86 Baldwin I (Baudouin de Boulogne)
Baldwin I’s efforts to take full control of his county
were typical in the history of CAROLINGIANcounties,
duchies, and marches in the second half of the ninth
century. This was the period of the disintegration of
the Carolingian Empire. In reality he and they usurped
local authority and seized land. His successors went
on to establish a county independent of the Carolingian
monarchs.
Further reading:Rosamond McKitterick, The Frank-
ish Kingdoms and the Carolingians, 751–987 (London:
Longman, 1983); David Nicholas, Medieval Flanders
(New York: Longman, 1992).
Baldwin I(Baudouin de Boulogne)(ca. 1058–1118)
one of the chief lay leaders of the First Crusade, first king of
Jerusalem
Born about 1058 as the son of the NORMANcount of
Boulogne, Eustace II, and Ida d’Ardenne, Baldwin joined
the First CRUSADEwith his brothers, Eustace and GOD-
FREY OFBOUILLON. Baldwin soon left the main army to
establish himself in EDESSA,a BYZANTINEtown beyond
the Euphrates River, at the invitation of an Armenian
prince. Upon the prince’s death in 1098, Baldwin became
the head of the first crusading state in the East. His wife,
Godvere of Tosni, died shortly before this, but Baldwin
soon solidified his political position by marrying an
Armenian princess.
When Godfrey of Bouillon died in 1100, a group of
knights in JERUSALEMasked Baldwin to succeed him. This
succession was opposed by the patriarch of Jerusalem,
Daimbert (ca. 1050–1107), who wished to maintain real
ecclesiastical control of the city, and by his fellow Nor-
man crusader TANCRED, who was suspicious of the ambi-
tions of Baldwin. Baldwin forced Daimbert to crown him
king in Bethlehem rather than Jerusalem, but he warded
off Tancred until Tancred took the lordship of ANTIOCH.
In 1102 Baldwin deposed Daimbert, and his successors
were reliable royal appointees.
Baldwin then set about securing his military position.
He had little effective power until he was able to control
the coastal towns, which were vital for communications
and supplies. He depended on the loyalty of the vassals of
the great FIEFS, such as those at Tiberias, Haifa, and Cae-
sarea, and mercenary troops and ships from the Italian
cities. Once assured of the oaths of his knights, Baldwin
commenced a systematic reduction of the ports so that by
1113 he controlled all the important ones in the vicinity
of Jerusalem except Ascalon and TYRE. Though still
opposed by Tancred, Baldwin cooperated with him on at
least two occasions, in 1109 and in 1112, when preserva-
tion of the kingdom made cooperation necessary. In 1113
Baldwin gave up Queen Arda for Adelaide of Salona,
countess of SICILYand mother of Count ROGERII, a polit-
ical marriage that yielded a dowry and potentially an heir
to the kingdom. However, three years later Baldwin, who
had never divorced from his Armenian wife, received an
annulment by the church of his union with Adelaide pro-
ducing enmity at the Sicilian court. Baldwin died without
an heir near Ascalon on a raiding expedition in EGYPTin
April 1118. He was succeeded in Jerusalem by his cousin,
Baldwin II (r. 1118–31) of Bourg. With limited resources
and in the face of constant and powerful opposition from
CAIRO,DAMASCUS, and his own associates, he had estab-
lished and maintained personal authority over the new
kingdom of Jerusalem for 18 years.
Further reading:John France, Victory in the East: A
Military History of the First Crusade(Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1994); Jonathan Riley-Smith, The
First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986); Jonathan Riley-
Smith, The First Crusaders, 1095–1131(Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1997); Steven Runciman, A
History of the Crusades,Vol. 1, The First Crusade and the
Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem;Vol. 2, The King-
dom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100–1187(Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951–1952).Baldwin IV the Leper (the Leper King, Baudouin)
(1173–1185)king of Jerusalem, son of Amalric I and Agnes
of Courtenay
Born in 1160, Baldwin IV was able to rule despite his ill-
ness, which restricted his actions on several occasions.
He still made heroic efforts to maintain the crusader
kingdom under circumstances that would have tried a
more healthy ruler. In 1173 SALADIN, already governor of
EGYPT, seized power in SYRIA, and the kingdom of
JERUSALEMwas for the first time encircled by a united
Muslim power, which now had a vital strategic interest to
control the route between Egypt and Syria. The nobility
had grown powerful during the second half of the 12th
century and was attempting to control the kingdom. The
situation was aggravated by the emergence of two fac-
tions among the crusading nobility, one called for peace-
ful relations with the Muslims and a moderate policy, the
other favored an active and even aggressive policy. Seek-
ing to impose moderation, Baldwin on several occasions
had himself carried in a litter to preside over the assem-
blies of his nobles.
In 1177 Saladin attacked the kingdom from Egypt.
Baldwin called on the knights to join him at Ascalon, but
they were cut off by Saladin’s army near Ramlah. A battle
was fought at Montgisard nearby and Saladin was
defeated and fled to Egypt. The king appointed one of the
heroes of the battle, Raynald of Châtillon (d. 1187), to be
prince of Transjordan. Raynald was the leader of the
aggressive noble faction, and pursued an independent
policy that aggravated the conflict. His naval attacks in
the Red Sea led Saladin to annex the Yemen and the
Hejaz or eastern shore of the Red Sea. In the meantime
Saladin called even more strongly for a holy war or JIHAD.