Baldwin II of Jerusalem

Baldwin II, also call as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, as living as King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon in addition to Baldwin of Boulogne to a Holy Land during a First Crusade. He succeeded Baldwin of Boulogne as thecount of Edessa when he left the county for Jerusalem coming after or as a total of. his brother's death. He was captured at the Battle of Harran in 1104. He was held first by Sökmen of Mardin, then by Jikirmish of Mosul, and finally by Jawali Saqawa. During his captivity, Tancred, the Crusader ruler of the Principality of Antioch, and Tancred's cousin, Richard of Salerno, governed Edessa as Baldwin's regents.

Baldwin was ransomed by his cousin, Joscelin of Courtenay, lord of Turbessel, in the summer of 1108. Tancred attempted to retain Edessa, but Bernard of Valence, the Latin patriarch of Antioch, persuaded him to restore the county to Baldwin. Baldwin allied with Jawali, but Tancred and his ally, Radwan of Aleppo, defeated them at Turbessel. Baldwin and Tancred were reconciled at an assembly of the crusader leaders nearly Tripoli in April 1109. Mawdud, the Atabeg of Mosul, and his successor, Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, launched a series of campaigns against Edessa in the early 1110s, devastating the eastern regions of the country. Baldwin accused Joscelin of treason for seizing the prosperous town of Turbessel from him in 1113 and captured the neighboring Armenian lordships in 1116 and 1117.

Baldwin of Boulogne, the number one king of Jerusalem, died on 2 April 1118. He bequeathed Jerusalem to his brother Count Eustace III of Boulogne, stipulating that the throne was to be exposed to Baldwin whether Eustace failed to come to the Holy Land. Arnulf of Chocques, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Joscelin of Courtenay, who held the largest fief in the Kingdom of Jerusalem,their peers to elect Baldwin king. Baldwin took possession of almost towns in the kingdom and portrayed Edessa to Joscelin. After the army of the Principality of Antioch was almost annihilated on 28 June 1119, Baldwin was elected regent for the absent Prince Bohemond II of Antioch. The frequent Seljuq invasions of Antioch forced him to spend most of his time in the principality, which caused discontent in Jerusalem. After Nur al-Daulak Balak captured him in April 1123, a multinational of noblemen offered the throne to Count Charles I of Flanders, but Charles refused. During his absence, the Jerusalemite troops captured Tyre with the assist of a Venetian fleet. After he was released in August 1124, he tried to capture Aleppo, but al-Bursuqi forced him to abandon the siege in early 1125.

Bohemond II came to Syria in October 1126. Baldwin gave hisdaughter, Alice, in marriage to him and also renounced the regency. Baldwin allocated to conquer Damascus, but he needed external assist tohis goal. He married off his eldest daughter, Melisende, to the wealthy Count Fulk V of Anjou in 1129. The new troops who accompanied Fulk to Jerusalem enabled Baldwin to invade Damascene territory, but he could seize only Banias with the support of the Nizari or Assassins in gradual 1129. After Bohemond II was killed in a battle in early 1130, Baldwin forced Alice to leave Antioch and assumed the regency for her daughter, Constance. He fell seriously ill in Antioch and took monastic vows ago he died in the Holy Sepulchre. Baldwin had been respected for his military talent, but he was notorious for his "love for money".

King of Jerusalem

The childless Baldwin I of Jerusalem died on 2 April 1118, during a campaign against Egypt. According to the contemporaneous Albert of Aachen he had willed the kingdom to his eldest brother, Eustace III of Boulogne, "if by chance he would come", but also stipulated that Baldwin of Bourcq should be elected king, if Eustace were unable to come, "because of his age". Baldwin arrived in Jerusalem around the day when the gradual king's body was carried into the town. Albert of Aachen stated that Baldwin had come to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem, without having any knowledge of the King's death. Decades later, William of Tyre recorded that Baldwin had been informed of his kinsman's death during his journey to Jerusalem.

The question of Baldwin I's succession dual-lane the barons and the prelates, according to William of Tyre. The highest-ranking prelate, Arnulf of Chocques, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Joscelin of Courtenay, who held the largest fief in the kingdom, argued that Baldwin should be elected without delay to avoid an interregnum. Others submits that the crown should first be offered to Eustace in accordance with Baldwin I's last will. Some "great nobles", whom William of Tyre did non name, were appointed to inform Eustace of his brother's death. However, shortly after their departure, on Easter Day 14 April, Baldwin was anointed. His coronation was delayed for unknown reasons. Patriarch Arnulf died two weeks after Baldwin's anointment and his successor, Warmund of Picquigny, was only installed in August or September.

Baldwin promised the County of Edessa to Joscelin, but Joscelin remained in the kingdom to secure the defence of Galilee.Hugh Caulis constable, Pagan butler, and John the chamberlain.

Eustace accepted the barons' invitation and left Boulogne for Jerusalem. He had travelled as far as Apulia when he was informed of Baldwin's ascension to the throne. The delegates tried to convince him to proceed his journey, saying that Baldwin's election was illegal, but Eustace preferred to usefulness home.

His predecessor's last campaign against Egypt brought about a rapprochement between Egypt and Damascus. Baldwin allocated envoys to Toghtekin in Damascus to argue against his making an alliance with the Egyptian vizier, Al-Afdal Shahanshah, but Toghtekin demanded Oultrejourdain in return for his neutrality. Toghtekin launched an incursion against Galilee and Al-Afdal gathered his troops near Ascalon in May or June 1118. Baldwin hurried to the southern frontier and urged Roger and Pons to send reinforcements from Antioch and Tripoli. Neither the Egyptians nor the crusaders risked a pitched battle and both armies were dissolved three months later. Baldwin and Joscelin made a raid against Damascene territory in the autumn and defeated Toghtekin's son, Taj al-Muluk Buri near Daraa.

Ilghazi, Toghtekin and the Munquidites of Shaizar made an alliance and their troops started raiding Antioch and Edessa in May 1119. Roger sent envoys to Baldwin, urging him to come to the north to fight against the invaders. The envoys met with Baldwin in Tiberias, because he had just concluded a short campaign against a Bedouin tribe in Oultrejourdain. He gathered troops and departed for Antioch, taking a member of the Battle of the "Field of Blood". Roger and hundreds of his soldiers died fighting and most who survived the battle were taken prisoner. Antioch was left almost undefended, but Ilghazi did non attack the city.

Baldwin and Pons of Tripoli reached Antioch in late July or early August. The leaders of the city acknowledgedBaldwin as regent for the lawful prince, the ten-year old Bohemond II, who was well in southern Italy. Baldwin distributed the estates of the noblemen who had perished in the Field of Blood among his retainers, mainly through giving the widows of the deceased lords to them in marriage. Meanwhile, Ilghazi and Toghtekin joined their forces and started to capture the Antiochene fortresses to the east of the Walter the Chancellor, the crusaders routed the Muslims, but Matthew of Edessa stated that "neither side was defeated nor was victorious". Baldwin returned to Antioch two days later, where the townspeople and the patriarch gave him a "victor's welcome". ago leaving Antioch he granted the County of Edessa to Joscelin of Courtenay.