Editing Fulk, King of Jerusalem

{{Short description|Crusader ruler from 1131 to 1143}}
{{redirect|Fulk of Jerusalem|the Latin patriarch from 1146 to 1157|Patriarch Fulk of Jerusalem}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Fulk
| image        = Fulko jeune.jpg
| caption      = Effigy of Fulk on his seal
| succession   = [[King of Jerusalem]]
| moretext     = (''[[jure uxoris]]'')
| reign        = 1131–1143
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem|Baldwin II]]
| successor    = [[Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem|Melisende]] and [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem|Baldwin III]]
| regent       = Melisende
| reg-type     = Co-ruler
| birth_date   = {{c.}} 1089/1092
| birth_place  = [[Angers]], [[Kingdom of France|France]]
| death_date   = 13 November 1143
| death_place  = [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], [[Outremer]], [[Levant]]
| spouses      = {{ubl|[[Erembourg, Countess of Maine]]|[[Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem]]}}
| issue        = {{ubl|[[Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou]]|[[Sibylla of Anjou|Sibylla, Countess of Flanders]]|[[Matilda of Anjou|Matilda, Duchess of Normandy]]|[[Elias II, Count of Maine]]|[[Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem]]|[[Amalric, King of Jerusalem]]}}
| house        = [[House of Châteaudun|Anjou-Châteaudun]]
| father       = [[Fulk IV, Count of Anjou]]
| mother       = [[Bertrade de Montfort]]
| succession1  = [[Count of Anjou]]
| moretext1    = (as Fulk V)
| reign1       = 1109–1129
| predecessor1 = [[Fulk IV of Anjou|Fulk IV]]
| successor1   = [[Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou|Geoffrey V]]
| succession2  = [[Count of Maine]]
| moretext2    = (''jure uxoris'')
| reign2       = 1110–1126
| predecessor2 = [[Elias I, Count of Maine|Elias I]]
| successor2   = [[Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou|Geoffrey]]
| regent2      = [[Erembourg, Countess of Maine|Erembourg]]
| reg-type2    = Co-ruler
| place of burial = [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], [[Jerusalem]]
}}
'''Fulk''' ({{langx|la|Fulco}}, {{langx|fr|Foulque}} or ''Foulques''; {{Circa|1089/1092}} – 13 November 1143), also known as '''Fulk the Younger''' and '''of Anjou''', was the [[king of Jerusalem]] from 1131 until 1143 as the [[husband and co-ruler]] of [[Queen Melisende]]. Previously, he was the [[count of Anjou]] as '''Fulk V''' from 1109 to 1129. He had also been the [[count of Maine]] from 1110 to 1126 alongside his first wife, [[Erembourg of Maine|Countess Erembourg]]. His direct descendants were the rulers of the [[Angevin Empire]] and the [[Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem]]. 

==Early life==
Fulk was born at [[Angers]], between 1089 and 1092, the son of Count [[Fulk IV of Anjou]] and [[Bertrade de Montfort]].{{sfn|Hollister|2001|p=266}} In 1092, Bertrade deserted her husband, and bigamously married King [[Philip I of France]]. Fulk was thus raised at least partly at the French court. By 1106 Fulk's father had been forced to yield control of the county to his eldest son, Fulk's half-brother [[Geoffrey IV, Count of Anjou|Geoffrey IV]]. But Geoffrey was killed that year by a crossbow bolt outside the castle of Candé, in theory returning his father to power and making Fulk the next in the line of succession. The chronicler Orderic Vitalis claims that the young Fulk was forced to do homage for Anjou to Philip I of France and was subsequently captured and held prisoner for a year by Duke [[William IX of Aquitaine]]. The earliest version of the ''[[Chronica de gestis consulum Andegavorum|Chronicles of the Deeds of the Counts of Anjou]]'' (''Chronica de gestis consulum Andegavorum)'' may have been written in response to this crisis.{{Sfn|Paul|2015|p=139-160}} 

==Count of Anjou==
In 1109, Fulk's father died and Fulk V succeeded to the county of Anjou, ending the three-year crisis. In 1110 he married Countess [[Erembourg of Maine]], cementing Angevin control over the County of [[Maine (province)|Maine]]. In 1113, Erembourg gave birth to their son, the future [[Geoffrey V of Anjou]].

Fulk was originally an opponent of King [[Henry I of England]] and a supporter of King [[Louis VI of France]], but in 1119 he allied with Henry when he arranged for his daughter [[Matilda of Anjou]] to marry Henry's son [[William Adelin]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Mayer |first=Hans E. |title=Angevins versus Normans: The New Men of King Fulk of Jerusalem |date=2024-09-18 |work=Kings and Lords in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem |pages=IV–1-IV-25 |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003556275-5 |access-date=2025-04-22 |place=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-55627-5}}</ref> 

In 1119, possibly inspired by the news of the defeat of crusader forces at the [[Battle of the Field of Blood]], and at a time when [[Pope Callixtus II]] was nearby in France, Fulk decided to take the cross as a crusader.<ref name=Doherty>{{Cite web |last=Doherty |first=James |last2=Paul |first2=Nicholas |title=Fulk V of Anjou |url=https://independentcrusadersproject.ace.fordham.edu/items/show/150 |url-status=live |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=Independent Crusaders Project}}</ref> During his visit to Jerusalem in 1120, he became associated with Knights Templar, possibly even joining them as a ''confrater''.{{Sfn|Riley-Smith|1997|p=162}} He became the first European prince to patronize the Templars, giving them an annual income of 30 pounds in the money of Anjou. He promised to maintain one hundred knights in the Holy Land for a year.{{sfn|Riley-Smith|1997|p=}}

==Marriage to Melisende of Jerusalem==
By the 1120s, concern was growing about the succession to King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and [[Morphia of Melitene|Queen Morphia of Melitene]], who had only daughters, the eldest being [[Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem|Melisende]]. Many factors argued in favor of Fulk's candidacy: he had visited Jerusalem and supported the kingdom and the Templars; his son [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou|Geoffrey]] had come of age in 1126; and his wife Erembourg died in the same year.  The assassination of [[Charles the Good|Count Charles the Good of Flanders]] in 1127, who had likewise visited Jerusalem in his youth and was a popular contender, made Fulk the obvious choice. 

In 1127, Baldwin dispatched an embassy to Fulk led by two noblemen, William of Bures, prince of [[Principality of Galilee|Galilee]] and Guy Brisbarre, and the Master and co-founder of the Knights Templar [[Hugues de Payens|Hugh of Payns]].{{Sfn|Barber|2012|p=122}} The embassy was tasked with finding a husband for Melisende and raising an army for [[Crusade of 1129|an attack on Damascus]]. After consulting with his barons, Baldwin had decided to offer Melisende's hand in marriage to Fulk, with the promises that they should be married within 50 days of Fulk's arrival in the Latin East and that Fulk could expect the hold the kingdom after Baldwin's death.{{Sfn|Barber|2012|p=123}}  In Spring 1128, the embassy reached Anjou. Hans Eberhard Mayer has reconstructed the extensive negotiations that must have taken place between Fulk and the ambassadors, which he believes led Baldwin II to treat both Fulk and Melisende as the "heir of the king" (''heres regni'') to forestall any challenge to their succession.{{Sfn|Mayer|1985|p=139-147}} By 31 May, Fulk seems to have accepted their offer, for he took the cross on that day in Le Mans.<ref name=Doherty /> He spent the next year setting his affairs in order, transferring lordship over Anjou and Maine to his son Geoffrey, who had married Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England. Fulk apparently did not relinquish the title of "count of Anjou", perhaps as insurance in case the Jerusalem plan did not succeed.{{Sfn|Mayer|1985|p=144}} In about March 1129, Fulk departed for Jerusalem accompanied by a number of crusaders recruited from Anjou and the surrounding region. They arrived in the East in May of that year and Fulk and Melisende were married on the [[Pentecost|Feast of Pentecost]],  2 June 1129. As Melisende's dowry, Baldwin II presented Fulk with the cities of Acre and Tyre.{{Sfn|Mayer|1985|p=141}} That winter, Fulk and the army recruited Europe by Hugh of Payns attacked Damascus.{{Sfn|Barber|2012|p=137}}

== King of Jerusalem ==
[[File:Coronation of Fulk and Melisende.jpg|thumb|Coronation of Fulk and Melisende, Paris, BN MS Fr. 779, fol. 123v (Central France, 1270-79)]]Baldwin II of Jerusalem died on 21 August 1131. The coronation of Fulk and Melisende took place on 14 September, the [[Feast of the Cross|Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross]], in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre|Church of the Holy Sepulcher]]. It was the first time that a ruler of Jerusalem had been crowned in this way.{{Sfn|John|2017|p=495}} On the occasion of his coronation, the Egyptian ruler [[Kutayfat]] sent Fulk an ivory object described as "the ivory tau".{{Sfn|Riley-Smith|1997|pp=55-66}} Fulk subsequently sent the ivory tau back to his palace at [[Château d'Angers|Angers]] with instructions that it should be used to ceremonially receive counts of Anjou.{{Sfn|Paul|2012|p=125-128}}  

From the start Fulk assumed sole control of the government, excluding Melisende altogether. He favoured fellow countrymen from Anjou to the native nobility.<ref name=":0" /> The other [[Crusader states]] to the north feared that Fulk would attempt to impose the suzerainty of Jerusalem over them, as Baldwin II had done. 

As Fulk was far less powerful than his deceased father-in-law, the northern states rejected his authority. Melisende's sister [[Alice of Antioch]], exiled from the Principality by Baldwin II, took control of Antioch once more after the death of her father.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Barber |first=Malcolm |title=The Crusader States |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780300189315}}</ref>  In 1132, she allied with [[Pons of Tripoli]] and [[Joscelin II of Edessa]] to prevent Fulk from marching north. Fulk and Pons fought a brief battle before peace was made and Alice was exiled again.

In Jerusalem as well, Fulk was resented by the second generation of Jerusalem Christians who had grown up there since the First Crusade. These natives focused on Melisende's cousin, the popular [[Hugh II of Le Puiset]], [[count of Jaffa]], who was devotedly loyal to Melisende. Fulk saw Hugh as a rival, and it did not help matters when Hugh's own stepson accused him of disloyalty. 

In 1134, in order to expose Hugh, Fulk accused him of infidelity with Melisende. Hugh rebelled in protest. Hugh secured himself to Jaffa and allied himself with the Muslims of [[Ascalon]]. He was able to defeat the army set against him by Fulk, but this situation could not hold. The patriarch [[William of Malines|Willam of Malines]] interceded in the conflict, perhaps at the behest of Melisende. Fulk agreed to peace and Hugh was exiled from the kingdom for three years, a lenient sentence.

However, an assassination attempt was made against Hugh, resulting in him being stabbed by a Breton knight. Fulk, or possibly his supporters were suspected to be responsible.<ref name=":3" /> The ordeal revealed the church's support for Melisende, which is associated with her rise to prominence. Author Historian Bernard Hamilton wrote “...as the patriarch’s intervention showed, the full support of the church."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Bernard |title=The Latin Church in the Crusader states: the secular church |date=1980 |publisher=Variorum Publications |isbn=978-0-86078-072-4 |location=London}}</ref> 

Contemporary author and historian [[William of Tyre]] wrote of Fulk: "He never attempted to take the initiative, even in trivial matters, without (Melisende's) consent." The result was that Melisende held direct and unquestioned control over the government from 1136 onwards. Sometime before 1136, Fulk reconciled with his wife, and a second son, [[Amalric of Jerusalem|Amalric]], was born.

==Securing the borders==
Jerusalem's northern border was of great concern. Fulk had been appointed [[regent]] of the [[Principality of Antioch]] by Baldwin II. As regent, he had [[Raymond of Poitou]] marry the infant princess [[Constance of Antioch]], his and Melisende's niece. However, the greatest concern during Fulk's reign was the rise of [[Imad al-Din Zengi|Zengi]], [[List of rulers of Mosul#Zengid emirs|atabeg of Mosul]].<ref name=":3" />
[[File:Map_Crusader_states_1135-en.svg|thumb|413x413px|The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other Crusader states in 1135 [[AD]], during the reign of Fulk]]
In 1137, Fulk was defeated in battle near [[Baarin]], at the castle of [[Montferrand (crusader castle)|Montferrand]].<ref name=":0" /> In order to recover, he allied with [[Mu'in ad-Din Unur]], the vizier of [[Damascus]]. Damascus was also threatened by Zengi. Fulk captured the fort of [[Banias]], to the north of [[Lake Tiberias]] and thus secured the northern frontier.

Fulk also strengthened the kingdom's southern border. His butler [[Pagan the Butler|Paganus]] built the fortress of [[Kerak]] to the east of the [[Dead Sea]].<ref name=":3" /> To help give the kingdom access to the [[Red Sea]], Fulk had [[Blanchegarde]], [[Ibelin (castle)|Ibelin]], and other forts built in the south-west to overpower the [[Egypt]]ian fortress at [[Askelon|Ascalon]]. This city was a base from which the Egyptian [[Fatimids]] launched frequent raids on the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Fulk sought to neutralise this threat.

[[Byzantine emperor]] [[John II Comnenus]] traveled to [[Syria]] in 1137<ref name=":3" /> and 1142 while attempting to impose [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] control over the [[crusader state]]s. John's intention of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, accompanied by his impressive army, alarmed Fulk, who wrote to John pointing out that his kingdom was poor and could not support the passage of a large army. This lukewarm response dissuaded John from carrying through his intention, and he postponed his pilgrimage. John died before he could make good his proposed journey to Jerusalem.{{sfn|Runciman|1952|pp=212–213, 222–224}}

==Death==
[[File:Walters Fulk.png|alt=In the upper register and king and his court are riding through the countryside. The king is blowing a red hunting horn. In the lower image the king falls from his horse. |left|thumb|King Fulk of Jerusalem is fatally thrown from his horse while pursuing a hare. From an illustrated copy of the [[Estoire d'Eracles]] (1275-1325). [[Walters Art Museum]], Baltimore. ]]
In 1143, while the king and queen were in [[Acre, Israel]], Fulk was killed in a hunting accident. His horse, startled by a hare, stumbled and fell. The saddle landed on Fulk's head,<ref>''Life among the Europeans in Palestine and Syria in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries'', Urban Tignor Holmes, ''A History of the Crusades: The Art and Architecture of the Crusader States'', Volume IV, ed. Kenneth M. Setton and Harry W. Hazard, (University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), 19.</ref>  "and his brains gushed forth from both ears and nostrils", as [[William of Tyre]] describes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Folda |first=Jaroslav |title=The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land 1098-1187 |date=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521453836 |location=North Carolina Chapel Hill |language=English}}</ref>The king and queen traveled far from Acre to visit springs in the suburbs. While riding, their servants startled a hare and chased it. The king joined the pursuit but his horse stumbled, throwing him headfirst to the ground. He died four days later on November 13, 1143.<ref name=":2" /> He was buried in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] in Jerusalem. 

A marble panel from his tomb (or [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem|Baldwin III]]'s) is in the [[Terra Sancta Museum]], Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boehm |first1=Barbara Drake |last2=Holcomb |first2=Melanie |title=Jerusalem, 1000–1400 |date=2016 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-1-58839-598-6 |page=155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ay30DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |quote=Portion of a Transenna Panel […] CTS-SB-09460}}</ref> The panel includes [[rosette (design)|rosette]]s, one of which has a [[cross pattée]] in its center.



==Legacy==

===Depictions===
According to William of Tyre, Fulk was "a ruddy man, like David... faithful and gentle, affable, kind and compassionate, unusual traits in people of that complexion... an experienced warrior full of patience and wisdom in military affairs." His chief fault was an inability to remember names and faces.<ref name=":2">William of Tyre, et al. ''A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea''. Vol. 1, Columbia University Press, 1943.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Folda |first=Jaroslav |title=The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land |publisher=Cambridge University Press 1995 |year=1995 |isbn=0521453836 |location=University of North Carolina |pages=176}}</ref>He was known for his faithfulness, gentleness, and kindness, traits uncommon for his background. He was remarkably generous in his piety and charity. Before becoming the kingdom's leader, he was a powerful prince and a seasoned warrior, admired for his patience and wisdom in military matters.

Fulk is described as a capable soldier and able politician but observed that Fulk did not adequately attend to the defense of the crusader states to the north. [[Ibn al-Qalanisi]], who calls him ''al-Kund Anjur'', an Arabic rendering of "Count of Anjou", says that "he was not sound in his judgment nor was he successful in his administration." The Zengids continued their march on the crusader states, culminating in the fall of the county after the [[Siege of Edessa (1144)|Siege of Edessa]] in 1144, which led to the [[Second Crusade]].
[[File:Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|Melisende marries Fulk, from The History of the Conquest of Jerusalem by William of Tyre, c. 1470.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Montefiore |first=Simon |date=2011 |title=Jerusalem: Dark and Satanic. |journal=History Today |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=50 |via=EBSCO}}</ref>]]

===Family===
In 1110, Fulk married [[Erembourg of Maine]] (died 1126), the daughter of [[Elias I of Maine]].{{sfn|LoPrete|2007|loc=Chart 1}} They had:
# [[Geoffrey V of Anjou]] (1113–1151),{{sfn|LoPrete|2007|loc=Chart 1}} father of [[Henry II of England]].
# [[Sibylla of Anjou]] (1112–1165, [[Bethlehem]]), married in 1123 [[William Clito]] (div. 1124),{{sfn|LoPrete|2007|loc=Chart 1}} married in 1134 [[Thierry, Count of Flanders]].
# [[Matilda of Anjou]] (c.1111–1154, Fontevrault), married [[William Adelin]]; after his death on the ''[[White Ship]]'' disaster of 1120, she became a nun and later [[Fontevraud Abbey|Abbess of Fontevrault]]{{sfn|LoPrete|2007|loc=Chart 1}}
# [[Elias II of Maine]] (died 1151){{sfn|LoPrete|2007|loc=Chart 1}}

His second wife was [[Melisende of Jerusalem|Melisende]], Queen of Jerusalem. They married in 1129 and had two children:
# [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem]]
# [[Amalric of Jerusalem]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* [[Orderic Vitalis]]
* [[Robert of Torigny]]
* [[William of Tyre]]
* Baker, Derek (ed.) (1978). ''Medieval Women'', the Ecclesiastical History Society.
* Gibb, H.A.R. (trans.) (1932). ''The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades'', London: Luzac & Co.
* {{cite book |title=Henry I |first=C. Warren |last=Hollister |editor-first=Amanda Clark |editor-last=Frost |publisher=Yale University Press  |year=2001  }}
* {{Cite journal |last=John |first=Simon |date=2017 |title=Royal inauguration and liturgical culture in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099–1187 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03044181.2017.1346936 |journal=Journal of Medieval History |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=485-504}}
* {{cite book |title=Adela of Blois: Countess and Lord (c.1067-1137) |url=https://archive.org/details/adelaofbloiscoun0000lopr/page/576/mode/2up?view=theater |first=Kimberly A. |last=LoPrete |publisher=Four Courts Press |year=2007 | isbn=978-1-85182-563-9 }}
* {{cite journal|first=Hans Eberhard|last=Mayer|author-link=Hans Eberhard Mayer|year=1985|title=The Succession to Baldwin II of Jerusalem: English Impact on the East|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|journal=Dumbarton Oak Papers|volume=39 |pages=139–147 |doi=10.2307/1291522 |jstor=1291522 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291522}}
* {{Cite book |last=Paul |first=Nicholas L. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.cttq42cf |title=To Follow in Their Footsteps: The Crusades and Family Memory in the High Middle Ages |date=2012 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-5097-6 |edition=1 |doi=10.7591/j.cttq42cf}}
* Payne, Robert (1984). ''The Dream and the Tomb''.
* {{Cite journal |last=Paul |first=Nicholas |date=2015 |title=Origo Consulum: Rumours of Murder, a Crisis of Lordship, and the Legendary Origins of the Counts of Anjou |url=https://academic.oup.com/fh/article-abstract/29/2/139/512593?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=French History |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=139-160}}
* {{Cite chapter |last=Riley-Smith |first=Jonathan |title=Montjoie. Studies in Crusade History in Honour of Hans Eberhard Mayer |date=1997 |publisher=Variorum |isbn=9780860786467 |location=Aldershot |pages=55-66 |chapter=King Fulk of Jerusalem and the 'Sultan of Babylon'}}
* {{cite book |last=Runciman |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Runciman |date=1952 |title=A History of the Crusades |volume=II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}

{{Commons category|Fulk of Jerusalem }}

{{S-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Fulk IV]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Count of Anjou]]
| years = 1106–1129
}}
{{s-aft
| rows = 2
| after = [[Geoffrey V of Anjou|Geoffrey V]]
}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Elias I, Count of Maine|Elias I]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Count of Maine]]
| years = 1110–1126
| regent1 = [[Erembourg of Maine|Erembourg]]
}}

{{s-bef
| before = [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem|Baldwin II]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[King of Jerusalem]]
| regent1 = [[Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem|Melisende]]
| years = 1131–1143
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem|Melisende]]
| after2 = [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem|Baldwin III]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Jerusalem Monarchs}}
{{Antioch Monarchs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulk of Jerusalem}}
[[Category:11th-century births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1143 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century monarchs of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Kings of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Regents of Antioch]]
[[Category:Jure uxoris counts]]
[[Category:Jure uxoris kings]]
[[Category:Counts of Anjou]]
[[Category:Deaths by horse-riding accident]]
[[Category:People from Angers]]
[[Category:12th-century French nobility]]
[[Category:Burials at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]
[[Category:12th-century regents]]
[[Category:Monarchs who abdicated]]
[[Category:Remarried jure uxoris officeholders]]