Editing Amalric, King of Jerusalem (section)

==Youth==
===Childhood===
On his deathbed in 1131 [[King Baldwin II]] conferred the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]]&ndash;one of the [[crusader states]] established by the [[Latin Christians]] who [[First Crusade|invaded]] the [[Levant]] and defeated its [[Muslim]] rulers{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=2}}&ndash;on his eldest daughter, [[Melisende of Jerusalem|Melisende]]; her husband, [[Fulk of Anjou]]; and their infant son, [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem|Baldwin III]].{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=149}} Fulk was considerably older than Melisende and had adult children in Europe from his first marriage, including Count [[Geoffrey V of Anjou]] and Countess [[Sibylla of Flanders]].{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=178}} He excluded Melisende from power until she and the [[barons of Jerusalem|barons]] forced him to acknowledge her as a co-ruler in 1135.{{sfn|Barber|2012|pp=155-156}} Fulk was eager to be reconciled, and historian [[Malcolm Barber]] suggests that Melisende agreed because the succession of her family rested on only one son. The couple consequently conceived Amalric in late 1135 or early 1136.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=155}} To the north of the kingdom were three more crusader states: the [[County of Tripoli]], the [[Principality of Antioch]], and the [[County of Edessa]].{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=2}} Antioch and Tripoli were ruled by the families of Melisende's sisters [[Alice of Antioch|Alice]] and [[Hodierna of Tripoli|Hodierna]].{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=157}}
[[File:Balduin3.jpg|thumb|Amalric's mother, Melisende, and brother, Baldwin III, were crowned together, but Melisende refused to share power.]]
Amalric's father, King Fulk, was fatally injured in a horse-riding accident on a family outing near [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] in 1143. He died on 10 November. Queen Melisende seized power and was crowned again on 25 December, this time alongside 13-year-old King Baldwin III.{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=233}} In 1144 the Turkic Muslim [[atabeg of Mosul]], [[Imad al-Din Zengi]]{{sfn|Barber|2012|pp=163-164}} [[siege of Edessa (1144)|captured Edessa]].{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=179}} This prompted the [[Second Crusade]], which failed in its objective to [[siege of Damascus (1148)|conquer Damascus]],{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=188}} one of the greatest Muslim-held cities.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=150}} Melisende continued to withhold power from Baldwin after he reached the [[age of majority]], and by 1151 their relationship had broken down.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=196}} In 1151 Melisende bestowed on Amalric the [[County of Jaffa]], which was part of her endeavor to consolidate her position against Baldwin.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=176}} Amalric became his mother's most important partisan besides the Church.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=175}}

===Countship===
In 1152 Baldwin summoned the [[High Court of Jerusalem|High Court]] and demanded that the kingdom be divided between him and Melisende. The queen retained the regions of [[Judaea]] and Samaria while Acre and Tyre remained under the young king's rule.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=166}} Baldwin soon invaded his mother's lands, defeated and exiled her [[constable of Jerusalem|constable]], [[Manasses of Hierges]], and marched on Jerusalem. Melisende's lords deserted her as Baldwin advanced, and she took refuge in the [[Tower of David]] with her most loyal men, including Amalric, Viscount [[Rohard the Elder]], and [[Philip of Milly]].{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=168}} Baldwin besieged them, but they put up a defense until the negotiations of a settlement that saw Melisende deposed and restricted to ruling the city of [[Nablus]]. By the end of April 1152 Baldwin was the sole ruler of the kingdom.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=169}} Based on [[charter]] evidence, Mayer concludes that Baldwin punished Amalric for siding with their mother by depriving him of the County of Jaffa in 1152.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|pp=175-176}} The king [[Siege of Ascalon|conquered Ascalon]] from [[Fatimid Egypt]] in 1153 and forced the Egyptians to pay a [[tribute]].{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=237}} He granted both [[Ascalon]] and [[Jaffa]] to Amalric. Historian [[Hans E. Mayer]] dates Amalric's acquisition of the double county to shortly after July 1154.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|pp=175-176}}

In 1157 Amalric married [[Agnes of Courtenay]]. Agnes was the daughter of the dispossessed Count [[Joscelin II of Edessa]], a second cousin of Queen Melisende, and a widow since the death in battle of her first husband, [[Reynald of Marash]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=24}} The [[Latin patriarch of Jerusalem]], [[Fulcher of Angoulême]], objected to Amalric's marriage with Agnes. According to contemporary chronicler [[William of Tyre]], Fulcher disapproved because of the [[prohibited degrees|couples's kinship]]; but the late-13th-century ''[[Lignages d'Outremer]]'' states that Agnes had been betrothed to the [[lord of Ramla]], [[Hugh of Ibelin]], and that Amalric married her when she came to marry Hugh, which the patriarch deemed [[canon law in the Catholic Church|uncanonical]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=25}} Mayer argues that Agnes had already been married to Hugh in 1157, making her marriage to Amalric [[bigamous]]{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=25}} and, in Barber's opinion, possibly the [[Bride kidnapping|result of an abduction]].{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=233}} Historian Bernard Hamilton rejects this interpretation and states that a bigamous marriage would have resulted in the [[excommunication]] of both Amalric and Agnes.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=25}} Fulcher died in November 1157, possibly before the couple married.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=233}}

In 1159 Count Amalric accompanied King Baldwin to Antioch, where they welcomed Emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos]].{{sfn|Baldwin|1969|p=544}} Baldwin and Manuel were allied through Baldwin's marriage with Manuel's niece [[Theodora Komnene, Queen of Jerusalem|Theodora]].{{sfn|Baldwin|1969|pp=542-543}} Both Baldwin and Amalric placed a great value on good relations with the [[Byzantine Empire]],{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=309}} a [[Greek Orthodox]] state{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=50}} that claimed [[suzerainty]] over the Christian states in the Levant.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=31}} Amalric and Agnes had a daughter, [[Sibylla of Jerusalem|Sibylla]], between 1157 and 1161. In 1161 a son, [[Baldwin IV of Jerusalem|Baldwin]], was born.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=24}} The children were named after Amalric's siblings.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=232}}