Editing Amalric, King of Jerusalem (section)

===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}}