Editing Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (section)

==Last years==

===Progressing disability===
[[File:Karak castle in Jordan.JPG|thumb|Kerak Castle]]

Baldwin could not walk unsupported or use his hands from 1183.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=187, 240}} Because of an inability to blink, his [[cornea]] dried and he became blind.{{sfn|Mitchell|2000|p=253}} He nevertheless had to summon his troops in response to Saladin's march south following the Egyptian conquest of Aleppo in June. The king then developed a life-threatening fever. He was attended by his mother and the new patriarch, [[Heraclius of Jerusalem|Heraclius]], at nearby [[Nazareth]]. Having summoned the High Court to his bedside, Baldwin entrusted the government to his brother-in-law, Guy, who was next in line to succeed him.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=188}} Guy's appointment to regency was meant to be permanent. Baldwin retained only the royal title and authority over the city of Jerusalem, but he had Guy swear that, while Baldwin lived, he would not make himself king or alienate parts of the [[royal demesne]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=189}}{{sfn|Riley-Smith|1973|p=107}}

Fearing discontent among his barons, Baldwin had failed to give Guy any experience in military leadership prior to making him regent.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=189}} Indeed, the great lords of the kingdom, the independent rulers of Antioch and Tripoli, and the grand masters of the military orders refused to cooperate with Guy.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=191}} Baldwin recovered unexpectedly and returned to Jerusalem. Having found that coastal climate suited his health, Baldwin offered Jerusalem to Guy in exchange for Tyre. Guy brusquely refused, possibly because Tyre was more lucrative, leaving Baldwin gravely insulted.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=192}}{{sfn|Riley-Smith|1973|p=107}}

The wedding of Baldwin's half-sister, Isabella, and Humphrey IV of Toron was celebrated in Kerak in late 1183. Saladin attacked during the festivities and [[Siege of Kerak|laid siege]] to the castle, hoping to capture the king's half-sister and her husband.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=192}} The retired king had gathered a council in Jerusalem to inform him about the government of the kingdom when news about the siege reached him. The defense of such a vital fortress and the king's half-sister within it could not be entrusted to Guy, who had proven unable to command the troops. Baldwin immediately dismissed him from regency and resumed power. Guy's removal from regency was effectively disinheritance; at the council's insistence, deliberations about the succession followed. The proposal of the king's mother that Sibylla's five-year-old son, Baldwin, be made [[co-king]] was accepted, and the boy was crowned on 20 November.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=193–194}}

In late November Baldwin ordered the lighting of a [[beacon]] on the [[Tower of David]], which may have been the first in a chain of such beacons, in order to hearten the defenders of the intensely bombarded Kerak.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=195}} Baldwin accompanied his troops again, but having become blind and immobile, this time he went in a litter slung between two horses.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=196, 241}} His presence was essential to unite the discordant barons. Even his humiliated brother-in-law led his men. Warned by his scouts about the king's approach and concerned about having left Egypt unguarded, Saladin abandoned the siege on 4 December. Baldwin entered Kerak triumphantly.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=196}}{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=441}}

===Brother-in-law's insubordination===
The question of regency for his nephew troubled Baldwin. The only way to ensure that Guy could not claim it was to have his marriage to Sibylla annulled.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=195}} Baldwin discussed this with the patriarch, Heraclius.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=195}} The king may have intended to claim that he had forced his sister to marry Guy and that the marriage was unlawful because of that. Sibylla's unwavering loyalty to Guy thwarted his plans, as the couple refused to appear at court.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=196–197}}

Early in 1184, Baldwin ordered Guy to attend him as vassal in Jerusalem. Guy declined, citing poor health, and this was repeated several times. Baldwin then had himself carried to Ascalon in the company of the High Court. Guy refused to let him into the city. From the battlements and towers, the inhabitants witnessed the king ceremoniously raise his hand to knock on the gates and demand admission only for the gates to remain closed. The king was welcomed in [[Jaffa]], however, where he installed a governor, thereby depriving Guy of half of his county. In [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], Baldwin summoned his council, probably to gain support to seize Guy's fief on the grounds of refusal of the royal summons. The patriarch and the grand masters begged Baldwin to forgive Guy in order to avoid a civil war. This was as unacceptable to Baldwin as it would have been to any contemporary king. The patriarch and the grand masters stormed out of the council, swaying the rest of the assembly to withhold support for the action.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=197}}

Baldwin was reconciled with the patriarch and the grand masters by June when he sent them to Europe on a diplomatic mission to seek aid for the kingdom. He informed them by letter that Saladin was once more besieging Kerak.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=201}} Again, Saladin abandoned the siege when the litter-bound king approached with his army. Once in Kerak, Baldwin ordered and financed the reparations of the damaged castle.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=202–203}}

===Last months, death, and aftermath===
[[File:Death of Baldwin IV and coronation of Baldwin V.jpg|thumb|Death of Baldwin IV and coronation of Baldwin V in the 1280 edition of William of Tyre's ''Histoire d'Outremer'']]

In late 1184{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=442}} Baldwin was shocked to learn about Guy's massacre of the Bedouin of the royal fief of [[Darum]], who were under royal protection and who provided information about the Egyptians' movements.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=204}}{{sfn|Riley-Smith|1973|p=107}} He soon developed a fever. When he returned to Jerusalem in late 1184 or early 1185, Baldwin bestowed regency on Raymond of Tripoli, the man whom he had never trusted, but to whom he could find no better alternative.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=204–205}} At the time, he expected to survive the illness, having done so twice before, but within weeks it became apparent that it would be his last. On his deathbed he summoned the High Court to appoint a permanent regent for his nephew, Baldwin V, and Raymond was chosen.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=205–206}} The dying king then ordered that [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] be rendered to his nephew as king and to Raymond as regent, to be followed by a solemn crown-wearing ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=207–208}}

Baldwin IV died, attended by his vassals,{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=210}} in March 1185{{sfn|Riley-Smith|1973|p=107}}{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=444}} or before 16 May 1185 at the latest, when Baldwin V is recorded as the sole king.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=210}} He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=444}} close to his father, King Amalric.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=210}} The young Baldwin V died the next year.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=216}} Sibylla, who succeeded her son,{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=218}} made Guy king.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=220}} Baldwin IV's realm was destroyed by Saladin following his decisive victory over Guy [[Battle of Hattin|at the Horns of Hattin]] in 1187. Sibylla and her daughters died in 1190, leaving Isabella I as the heir to the defeated kingdom.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=230–232}}