21 August, and was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Melisende, by law the heir to the kingdom, succeeded her father with Fulk as her co‐ruler. The new queen and king were crowned on 14 September.

References:

Röhricht (R.), Regesta Regni Hierosolymitani (MXCVII–MCCXCI), Innsbruck, 1893.

Mayer (H. E.), 'The Succession to Baldwin II of Jerusalem: English Impact on the East', Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 1982, PP. 531-541.

Hugh of Vermandois (1057-1101)

Hugh of Vermandois. He was the brother of Philip I, king of France (1052-1108). Hugh partook to the first crusade (1096-1099).

Those of the Langue d'Oil had gone before, and under the guidance of Hugh, Count of Vermandois, had been the first of all the Crusaders to take the field. " Hugh," writes a contemporary, " was first to cross the sea to Durazzo, where the citizens took him prisoner, and sent him to the Emperor at Constantinople." How he was released from his captivity we have already seen.

Hugh of Vermandois and the Expeditions of 1101:

Hugh the Great, who had been sent to Constantinople after the fall of Antioch, shared in the disastrous expedition of 1101 and died at Tarsus. The recreant Count Stephen of Blois, driven back to the East by his wife's reproaches, took part in the same expedition, and was slain in the great battle of Ramleh (1102). This expedition, which ended so disastrously for the two French counts, must detain us for a little.

The conquest of Jerusalem kindled a warlike enthusiasm in many hearts which had been cold to the impassioned pleading of Urban and Peter. Amongst those who now took up arms was the powerful Duke William of Aquitaine. Religious feeling had not restrained him from the endeavour to turn Count Raymond's absence on the Crusade to his own profit He is perhaps the first of all the Crusading chiefs who undertook the expedition in the frivolous spirit of the mere adventurer eager for some new thing. The details of this crusade, or series of crusades, are difficult to follow ; but first of all a large and unruly horde of Lombards reached Constantinople, and after some riotous conduct, in the course of which they broke into the palace and killed one of the Emperor's pet lions, crossed the Bosphorus. At Nicomedia they were joined by Conrad the Constable of the Emperor Henry, and the two Stephens of Blois and Burgundy.

¬It was now Whitsuntide, 1101, and the Crusaders, eager to depart, begged Alexius for a guide. He offered them Raymond of St. Gilles, who was present at Constantinople But when the time for departure arrived a feud broke out between the two divisions. Stephen of Blois was for following the old Crusading track through Iconium to Antioch. The Lombards, however, were seized with a wild desire to push across the highlands of Asia Minor to the realm of Chorazan, by which they probably understood Persia or the region of the Lower Tigris. There they hoped to rescue Bohemond from captivity or, happier still, to seize Bagdad itself. Others, among whom was Ekkehard, our chief authority for this expedition, took alarm at a reported speech of the Emperor Alexius, to the effect that he would let the Franks and the Turks devour one another like dogs ; these went by sea from one or other of the Greek ports, and, as Ekkehard says, " Through the Divine mercy, after six weeks we reached the haven of Jaffa."

References:

Archer (T. A.),  The Crusades; the story of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, London, 1894.

Riley-Smith (J.), The First Crusade and Idea of Crusading, New York, 1993.

Murray (A. V.), The Crusades: an encyclopedia, CA : ABC-CLIO, 2006.