JERUSALEM
362
JERUSALEM
1100, having strengthened the new conquest by his
victory over the Egyptians at Ascalon (12 August,
109;)). After his death the barons invited his brotlicr
Baldwin, Count of Edessa, to assume the lonlsliip
of Jerusalem. Baldwin accepted and had himself
crowned King of Jerusalem by the Patriarch Daim-
bert in the basilica of Bethlehem (25 Decemlier, 1100).
Baldwin I (1100-1118) was the real founder of the
kingdom. With the aid of new crusaders, and more
especially the help afforded by the Genoese, Pisan,
and \'enetian fleets, he took possession of the principal
cities on the coast of Syria. Besides, the (Jountship of
Tripoli and the Principality of Edessa became fiefs of
the new kingdom, but the Principality of Antioch
preserved its independence. Baldwin I attacked
even the Caliphate of Egypt but dietl at El-Arish
(Ills) in the course of this expedition. His cousin,
Baldwin du Bourg, Count of Edessa, was chosen by
the barons to succeed him. Baldwin II (1118-11.31),
who had followed Godfrey of Bouillon to the crusade,
was a valiant knight and, in 1124, took possession of
Tyre. In 1129 he married his daughter Melisende to
Fulc, Count of Anjou, who was the father of Geoffrey
Plantagcnet antl already sixty years of age. Fulc
(1131-1141) succeeded his father-in-law. Under his
son, Baldwin III (1114-1102), who married Theodora
Comnena, the kingdom attained its greatest dimen-
sions after the capture of Ascalon (11.53), but the
Principality of Edessa was wrested from it in 1144.
Amaury I (1162- 1174), brother of Baldwin III, suc-
ceeded to the throne on the latter's death, being only
twenty-seven years of age. He was one of Jerusalem'.s
most brilliant sovereigns, and thought to profit by the
anarchy that prevailed in Egypt in order to acquire
possession of that country, reaching Cairo twice (1167
and 1168) and, for the moment, having Egypt under
his protectorate. But the formation of Salatlin's
power soon ]5laced the kingdom in peril. Amaury
died prematurely in 1174, leaving as his successor his
son Baldwin IV (1174-1185), a very gifted young
man, who had been the pupil of William of Tyre, but
who was attacked with leprosy and rendered inca-
pable of taking charge of affairs. He at first reignetl
under the guardianship of Milon de Planci and, as-
sisted by Renaud de Chatillon, inflicted a defeat upon
Saladin at Ramleh (1177). By 1182 the dreadful
disease had gained such headway that the imfortunate
Baldwin "the Leprous" (" le Mesel") had the son of
his sister Sibylla by the Count of Montferrat crowned
under the name of Baldwin V. He also had Sibylla
take as her second husband Guy of Lusignan, who
had put himself at Baldwin's service and had been ap-
pointed l)y him regent of the kingdom. However, as
Guy seemed incom]>et('nt, the barons took the regency
away from him and confided it to Raymond, Covmt of
Tripoli. Baldwin IV died in 1185, at the age of
twenty-five, without having married, and left the
kingdom a prey to discord and exposed to the attacks
of Saladin. The young Baldwin V, his nephew, died
in 1180, supposedly of poisoning.
It was largely due to the instrumentality of Renaud de Chatillon that the barons elected Guy of Lusignan, (1186-1192) and Sibylla sovereigns of Jerusalem. Incapable of defending his kingdom against Saladin, Guy was made prisoner at the battle of Tiberias (4 July, 1187), which was followed by the capture of Jerusalem (2 October), and purchased his liberty by yielding Ascalon to Saladin. The Kingdom of jferu- salem was destroyed. Then took place the Crusade of Saint-Jean d'Acre, of which Guy commenced the siege in 1188. However, C^tueen Sibylla died in 1190 and Conrad of .Montferrat, who had married Isniiella, Sibylla's sister, disputed the title of king with Guy of Lusignan, and this rivalry lasted throughout the siege of Saint-Jean d'.Acre, which city capitulated 13 July, 1191. On 28 July, Richard tVpur de J>ion, King of England, imposed his arbitration upon the
two rivals and decided that Guy should be king during
his lifetime and have Conrad for his successor, the
latter to receive Beirut, Tyre, and Sidon as guarantees;
but on 29 April, 1192, Conrad was assassinated by
emissaries of the "Old Man of the Mountain". Guy,
on his side, renounced the title of king (May, 1192)
and purchased the Island of C3'prus from the Tem-
plars. He died in 1194 and his widow married Henry I,
Count of Champagne (1194-1197), who was elected
king, but in 1197 Henry died from an accident and
Isaljella married a fourth husband, Amaury <if Lusi-
gnan (1 197-1205), brother of Guy and already King of
Cyprus. The turning of the course of the crusade to
Constantinople obliged him to conclude a truce with
the Mussulmans. Amaury died in 1205, leaving an
only daughter M(?hsende who married Bohcmond IV,
Prince of Antioch. However, it was to Mary, daugh-
ter of Isabella and Conrad of Montferrat, that the
barons gave the preference, and they requested the
King of France to provide her with a husband. Philip
Augustus accordingly selected John of Brienne (1210-
122.5), who hesitated for a long time before accepting
and did not arrive in Palestine until 1210, having first
olitained from the pope a considerable loan of money.
He directed the Crusade of Egypt in 1218 and, after
his defeat, came to the W'est to solicit help. Her-
mann von Salza, the Grand Master of the Teutonic
Knights, advised him to give his only daughter Isa-
bella (Yolande) in marriage to the Emperor Frederick
II. In 1225, Henry of Malta, Admiral of Sicily, came
to seek the young princess at Saint-Jean d'Acre, and
on 9 November she married Frederick II at Brindisi.
Immediately after the ceremony the emperor declared
that his father-in-law must renounce the title of King
of Jerusalem, and he himself adopted it in all his acts.
After the death of Isaliella, by whom he had a son
Conrad, Frederick II attempted to take possession of
his kingdom and to fulfil his crusader's vow, the exe-
cution of which he had so long deferred, and landed at
Saint-Jean d'Acre (Septeml)er, 1228), exconuuuni-
cated by the pope and in disfavour with his new sub-
jects. By a treaty concluded with the Sultan of
Egypt, Frederick regained Jerusalem, and on 18 March,
1229, without any religious ceremony whatever, as-
sumed the royal crown in the church of the Holy
Sepulchre. Having confided the regency to Balian
d'Ibelin, Lord of Sidon, he returned to Europe. To
strengthen his power in the East he sent to Saint-Jean
d'Acre Richard Filangieri, Marshal of the Empire,
whom he named baile (guardian) of the kingdom.
The new regent combated the influence of the Ibelins
and tried to secure possession of the Island of Cyprus,
but was conquered and had to content himself with
placing an imperial garrison at Tyre (1232).
In 1243 Conrad, son of Frederick II, having at- tained his majority, the court of barons declared that the regency of the emperor must cease, and invited the legitimate king to come in person and e.xercise his rights. Alix of Champagne, Queen of Cyprus and daughter of King Henry I, claimed the regency on the ground of lieing Isabella of Brienne's nearest relative; and it was conferred upon her and her sec- ond husband Ralph, Count of Soissons, the imperial garrison, besieged in Tyre, being forced to capitulate. On the death of .\lix (1244) her son Hinri/ af Lusv/iuin, King of Cyprus, assumed the regency but, in the month of September, 1244, a trooji of Kharizmians seized Jerusalem, whilst the Mongols threatened An- tioch. .\fter his Crusade of Egypt, St. Louis landed at Saint-Jean d'Acre (1250) and remained four years in Palestine, putting the fortresses of the kingdom in a state of defence and endeavouring to reconcile the factious barons. However, just at the time that the Christian states were menaced liy the Mongols and the Mamelukes of Egypt, interior strife was at its height. In 12.57, Henry of Lusignan having died, some of the barons acknowledged (^ueen Plaisan<'e
