Editing Amalric, King of Jerusalem (section)

==Accession==
Amalric's mother, Queen Melisende, died on 11 September 1161. His brother, King Baldwin, barely outlived her. He came down with [[dysentery]] while visiting Antioch in late 1162 and died in [[Beirut]] on 10 February 1163.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=216}} Baldwin and Theodora had had no children, and Amalric was thus his heir. The chronicler [[Ernoul]] relates that Baldwin named Amalric as his heir.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=231}}
[[File:Agnes courtenay.jpg|thumb|Amalric's separation from his wife, Agnes, was the condition for his coronation.]]
Having convened to discuss the succession, the High Court refused to recognize Amalric as king unless he repudiated his wife, Agnes. Their spokesman was the patriarch, [[Amalric of Nesle]]. According to William of Tyre, the patriarch objected because of the couple's kinship.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=23}} Barber describes this story as "so unlikely that historians have been unwilling to accept it at
face value".{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=232}} Hamilton notes that such an objection to an established marriage was "extremely unusual",{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=23}} and argues that there was a "deep-seated animosity" towards Agnes behind it.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=24}} Amalric accepted the High Court's demand, and his marriage to Agnes was [[annulled]] on the [[impediment (Catholic canon law)|grounds]] of [[consanguinity]]. Cardinal John of [[Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio]], the [[papal legate|legate]] of [[Pope Alexander III]], was present. Amalric obtained papal confirmation of the [[legitimacy (family law)|legitimacy]] of his children, Sibylla and Baldwin, and exoneration of Agnes from any moral censure.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=26}} On 18 February, the day of Baldwin III's funeral, the patriarch crowned Amalric in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]].{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=231}}

[[File:Amaury I de Jerusalem.png|thumb|Amalric as depicted on his seal]]
Early in his reign Amalric strengthened his position against his most powerful vassals ([[tenants-in-chief]]) by passing the ''[[Assise sur la ligece]]''. This legislation enabled the vassals of the powerful vassals to appeal directly to the king if their lord did them injustice.{{sfn|Baldwin|1969|p=549}}{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=236}} 13th-century jurists [[John of Ibelin (jurist)|John of Ibelin]] and [[Philip of Novara]] believed that the ''assise'' resulted from Amalric's war with the [[lord of Sidon]], [[Gerard Grenier]], who had unjustly seized a [[fief]] from one of his vassals, but contemporary chroniclers [[Michael the Syrian]] and Ibn al-Athir say that it was Baldwin III who defeated Gerard.{{sfn|Barber|2012|pp=236-237}}