Amalrich I (Jerusalem)
Amalrich I (also Amaury or Aimery ; * 1136 ; † July 11, 1174 in Jerusalem ) from the house of Château-Landon was King of Jerusalem from February 10, 1162 (crowned February 18, 1162) to July 11, 1174.
Life
He was the son of King Fulko and Queen Melisende and the younger brother of King Baldwin III. In 1151 his brother enfeoffed him with the county of Jaffa , which in 1153 after a successful siege of Baldwin III. conquered fortress city of Askalon was expanded to "County Jaffa and Askalon".
After the death of Baldwin III. Amalrich was crowned King of Jerusalem on February 18, 1162 by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Amalrich of Nesle . His government focused on Egypt . Both he and Nur ad-Din , rulers of Damascus and Aleppo , strove for suzerainty over the Fatimid Empire : the Crusaders wanted to conquer the country since Baldwin I , and even Godfrey of Bouillon had ceded Jerusalem to the Latin Patriarch promised by Jerusalem if he succeeded in conquering Cairo . The submission of Askalon by Baldwin III. 1153 made a campaign against Egypt feasible, and the Knights Templar began to lay out maps of possible invasion routes.
On the other hand, Nur ad-Din also wanted to own Egypt, on the one hand as an important economic resource, on the other hand, because it enabled him to encircle the Kingdom of Jerusalem. For five years, Amalrich and Shirkuh , Nur ad-Din's deputies, fought for possession of Egypt. In 1164, 1167 and 1168 Amalrich invaded Egypt without success; the third campaign was a combined land and sea operation with the support of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I , whose general Andronikos Kontostephanos was defeated at Damiette . The war ended when Shirkuh's nephew Saladin first made himself vizier and in 1171, after the death of the Fatimid caliph , made himself sultan .
Amalrich recognized the danger to his kingdom and sent ambassadors to Western Europe in 1169, 1171 and 1173 to ask for help. In his first attack in 1170, Saladin captured Eilat on the Red Sea , but then turned against Nur ad-Din, who tried to limit Saladin's power. Both Amalrich and Nur ad-Din died in 1174. Saladin now took power in Syria , and a number of weak kings in Jerusalem would eventually enable him to destroy the kingdom.
Amalrich I, the second king of Jerusalem born in Palestine , was - similar to his brother Baldwin III. - more of a scholar than a warrior. He commissioned William of Tire to write a history of the kingdom and often studied the laws of his country in his spare time. William of Tire was amazed to find that Amalrich was contemplating the resurrection during an illness . He taxed the clergy , which of course displeased them. Nevertheless, he managed to develop both the state and the church.
Marriages and offspring
By 1158 at the latest he was married to Agnes von Edessa , the daughter of Count Joscelin II von Edessa ( House Courtenay ) and widow of Rainald von Marasch . With Agnes he had two children: Baldwin IV († 1185), 1174–1183 king of Jerusalem, and Sibylle († 1190), 1186–1190 queen of Jerusalem. In 1162, on the occasion of his coronation, Amalrich had to have his marriage with Agnes annulled because she was too closely related by blood (she was his third cousin), otherwise the Patriarch of Jerusalem would have refused to consent to the coronation.
In 1167 he married Maria Komnena , great niece of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I. With her he had a daughter, Isabella I , who became queen of Jerusalem in 1192 and in 1197 married Amalrich of Lusignan , who later became king of Cyprus .
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades. Special edition in one volume without references to sources and literature, 28–32 thousand of the total edition. CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-39960-6 , p. 667.
Web links
- Amaury of Jerusalem at fmg.ac (English)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Crown domain |
Count of Jaffa (and Ascalon from 1153) 1151–1163 |
Crown domain |
| Balduin III. |
King of Jerusalem 1162–1174 |
Baldwin IV. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Amalrich I. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Amaury; Aimery |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Jerusalem |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1136 |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 11, 1174 |
| Place of death | Jerusalem |