Fulk (Jerusalem)

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Queen Melisende of Jerusalem marries Fulk of Anjou. Miniature from an edition of the Chronica of William of Tire.

Fulk of Jerusalem or Fulk V of Anjou ( French: Foulques ; Eng .: Fulk ; * 1092 ; † November 13, 1143 in Akkon ), called the Younger (le Jeune), was Count of Anjou , Tours and Maine from the House of Château-Landon . From 1131 to 1143 he was King of the Crusader State of Jerusalem . He was the youngest son of Count Fulko IV the quarrel († 1109) and his fifth wife Bertrada von Montfort , who, as the lover of King Philip I of France, came to a high level of political influence.

Count of Anjou

After the death of his father in 1109, Fulko took over his heir in Anjou and Tours and subjugated those vassals who had revolted against his unpopular father several times. Against his northern neighbor, the Norman Heinrich Beauclerc , he continued the conflict over the county of Maine, which had been going on for generations, and whose heir Fulko had been married to since 1109. To this end, he sought a close relationship with King Ludwig VI. which he supported in the years 1116 to 1118 against the rebellious barons of the Île de France and Theobald II of Blois-Champagne .

Together they supported the revolting barons of Normandy and the pretender Wilhelm Clito , against Heinrich Beauclerc , in 1118 . However, after he was able to restore his rule in Normandy by 1119 and beat King Ludwig and Clito at Brenneville (Brémule), Fulko changed sides. Because in his endeavors to break up the coalition of his opponents, Heinrich was ready to make great concessions. Heinrich renounced any claims to the Maine in favor of Fulkos, which should now undisputedly belong to Fulkos. The counties of Anjou, Tours and Maine (together also called Grand-Anjou ) ordered Fulko to a tight and effective administration, together they should form the core of the Angevin Empire of his descendants.

The peace made between the Normans and Angevinists was also strengthened by the marriage of Fulko's daughter Alice (Isabelle) to Heinrich's heir, William Ætheling . This peace was to survive the early death of Atheling after the sinking of the white ship in 1120 and finally culminated in 1128 in the momentous marriage of Heinrich's heir daughter, Mathilde (Maud) , with Fulkos heir son Gottfried .

King of Jerusalem

Fulko visited the Holy Land for the first time as early as 1120 , where he became a close friend of the Knights Templar , which he supported financially after his return to France.

King Baldwin II of Jerusalem sent an embassy to France in 1127 to look for a suitable husband for his eldest daughter and heiress Melisende . The choice fell on the widowed Count of Anjou. After being offered the crown of Jerusalem , he agreed to move to the Holy Land anew and forever, leaving his orderly inheritance to his eldest son. His marriage to Melisende in 1129 brought him the cities of Acre and Tire as dowries in the marriage.

Hunting excursion and death of King Fulkos of Jerusalem.

King Baldwin II died in 1131, and Fulk and his wife were crowned King of Jerusalem on September 14, 1131. Right at the beginning of his rule he had to assert himself against revolting vassals. His sister-in-law Alice tried to win rule over the principality of Antioch , but Fulko was able to assert himself militarily against her comrade Pons of Tripoli and secured rule over Antioch . As the guardian of Princess Konstanze , he brokered her marriage to Raimund von Poitiers, who had also arrived . In 1134 the Count of Jaffa , Hugo II of Le Puiset , and the Prince of Oultrejordain , Roman von Le Puy , revolted against Fulko. Hugo even allied himself with Egypt , but Fulko was still able to assert himself against him.

The greatest challenge for Fulko was the strengthening of the Atabeg Zengi of Mosul . In 1137 Fulko was defeated near Barin ; he then allied himself with the vizier of Damascus , who was also threatened by Zengi, and was then able to conquer the fortress of Banias in the north of the Sea of ​​Galilee . He also strengthened his empire in the south: his cupbearer Paganus built the fortress of Kerak , in the south of the Dead Sea , and helped open access to the Red Sea for the Crusaders . In the southwest, Fulko Blanche had Guards , Ibelin and other fortresses built to break the power of the Egyptian castle of Askalon .

In 1137 and 1142 the Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus came to Syria to gain Byzantine rule over the Crusader states . John's arrival was ignored by Fulko, who also turned down an invitation to meet John in Jerusalem.

Fulko died on November 13, 1143 in Akkon as a result of a hunting accident and was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Since his eldest son from his second marriage was still a minor, his widow Melisende took over the government of the Crusader Kingdom.

The historian Wilhelm von Tire describes Fulko as a capable soldier and politician who defended both the kingdom and the church and continued the policies of his predecessors Baldwin I and Baldwin II. Wilhelm sensed that Fulko's main mistake was his passivity towards Zengi's attacks in the north, which culminated in the fall of Edessa in 1144.

Marriages and offspring

In his first marriage Fulko was married to Erembuge de La Flèche († January 14, 1126) since 1109. She was the heir to Count Elias I of Maine and brought rule of La Flèche castle into the marriage in addition to her father's county . Both children were:

  1. ⚭ 1123 Wilhelm Clito († 1128), the marriage was annulled in 1124
  2. ⚭ 1134 Count Dietrich of Flanders († 1168)

From his second marriage to Queen Melisende, which was concluded in Jerusalem on June 2, 1129, Fulko had two sons:

  • Balduin III. (* 1131; † 1162), successor as King of Jerusalem
  • Amalrich I (* 1136; † 1174), succeeded his brother as king

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands [1]

Web links

Commons : Fulko (Jerusalem)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Baldwin II King of Jerusalem
1131–1143 		Balduin III.
Fulko IV. Count of Anjou
1109-1129 		Gottfried V.
personal data
SURNAME Fulko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fulko V. von Anjou, Foulque V. d'Anjou
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Jerusalem, Count of Anjou
DATE OF BIRTH 1092
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1143
Place of death Acre