| Fulk | |
|---|---|
 Effigy of Fulk on his seal | |
| King of Jerusalem | |
| Reign | 1131–1143 |
| Predecessor | Baldwin II |
| Successor | Melisende andBaldwin III |
| Co-ruler | Melisende |
| Count of Anjou (as Fulk V) | |
| Reign | 1109–1129 |
| Predecessor | Fulk IV |
| Successor | Geoffrey V |
| Count of Maine (jure uxoris) | |
| Reign | 1110–1126 |
| Predecessor | Elias I |
| Successor | Geoffrey |
| Co-ruler | Erembourg |
| Born | c. 1089/1092 Angers,France |
| Died | 13 November 1143 (aged 51–54) Acre,Kingdom of Jerusalem,Outremer,Levant |
| Burial | |
| Spouses | |
| Issue | |
| House | Anjou-Châteaudun |
| Father | Fulk IV, Count of Anjou |
| Mother | Bertrade de Montfort |
Fulk of Anjou (Latin:Fulco,French:Foulque orFoulques;c. 1089/1092 – 13 November 1143), also known asFulk the Younger, was theking of Jerusalem from 1131 until 1143 as thehusband and co-ruler ofQueen Melisende. Previously, he was thecount of Anjou asFulk V from 1109 to 1129. He had also been thecount of Maine from 1110 to 1126 alongside his first wife,Countess Erembourg. His direct descendants were the rulers of theAngevin Empire and theLatin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Fulk was born atAngers, between 1089 and 1092, the son of CountFulk IV of Anjou andBertrade de Montfort.[1] In 1092, Bertrade deserted her husband, and bigamously married KingPhilip 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-brotherGeoffrey 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 DukeWilliam IX of Aquitaine. The earliest version of theChronicles of the Deeds of the Counts of Anjou (Chronica de gestis consulum Andegavorum) may have been written in response to this crisis.[2]
In 1109, Fulk's father died and Fulk V succeeded to the county of Anjou, ending the three-year crisis. In 1110 he married CountessErembourg of Maine, cementing Angevin control over the County ofMaine. In 1113, Erembourg gave birth to their son, the futureGeoffrey V of Anjou.
Fulk was originally an opponent of KingHenry I of England and a supporter of KingLouis VI of France, but in 1119 he allied with Henry when he arranged for his daughterMatilda of Anjou to marry Henry's sonWilliam Adelin.[3]
In 1119, possibly inspired by the news of the defeat of crusader forces at theBattle of the Field of Blood, and at a time whenPope Callixtus II was nearby in France, Fulk decided to take the cross as a crusader.[4] During his visit to Jerusalem in 1120, he became associated with Knights Templar, possibly even joining them as aconfrater.[5] 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.[6]
By the 1120s, concern was growing about the succession to KingBaldwin II of Jerusalem, who had only daughters, the eldest beingMelisende. Many factors argued in favor of Fulk's candidacy: he had visited Jerusalem and supported the kingdom and the Templars; his sonGeoffrey had come of age in 1126; and his wife Erembourg died in the same year. The assassination of CountCharles 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 ofGalilee andGuy Brisebarre, and the Master and co-founder of the Knights TemplarHugh of Payns.[7] The embassy was tasked with finding a husband for Melisende and raising an army foran 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 to hold the kingdom after Baldwin's death.[8] 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.[9] By 31 May, Fulk seems to have accepted their offer, for he took the cross on that day in Le Mans.[4] 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.[10] 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 theFeast of Pentecost, 2 June 1129. As Melisende's dowry, Baldwin II presented Fulk with the cities of Acre and Tyre.[11] That winter, Fulk and the army recruited in Europe by Hugh of Payns attacked Damascus.[12]
Baldwin II of Jerusalem died on 21 August 1131. The coronation of Fulk and Melisende took place on 14 September, theFeast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in theChurch of the Holy Sepulcher. It was the first time that a ruler of Jerusalem had been crowned in this way.[13] On the occasion of his coronation, the Egyptian rulerKutayfat sent Fulk an ivory object described as "the ivory tau".[14] Fulk subsequently sent the ivory tau back to his palace atAngers with instructions that it should be used to ceremonially receive counts of Anjou.[15]
From the start Fulk assumed sole control of the government, excluding Melisende altogether. He favoured fellow countrymen from Anjou to the native nobility.[3] The otherCrusader 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 sisterAlice of Antioch, exiled from the Principality by Baldwin II, took control of Antioch once more after the death of her father.[16] In 1132, she allied withPons of Tripoli andJoscelin 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 popularHugh II 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 ofAscalon. He was able to defeat the army set against him by Fulk, but this situation could not hold. The patriarchWillam 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.[16] The ordeal revealed the church's support for Melisende, which is associated with her rise to prominence. Author and historian Bernard Hamilton wrote “...as the patriarch’s intervention showed, the full support of the church."[17]
Contemporary author and historianWilliam 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, was born.
Jerusalem's northern border was of great concern. Fulk had been appointedregent of thePrincipality of Antioch by Baldwin II. As regent, he hadRaymond of Poitou marry the infant princessConstance of Antioch, his and Melisende's niece. However, the greatest concern during Fulk's reign was the rise ofZengi,atabeg of Mosul.[16]
In 1137, Fulk was defeated in battle nearBaarin, at the castle ofMontferrand.[3] In order to recover, he allied withMu'in ad-Din Unur, the vizier ofDamascus. Damascus was also threatened by Zengi. Fulk captured the fort ofBanias, to the north ofLake Tiberias and thus secured the northern frontier.
Fulk also strengthened the kingdom's southern border. His butlerPaganus built the fortress ofKerak to the east of theDead Sea.[16] To help give the kingdom access to theRed Sea, Fulk hadBlanchegarde,Ibelin, and other forts built in the south-west to overpower theEgyptian fortress atAscalon. This city was a base from which the EgyptianFatimids launched frequent raids on the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Fulk sought to neutralise this threat.
Byzantine emperorJohn II Comnenus traveled toSyria in 1137[16] and 1142 while attempting to imposeByzantine control over thecrusader states. 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.[18]
In 1143, while the king and queen were inAcre, Fulk was killed in a hunting accident. His horse, startled by a hare, stumbled and fell. The saddle landed on Fulk's head,[19] "and his brains gushed forth from both ears and nostrils", asWilliam of Tyre describes.[20]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.[21] He was buried in theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
A marble panel from his tomb (orBaldwin III's) is in theTerra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem.[22] The panel includesrosettes, one of which has across pattée in its center.
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.[21][23]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 himal-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 theSiege of Edessa in 1144, which led to theSecond Crusade.
In 1110, Fulk marriedErembourg of Maine (died 1126), the daughter ofElias I of Maine.[25] They had:
His second wife wasMelisende, Queen of Jerusalem. They married in 1129 and had two children:
Portion of a Transenna Panel […] CTS-SB-09460
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Count of Anjou 1106–1129 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Count of Maine 1110–1126 withErembourg | |
| Preceded by | King of Jerusalem 1131–1143 withMelisende | Succeeded by |
Monarchs of theKingdom of Jerusalem | ||
|---|---|---|
.svg) | ||
Princes of thePrincipality of Antioch | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reigning princes (1098–1268) |  | |
| Titular princes (1268–1457) | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
