Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Baldwin I (1060s – 2 April 1118) was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100 and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny. He received the County of Verdun in 1096, but he soon joined the crusader army of his brother Godfrey of Bouillon and became one of the most successful commanders of the First Crusade.

While the main crusader army was marching across Asia Minor in 1097, Baldwin and the Norman Tancred launched a separate expedition against Cilicia. Tancred tried to capture Tarsus in September, but Baldwin forced him to leave it, which gave rise to an enduring conflict between them. Baldwin seized important fortresses in the lands to the west of the Euphrates with the assistance of local Armenians. Thoros of Edessa invited him to come to Edessa to fight against the Seljuks. Taking advantage of a riot against Thoros, Baldwin seized the town and established the first Crusader state on 10Template:NbsMarch 1098. To strengthen his rule, the widowed Baldwin married an Armenian ruler's daughter (who is now known as Arda). He supplied the main crusader army with food during the siege of Antioch. He defended Edessa against Kerbogha, the governor of Mosul, for three weeks, preventing him from reaching Antioch before the crusaders captured it.

Godfrey of Bouillon, whom the crusaders had elected their first ruler in Jerusalem, died in 1100. Daimbert, the Latin patriarch, and Tancred offered Jerusalem to Tancred's uncle, Bohemond I of Antioch. Godfrey's retainers took possession of the town and urged Baldwin to claim Godfrey's inheritance. Since a Muslim ruler had captured Bohemond, Baldwin marched to Jerusalem, meeting little resistance. The Patriarch crowned him king in Bethlehem on 25Template:NbsDecember. He captured Arsuf and Caesarea in 1101, Acre in 1104, Beirut in 1110, and Sidon in 1111, with the assistance of Genoese and Venetian fleets and of several smaller crusader groups, but all his attempts to capture Ascalon and Tyre failed. After his victory at the third battle of Ramla in 1105, the Egyptians launched no further major campaigns against the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Baldwin helped Bertrand, Count of Toulouse, to capture Tripoli in 1109. Being the only crowned monarch in the Latin East, Baldwin claimed suzerainty over other crusader rulers. Baldwin II of Edessa and Bertrand swore fealty to him. Tancred, who ruled the Principality of Antioch, also obeyed his summons. Baldwin supported Baldwin II and Tancred against Kerbogha's successor, Mawdud, who launched a series of campaigns against Edessa and Antioch in the early 1110s. He erected fortresses in Oultrejordain—the territory to the east of the Jordan River—to control the caravan routes between Syria and Egypt. He died during a campaign against Egypt.

Early lifeEdit

File:Ida syni.jpg
A 13th century illustration of Countess Ida bidding farewell to her sons as they depart for the First Crusade

Born some time after 1060,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin was the third son of Count Eustace II of Boulogne and Ida of Lorraine.Template:Sfn Being his parents' youngest son, he was intended for a career in the Church.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He studied the liberal arts and held prebends in the cathedrals of Cambrai, Rheims and Liège.Template:Sfn For reasons that are unknown, and at an unspecified time, he abandoned his church career and became a knight.Template:Sfn The historian John France says that Baldwin most probably realised that the Gregorian Reform had diminished his chance to seize rich benefices.Template:Sfn Historian Susan B. Edgington, on the other hand, proposes that Baldwin preferred a secular career because his childless brother, Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lotharingia, had taken ill suddenly, giving Baldwin a chance to inherit his duchy.Template:Sfn

Baldwin married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny, whose family owned land and property in both Normandy and England.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin and his wife most probably settled in the court of his eldest brother, Count Eustace III of Boulogne.Template:Sfn Eustace and Baldwin jointly fought for their brother, Godfrey, against Count Albert III of Namur and Bishop Theoderic of Verdun at Stenay in 1086.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Godfrey mentioned Baldwin in most of his charters of grant, indicating that Baldwin was regarded as his designated heir.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin regularly visited the fortress of his wife's family at Conches-en-Ouche.Template:Sfn

First CrusadeEdit

Template:Further

Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont on 27Template:NbsNovember 1095.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Godfrey of Bouillon decided to join the military campaign and sold or mortgaged his inherited domains to raise funds.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn One of his domains, the County of Verdun, was seized by Richer, Bishop of Verdun, who soon granted it to Baldwin.Template:Sfn The dissolution of Godfrey's allodial lands deprived all future dukes of the basis of their authority in Lower Lotharingia, which facilitated Baldwin's decision to take the Cross.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Eustace III of Boulogne also joined the crusade.Template:Sfn According to a letter from Pope Urban, only the army that Peter the Hermit had mustered for the People's Crusade outnumbered the three brothers' force.Template:Sfn

Baldwin departed for the crusade with Godfrey's army on 15Template:NbsAugust 1096.Template:Sfn His wife and children accompanied him, suggesting that he had decided not to return to his homeland.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The crusaders stopped at Tulln an der Donau before reaching the frontier of Hungary in September.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Godfrey left Baldwin in charge of his troops during his conference with Coloman of Hungary, to discuss the conditions of the crusaders' march across the country.Template:Sfn He agreed to hand over Baldwin, along with Baldwin's wife and retainers, as hostages, to ensure their troops' good conduct.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin and Godehilde were released soon after the crusaders left Hungary. They entered the Byzantine Empire near Belgrade in late November.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The crusaders reached Constantinople on 23Template:NbsDecember 1096.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos demanded an oath of allegiance from their leaders and imposed a blockade on their camp to enforce it.Template:Sfn Baldwin made raids against the districts outside the walls of Constantinople, compelling Alexios to lift the blockade.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Emperor also agreed to hand over his son and heir, John II Comnenus, as a hostage,Template:Sfn who was entrusted to Baldwin's care.Template:Sfn

Since the crusaders continued to resist the emperor's demand, the Byzantines reduced the fodder and food supplied to them.Template:Sfn Baldwin again attacked the suburbs and killed or captured dozens of Pecheneg guards.Template:Sfn The crusaders realised that they could not defeat the imperial army and so yielded to the emperor's demand.Template:Sfn Their commanders (including Godfrey and Baldwin) swore fealty to Alexios and pledged that they would cede all conquered lands that the Seljuk Turks had seized from the Byzantines to the emperor's representatives.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The crusaders were transferred to a camp established on the road between Chalcedon and Nicomedia in Asia Minor, but Godfrey and Baldwin soon returned to Constantinople to be present when the commanders of a new crusader army did homage to Alexios.Template:Sfn When a knight sat on the emperor's throne during the ceremony, Baldwin "took him by the hand and made him rise"<ref>Anna Comnena: The Alexiad (10.10.), p. 325.</ref> and severely reprimanded him.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

After the crusaders defeated Kilij Arslan, the Seljuk Sultan of Rûm, in the Battle of Dorylaeum on 1Template:NbsJuly 1097, Baldwin and the Italo-Norman leader Tancred broke away from the main body of the army.Template:Sfn They marched as far as Heraclea, where they again joined their fellows around 15 August.Template:Sfn The crusaders became exhausted during their long march across Asia Minor and most of their horses died.Template:Sfn To secure a supply of food and forage, Baldwin and Tancred were sent to the fertile plains of Cilicia.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn There they could count on the support of the local Armenians, especially as Baldwin had already been befriended by an Armenian nobleman, Bagrat.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Baldwin and Tancred led two separate contingents.Template:Sfn Tancred was the first to leave Heraclea, accompanied by 100–200 troops; Baldwin and his 300 knights departed around 15Template:NbsSeptember.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Tancred arrived at Tarsus—an important center of commerce in Cilicia—on 21Template:NbsSeptember.Template:Sfn He persuaded the Seljuk garrison of Tarsus to raise his flag on the citadel, even before his troops were granted access to the town.Template:Sfn Baldwin reached Tarsus on the following day.Template:Sfn The Turks replaced Tancred's banner with Baldwin's flag and allowed Baldwin to take possession of two towers.Template:Sfn Heavily outnumbered by Baldwin's troops, Tancred decided not to fight for the town and rode off.Template:Sfn Shortly thereafter, about 300 Norman knights arrived, but Baldwin denied entry to them, which enabled the Turks to attack and murder the Normans during the night.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin's own men blamed him for their fate and massacred the remnants of the Seljuk garrison.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Fearful of vengeance, Baldwin took shelter in a tower, but finally convinced his soldiers of his innocence.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A pirate captain, Guynemer of Boulogne, sailed up the Berdan River to Tarsus and swore fealty to Baldwin.Template:Sfn He hired Guynemer's men to garrison Tarsus and continued his campaign.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Tancred had meanwhile seized the prosperous town of Mamistra.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin reached the town on around 30Template:NbsSeptember.Template:Sfn One of the most prominent Italian Norman crusaders, Richard of Salerno, wanted to take revenge for the Normans who had perished at Tarsus, which caused a skirmish between the soldiers of Baldwin and Tancred.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This was the first occasion when crusaders fought against each other.Template:Sfn After one or two men were killed and many more were injured or captured on both sides, Baldwin and Tancred made peace and Baldwin left Mamistra.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He joined the main army at Marash, but Bagrat persuaded him to launch a campaign towards the River Euphrates across a region densely populated by Armenians.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn About 80–100 knights accompanied him when he again left the main army on 17Template:NbsOctober.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Count of EdessaEdit

EstablishmentEdit

The Armenians regarded Baldwin as a liberator.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Two Armenian chiefs, Fer and Nicusus, joined him soon after he started his campaign.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The local population massacred the Seljuk garrisons and officials, or forced them to flee.Template:Sfn The Seljuks' fear of the crusaders contributed to Baldwin's success.Template:Sfn He seized two important fortresses, Ravendel and Turbessel, without a fight before the end of 1097.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He made Bagrat the governor of Ravendel,Template:Sfn and appointed Fer to administer Turbessel.Template:Sfn

The Armenian lord of Edessa, Thoros, sent envoys—the Armenian bishop of Edessa and twelve leading citizens—to Baldwin in early 1098, seeking his assistance against the nearby Seljuk rulers.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Being the first town to convert to Christianity, Edessa had played an important role in Christian history.Template:Sfn Before departing for Edessa, Baldwin ordered the arrest of Bagrat, whom Fer had accused of secret correspondence with the Seljuks.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Bagrat was tortured and forced to surrender Ravendel.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin left for Edessa in early February, but troops sent by Balduk, the emir of Samosata,Template:Sfn or BagratTemplate:Sfn prevented him from crossing the Euphrates. His second attempt was successfulTemplate:Sfn and he reached Edessa on 20 February.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin did not want to serve Thoros as a mercenary.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Armenian townspeople feared that he was planning to leave the town, so they persuaded Thoros to adopt him.Template:Sfn Alone among the contemporary historians of the First Crusade, Albert of Aix claims that the local customs of adoption required Thoros to take Baldwin under his shirt.Template:Sfn Strengthened by troops from Edessa, Baldwin raided Balduk's territory and placed a garrison in a small fortress near Samosata.Template:Sfn

Template:Quote

File:BaudouinDeBoulogneAndThe Armenians.jpg
Baldwin receiving the homage of the Armenians in Edessa

Unlike the majority of the Armenians, Thoros adhered to the Orthodox Church, which made him unpopular among his Miaphysite subjects.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Shortly after Baldwin's return from campaign, the local nobles started plotting against Thoros, possibly with Baldwin's consent (as is stated by contemporary chronicler Matthew of Edessa).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Albert of Aachen, Constantine of Gargar, one of the conspirators, suggested to replace Thoros with Baldwin.Template:Sfn A riot broke out in the town, forcing Thoros to take refuge in the citadel.Template:Sfn Baldwin pledged to save his adoptive father, but when the rioters broke into the citadel on 9Template:NbsMarch and murdered both Thoros and his wife, he did nothing to help them.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn On the following day, after the townspeople acknowledged Baldwin as their ruler (or doux),Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn he assumed the title of Count of Edessa,Template:Sfn and so established the first Crusader state.Template:Sfn

The Seljuks had captured Edessa from the Byzantines in 1087, but Alexios did not demand that Baldwin hand over the town.Template:Sfn Historian Christopher MacEvitt argues that the local population did not regard Baldwin's ascension as "a change in regime, but the replacement of one strongman with vague Byzantine ties with another of the same ilk".Template:Sfn The acquisition of Ravendel, Turbessel and Edessa strengthened the position of the main crusader army during the siege of Antioch, which was taking place at the same time.Template:Sfn The fertile lands along the Euphrates secured a supply of food for the crusaders.Template:Sfn The three fortresses also hindered the movement of the Seljuk troops towards Syria and Palestine.Template:Sfn

ConsolidationEdit

Baldwin had to use his diplomatic skills to secure his rule in Edessa, because his retinue was small.Template:Sfn He married the daughter of an Armenian lord named Taftoc (possibly the brother of Constantine of Gargar), according to William of Tyre,Template:Sfn and encouraged his retainers to marry local women.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Thoros' rich treasury enabled him to employ mercenaries and to buy Samosata from Balduk.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin and Balduk's treaty about the transfer of Samosata was the first friendly arrangement between a crusader leader and a Muslim ruler.Template:Sfn Balduk settled in Edessa.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

An Artuqid emir, Belek Ghazi, hired Baldwin to suppress a revolt in Saruj.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn When the Muslim burghers of the town approached Balduk to come to their rescue,Template:Sfn Balduk hurried to Saruj, but it soon became apparent that his retinue was too small to resist a siege and both he and the townspeople yielded to Baldwin.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin demanded Balduk's wife and children as hostages, but Balduk refused to hand them over to him, for which Baldwin had him captured and executed.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:Map County of Edessa 1098-1131-en.svg
The expansion of the County of Edessa from 1098 to 1131 (the territory conquered by Baldwin is depicted with the darkest color)

Baldwin granted the usufruct of Turbessel and Ravendel to his brother Godfrey, to secure his and his retainers' accommodation during the siege of Antioch.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The continued support that Baldwin provided his brother with increased his brother's standing within the crusade army, proving crucial during the crusade as food was many times scarce. Kerbogha, the governor of Mosul, gathered a large army to relieve the town.Template:Sfn During his march towards Antioch, Kerbogha did not wish to risk allowing the crusaders to hold Edessa.Template:Sfn He besieged Edessa for three weeks in May, but could not capture it.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His delay enabled the crusaders to capture Antioch on 3Template:NbsJune 1098.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Antioch became the capital of a new Crusader state, the Principality of Antioch, with Tancred's uncle, Bohemond of Taranto, as its first prince.Template:Sfn

Baldwin levied high taxes, which made him unpopular among his native subjects.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He also ignored the local nobles' advice and granted property to his retainers and other crusaders who moved to Edessa.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A dozen Armenian chiefs plotted against Baldwin in December,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and approached the nearby Seljuk emirs for assistance, but Baldwin learnt of the conspiracy and ordered the arrest of the conspirators.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The two ringleaders were mutilated in accordance with Byzantine laws, but the others were allowed to redeem themselves for large fees.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Nevertheless, Baldwin continued to appoint Armenian noblemen to important offices.Template:Sfn He made the Armenian Ablgharib the commander of Bijerik, an important fort controlling the road between Edessa and Turbessel.Template:Sfn

The main crusader army captured Jerusalem on 15Template:NbsJuly 1099.Template:Sfn A week later, Godfrey of Bouillon was elected ruler of the city, but chose not to be crowned king.Template:Sfn Baldwin decided to complete his pilgrimage and left Edessa for Jerusalem in November.Template:Sfn At Buluniyas, he joined the pilgrims who had departed Antioch with Bohemond I and the papal legate, Daimbert of Pisa.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Attacks by Muslim troops, fatigue and diseases caused heavy casualties during the journey, but most of the pilgrims reached Jerusalem on 21Template:NbsDecember.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Four days later, Daimbert was elected and installed as the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The new patriarch confirmed Godfrey and Bohemond in the possession of their lands, but no similar ceremony was recorded in connection with Baldwin.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin and Bohemond left Jerusalem on 1Template:NbsJanuary 1100.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Duqaq, the Seljuk ruler of Damascus, sent forces to attack them, but the crusaders routed the Seljuk troops near Baalbek.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin arrived back in Edessa in February.Template:Sfn

Godfrey died unexpectedly on 18Template:NbsJuly 1100.Template:Sfn He had extracted oaths from Daimbert and other leading crusaders that they "would not confer the throne on anyone except his brothers or one of his blood",<ref>Albert of Aachen: Historia Ierosolimitana – History of the Journey to Jerusalem (ch. vii.27), p. 523.</ref> according to Albert of Aix.Template:Sfn Warner of Grez, Godfrey's most influential retainer, took possession of the Tower of David in Jerusalem to secure control of the city.Template:Sfn Although Warner soon died, two other members of Godfrey's court, Geldemar Carpenel and Arnulf of Chocques, sent a delegation to Baldwin, urging him to come to Jerusalem.Template:Sfn

To prevent Baldwin from seizing Godfrey's realm, Daimbert and Tancred sought assistance from Bohemond I of Antioch.Template:Sfn Daimbert sent a letter to him, stating that Baldwin's rule would "bring about the downfall of the church and the destruction of Christianity itself", according to later chronicler William of Tyre.Template:Sfn Bohemond, however, was captured by the Danishmend Gazi Gümüshtigin in the hills near Melitene around 15Template:NbsAugust.Template:Sfn Baldwin hurried to Melitene and pursued the Danishmend for three days, but he was unable to rescue Bohemond.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After his return, the Armenian lord of Melitene, Gabriel, swore fealty to him.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin appointed fifty knights to defend the town.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

King of JerusalemEdit

CoronationEdit

News of Godfrey's death reached Edessa shortly after Baldwin's return from Melitene.Template:Sfn His chaplain, Fulcher of Chartres, noticed that Baldwin "grieved somewhat over the death of his brother, but rejoiced more over his inheritance".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn To finance his journey to Jerusalem, Baldwin seized gold and silver from his subjects.Template:Sfn He appointed his relative, Baldwin of Le Bourcq, his successor in the county and Le Bourcq swore fealty to him.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

About 200 knights and 300–700 foot-soldiers accompanied Baldwin when he left Edessa on 2Template:NbsOctober 1100.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He spent four days in Antioch, but did not accept the local inhabitants' plea for him to administer the principality during Bohemond's captivity.Template:Sfn Duqaq of Damascus wanted to ambush him on the narrow road near the mouth of the Nahr al-Kalb River.Template:Sfn The qadi of Tripoli secretly warned Baldwin, which enabled him to defeat the attack and rout the Damascene troops.Template:Sfn Tancred hurried to Jerusalem to persuade the garrison to surrender the town to him, but he was barred from the town.Template:Sfn

Baldwin reached Jerusalem around 9Template:NbsNovember.Template:Sfn Daimbert withdrew to a monastery on Mount Zion, and the townspeople stopped Baldwin outside the walls and ceremoniously accompanied him to the Holy Sepulchre.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Albert of Aix's sporadic references suggest that Baldwin adopted the title of prince.Template:Sfn Baldwin first raided the environs of Ascalon, which was still held by the Egyptians, then launched a punitive expedition against the bandits who had their headquarters in the caves near Jerusalem.Template:Sfn He made an incursion across the River Jordan before returning to Jerusalem on 21 December.Template:Sfn

Baldwin was reconciled with Daimbert who agreed to anoint and crown him king.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The ceremony took place in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Christmas Day.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Thereafter Baldwin was most frequently styled king.Template:Sfn For instance, a charter of grant in 1104 referred to him as "Baldwin, king of Judea and Jerusalem, and defensor of the Holiest Sepulchre of our Lord, Jesus Christ".Template:Sfn In most of his charters, he also emphasised that he was Godfrey's lawful heir.Template:Sfn

First successesEdit

When Geldemar Carpenel laid claim to Haifa, stating that Tancred had arbitrarily seized it,Template:Sfn Baldwin summoned Tancred to Jerusalem, but Tancred did not recognise him as the lawful monarch.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They agreed to meet at a river near Jaffa, but their meeting did not result in compromise.Template:Sfn The conflict was resolved when Tancred was invited to Antioch to administer the principality on Bohemond's behalf.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Before leaving for Antioch in March, Tancred renounced his domains in Palestine, but also stipulated that the same domains should be granted in fief to him if he were to leave Antioch within fifteen months.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin gave Haifa to Geldemar and the Galilee to Hugh of Fauquembergues.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

A new papal legate, Maurice of Porto, came to Jerusalem in early March 1101.Template:Sfn After Baldwin accused Daimbert of treachery and convinced Maurice to suspend him on 15Template:NbsApril, Daimbert had to bribe Baldwin with 300 bezants to persuade the legate to restore him to his office.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The towns along the coast which were still under Egyptian rule—Arsuf, Caesarea, Acre and Tyre—sent gifts to Baldwin to secure his benevolence.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Always in need of funds, Baldwin concluded an alliance with the commanders of a Genoese fleet, offering commercial privileges and booty to them in the towns that he would capture with their support.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They first attacked Arsuf, which surrendered without resistance on 29 April, securing a safe passage for the townspeople to Ascalon.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Egyptian garrison at Caesarea resisted, but the town fell on 17Template:NbsMay.Template:Sfn Baldwin's soldiers pillaged Caesarea and massacred the majority of the adult local population.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Genoese received one third of the booty, but Baldwin did not grant areas in the captured towns to them.Template:Sfn

Battles at RamlaEdit

Template:Further

While Baldwin and the Genoese were besieging Caesarea, the Egyptian vizier, Al-Afdal Shahanshah, started mustering troops at Ascalon.Template:Sfn Baldwin moved his headquarters to nearby Jaffa and fortified Ramla to hinder any attempt at a surprise attack against Jerusalem.Template:Sfn He demanded more funds from Daimbert to cover the costs of this defense, but the patriarch refused.Template:Sfn During a passionate debate in the presence of the papal legate, Daimbert stated that Baldwin should not "presume to make tributary and servant the holy Church".Template:Sfn<ref>Albert of Aachen: Historia Ierosolimitana – History of the Journey to Jerusalem (ch. vii.60)</ref>Template:Sfn The legate persuaded Daimbert to promise that he would "maintain thirty soldiers by a money agreement",<ref>Albert of Aachen: Historia Ierosolimitana – History of the Journey to Jerusalem (ch. vii.61)</ref> but the patriarch failed to raise the promised amount.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The lightly armed and undisciplined Egyptian army approached Ramla in early September.Template:Sfn The much smaller, but experienced and well-equipped crusader forces were the first to attack, at dawn on 7Template:NbsSeptember.Template:Sfn At least two of the five or six crusader corps were almost annihilated during the first phase of the battle, but Baldwin persuaded the remnants of his army to launch a fresh attack, surprising the Egyptians.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After a short resistance, they fled in panic, pursued by the crusaders as far as Ascalon.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Roger Borsa, Duke of Apulia, sent money to Daimbert, partially for the recruitment of soldiers, but Daimbert retained the whole sum.Template:Sfn After learning of this embezzlement, Baldwin convinced the papal legate to dismiss Daimbert in late 1101.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Daimbert fled first to Jaffa, then to Tancred in Antioch.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The vacancy enabled Baldwin to freely use the patriarch's rich treasury.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Stephen, Count of Blois, Hugh of Lusignan and other survivors of the catastrophic crusade of the previous year came to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem in 1102.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Shortly thereafter, a strong Egyptian army invaded the kingdom.Template:Sfn On 17 May, and against all advice, Baldwin and a force of about 500 horsemen that included dozens of new crusaders, rode out to meet the Egyptians.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In this second battle fought at Ramla, the Egyptians were the victors, and they forced Baldwin and his men to take refuge in Ramla.Template:Sfn Baldwin escaped from the fortress before the Egyptians laid siege to it, leaving his troops to be killed or captured.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He fled to Arsuf, after which an English pirate, Godric, took him to Jaffa, although the Egyptian army had blockaded it from the land.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He went to Jerusalem to gather new troops and returned to Jaffa with more than 100 horsemen.Template:Sfn However, only the arrival of a fleet filled with hundreds of English, French and German pilgrims forced the Egyptians to lift the siege on 27Template:NbsMay.Template:Sfn Baldwin wrote to Alexios I Komnenos, urging him not to obstruct their journey.Template:Sfn

During the siege of Jaffa, Baldwin had sent envoys to Antioch and Edessa, seeking assistance from Tancred and Baldwin II.Template:Sfn They arrived only after the Egyptians' withdrawal.Template:Sfn Tancred tried to persuade the new papal legate, Robert of St Eusebio, to restore Daimbert, but Baldwin convinced Robert to discuss the issue with the local bishops and abbots.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After the prelates unanimously stated that Daimbert had almost provoked a civil war and had abused his ecclesiastic authority, the legate allowed them to elect a pious priest, Evremar, as patriarch.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Baldwin laid siege to Acre in April 1103, but an Egyptian fleet relieved the town.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He launched a raid against the bandits who had settled on Mount Carmel, but he was wounded in the kidneys and did not recover until the end of the year.Template:Sfn After a fleet of Genoese and Pisan ships arrived at Haifa in April 1104, Baldwin made an alliance with their commanders and again besieged Acre.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The town surrendered on 26Template:NbsMay after Baldwin promised a free passage to those who wanted to move to Ascalon, but the Italian sailors plundered the wealthy emigrants and killed many of them.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin wanted to punish the Genoese, but the patriarch mediated a reconciliation and Baldwin had to grant one-third of the town to them.Template:Sfn Acre had always been the most important port of trade between Syria and Europe, and the harbour dues generated significant revenues for him.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Duqaq's death on 14Template:NbsJune led to internal conflict in Damascus.Template:Sfn The atabeg (or regent) Toghtekin emerged as the ruler, but faced strong opposition.Template:Sfn Baldwin promised to support Duqaq's young brother Irtash against Toghtekin.Template:Sfn His intervention brought about a rapprochement between the Sunnite Toghtekin and the Shiite Al-Afdal.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After Egyptian horsemen and foot soldiers invaded the kingdom from the south, and Syrian mounted archers from the west in August 1105, Baldwin assembled the largest crusader army since the beginning of his reign.Template:Sfn At his request, Patriarch Evremar displayed the True Cross before the army to strengthen the crusaders' self-confidence.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They inflicted a decisive defeat on the Egyptian and Syrian armies at Ramla on 27Template:NbsAugust.Template:Sfn

ExpansionEdit

The Egyptians failed to launch any major military campaigns against the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but they did continually raid Baldwin's southern frontier.Template:Sfn They massacred hundreds of pilgrims near Jaffa and defeated the governor of the town while Baldwin was fighting against Damascene troops in Galilee in October 1106.Template:Sfn In 1107 the Egyptians attacked Hebron, but Baldwin forced them to lift the siege.Template:Sfn The Egyptian raids did not prevent Baldwin from pursuing an expansionist policy.Template:Sfn He compelled the governor of Sidon to pay a large tribute for a two-year truce in early 1106.Template:Sfn Early the following year, he made a raid into Oultrejordain and forced the enemy to destroy a fortress recently built by Damascene troops to control the caravan routes.Template:Sfn In August 1108 Baldwin and a band of Italian adventurers laid siege to Sidon, but the arrival of an Egyptian fleet and Turkish horsemen from Damascus forced him to abandon the siege.Template:Sfn In late 1108, he concluded a ten-year truce with the Turkoman Emir of Damascus Toghtekin in exchange for one-third of state revenues from the northern regions of Oultrejordain.Template:Sfn

Bertrand, Count of Toulouse came to Syria to claim the lands that his father, Raymond of Saint Gilles, had conquered around Tripoli.Template:Sfn Bertrand's cousin, William Jordan, who had ruled these lands since Raymond's death, refused to cede them to him.Template:Sfn Bertrand sought Baldwin's assistance, while William Jordan secured Tancred's support.Template:Sfn Tancred had already outraged Baldwin II of Edessa through refusing to abandon Turbessel.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin convoked an assembly to put an end to the crusader leaders' conflicts.Template:Sfn Since neither Tancred nor Jordan were his vassals, he summoned them in the name of the "whole church of Jerusalem" to the castle of Mount Pilgrim near Tripoli.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At the assembly in June 1109, Tancred agreed to abandon Turbessel in return for his restoration to his old domains in the Kingdom of Jerusalem (Galilee, Haifa and the Temple of the Lord).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Tancred did not take possession of his old domain, which remained under Baldwin's control.Template:Sfn Raymond's inheritance was distributed between Bertrand and Jordan, with Bertrand swearing fealty to Baldwin, and Jordan to Tancred.Template:Sfn

The crusader leaders united their forces to complete the conquest of Tripoli begun by Raymond.Template:Sfn On 26Template:NbsJune, the Egyptian governor, Sharaf ad-Daulah, offered to surrender the town if a safe passage for those who wanted to leave the town was guaranteed.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin accepted the offer, but he could not prevent the Genoese from killing all those inhabitants whom they could capture.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Two-thirds of the town was granted to Bertrand of Toulouse who again took an oath of fealty to Baldwin.Template:Sfn Baldwin captured Beirut on 13Template:NbsMay 1110, with the assistance of Bertrand and a Genoese fleet.Template:Sfn He was again unable to prevent a general massacre of the townspeople.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Mawdud, the atabeg of Mosul, and his allies invaded the County of Edessa during the siege of Beirut.Template:Sfn After the fall of Beirut, Baldwin and BertrandTemplate:Sfn hurried to Edessa to fight against the invaders.Template:Sfn Baldwin II of Edessa accused Tancred of having incited the Muslim rulers to take actions against him.Template:Sfn Regarding himself as the leader of all the Crusaders, Baldwin ordered Tancred to join the campaign and make peace with Baldwin II, otherwise he would declare Tancred the enemy of Christianity.Template:Sfn Since most crusaders supported the king, Tancred had no choice but to obey.Template:Sfn The incident strengthened Baldwin's suzerainty over Edessa.Template:Sfn After the new reconciliation, the crusaders pursued Mawdud, but rumours about Muslim attacks against Antioch and Jerusalem forced them to stop the campaign.Template:Sfn Before leaving the county, Baldwin suggested that the Christian (mainly Armenian) peasants should be transferred to the lands west of the Euphrates, because the Seljuk rulers had frequently raided the eastern regions.Template:Sfn While the peasants were gathering at a ferry on the river, Mawdud made a sudden raid and massacred most of them.Template:Sfn

Sigurd I of Norway—the first king to visit the Kingdom of Jerusalem—had meanwhile landed at Acre.Template:Sfn Baldwin made an alliance with him and they laid siege to Sidon in October 1110.Template:Sfn An Egyptian fleet routed the Norwegians, but the Doge of Venice, Ordelafo Faliero, and his fleet soon joined the crusaders and the town capitulated on 5Template:NbsDecember.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Baldwin spared the lives of the townspeople and many of them moved to Tyre and Damascus.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The following year Baldwin marched to Ascalon:Template:Sfn to prevent a siege the Egyptian governor of the town, Shams al-Khalīfa, promised to pay 70,000 dinars as a tribute and allowed crusader troops into the citadel.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn However, the townspeople rose up against al-Khalīfa in JulyTemplate:Sfn and his Berber guards joined the rioters, murdering him and the crusader troops.Template:Sfn

Mawdud launched a new expedition against the northern crusader states in August.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At Tancred's request, Baldwin mustered his troops and hurried to the North.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Bertrand of Tripoli, Baldwin II of Edessa and the Armenian rulers also came to fight against Mawdud, who was compelled to return to Mosul in the autumn.Template:Sfn Shortly thereafter, Baldwin attacked a caravan that was travelling from Tyre to Damascus, carrying with it the city's most precious possessions, and was able to carry off the rich cargo.Template:Sfn In late November, he laid siege to Tyre, although he had no supporting fleet.Template:Sfn He was still besieging the town when a Byzantine embassy arrived.Template:Sfn The Byzantines tried to persuade him to join a coalition against Tancred, while he wanted to secure their assistance against Tyre.Template:Sfn They could not reach a compromise, but Izz al-Mulk, the Egyptian governor of Tyre, persuaded Toghtekin to come to the rescue of the besieged town.Template:Sfn Toghtekin compelled Baldwin to lift the siege and withdraw to Acre in April 1112.Template:Sfn

Baldwin made an incursion against Damascene territory in 1113.Template:Sfn Mawdud and an Artuqid emir, Ayaz, who came to assist Toghtekin against the crusaders, routed Baldwin in the Battle of al-Sannabra in late June, forcing him to seek assistance from the new rulers of Tripoli and Antioch, Pons and Roger.Template:Sfn Toghtekin, Mawdud and Ayaz invaded Galilee, but they did not risk attacking Tiberias after the arrival of the troops from Tripoli and Antioch.Template:Sfn Toghtekin and Mawdud returned to Damascus where an Assassin murdered Mawdud in late September.Template:Sfn The Seljuk sultan, Muhammad I Tapar, sent a large army to northern Syria in spring 1115.Template:Sfn In an attempt to maintain the equilibrium in the region, Toghtekin soon sought reconciliation with the crusaders.Template:Sfn He made an alliance with the crusader rulers, and their coalition forced the Seljuk troops to withdraw without a fight.Template:Sfn

With the pressure on the northern regions diminished, Baldwin was able to again deal with the Egyptians, who had already approached Jerusalem in 1113, and made a fresh attempt to capture Jaffa in 1115.Template:Sfn Baldwin led an expedition across the Jordan and ordered the construction of the castle of Montreal in the autumn of 1115.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The following year, he returned to the region and marched as far as Akaba on the Red Sea.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After the local inhabitants fled from the town, Baldwin constructed castles in the town and on a nearby island and left a garrison in both fortresses.Template:Sfn The three strongholds—Montreal, Eilat and Graye—secured the control of the caravan routes between Syria and Egypt.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They also enabled Baldwin to continuously survey the movements of the Egyptian troops.Template:Sfn From the Red Sea coast, Baldwin hastened to Tyre and began the construction of a new fortress, known as Scandelion Castle, at the Ladder of Tyre, which completed the blockade of the town from the mainland.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

DeathEdit

File:Funeral of Baldwin I.jpg
Funeral of Baldwin I

Baldwin fell seriously ill in late 1116.Template:Sfn Thinking that he was dying, he ordered that all his debts be paid off and he started to distribute his money and goods, but he recovered at the start of the following year.Template:Sfn To strengthen the defence of the southern frontier, he launched an expedition against Egypt in March 1118.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He seized Farama on the Nile Delta without a fight as the townspeople had fled in panic before he reached the town.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The late-12th-century Muslim historian Ibn Zafar al Siqilli wrote that Baldwin ordered the mosques in the town to be levelled.Template:Sfn Baldwin's retainers urged him to attack Cairo, but the old wound that he had received in 1103 suddenly re-opened.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Dying, Baldwin was carried back as far as Al-Arish on the frontier of the Fatimid Empire.Template:Sfn On his deathbed, he named Eustace III of Boulogne as his successor, but also authorised the barons to offer the throne to Baldwin of Edessa or "someone else who would rule the Christian people and defend the churches", if his brother did not accept the crown.Template:Sfn Baldwin died on 2Template:NbsApril 1118.Template:Sfn In accordance with his last wishes, his cook, Addo, removed his intestines and preserved his body in salt, so as to secure a burial in Jerusalem.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was buried in the Calvary Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre next to Godfrey of Bouillon five days later, on Palm Sunday.Template:Sfn

LegacyEdit

File:Baldwin I of Jerusalem.jpg
An 1844 portrait of Baldwin I by Merry-Joseph Blondel

Fulcher of Chartres described Baldwin as his subjects' "shield, strength and support; their right arm; the terror of his enemies."Template:Sfn The Muslim historian, Ali ibn al-Athir, who completed his chronicle a century after Baldwin's death, thought that "al-Bardawil" had started the First Crusade.Template:Sfn Presenting a fictional correspondence between Baldwin and Roger I of Sicily, al-Athir claimed that Baldwin had initially wanted to conquer Ifriqiya, but Roger, who wanted to secure the territory for himself, talked him into attacking Jerusalem.Template:Sfn

Among modern historians, Thomas Asbridge states that Baldwin was one of the commanders of the First Crusade "whose skill, ambition and devotion drove the enterprise, and by turns threatened to rip it apart."Template:Sfn Christopher Tyerman emphasises that Baldwin was a talented military commander and a clever politician, who "established a stable kingdom with defined and defensible borders."Template:Sfn Amin Maalouf also concludes that Baldwin was the "principal architect of the occupation" of the Holy Land by the crusaders.Template:Sfn Maalouf attributes Baldwin's success primarily to the "incorrigible fragmentation of the Arab world," which made the crusaders a "genuine regional power."Template:Sfn Historian Christopher MacEvitt proposes that Baldwin was "adept at navigating the complexities of a world of competing local warlords," because the "political landscape" of his homeland, with its castellans dominating the countryside, was "not so different."Template:Sfn

Baldwin's earliest extant charters were issued in the early 1100s, but the establishment of a chancery took years.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Initially, clerics from Baldwin's homeland compiled the royal documents.Template:Sfn The first chancellor, Pagan, was appointed only in 1115.Template:Sfn Pagan had come to the Holy Land in the entourage of Baldwin's third wife, Adelaide del Vasto.Template:Sfn The Bardawil lagoons are named after Baldwin, who died in nearby El-Arish.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

FamilyEdit

Baldwin's wife Godehilde, the daughter of Raoul II of Tosny and Isabella of Montfort-l'Amaury,Template:Sfn died during the First Crusade around 15Template:NbsOctober 1097.Template:Sfn Historian Malcolm Barber argues that her death "may have been the decisive event that persuaded" Baldwin "to seek out a lordship in the East".Template:Sfn According to the historians Steven Runciman and Christopher MacEvitt, Baldwin and Godehilde had children who did not long survive her,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn but historian Alan V. Murray emphasises that no primary source states that Baldwin fathered children.Template:Sfn According to Murray, Runciman was wrong when he translated William of Tyre's words about Baldwin's "familia" as a reference to his family, because William of Tyre was referring to Baldwin's household.Template:Sfn

Uncertainty surrounds the name and family of his second wife, whom he married in the summer of 1098.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Modern historians call her Arda and associate her father with Tathoul of Marash.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Her father promised a dowry of 60,000 bezants and also pledged that she would inherit his lands, but he actually paid off only 7,000 bezants to Baldwin.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The marriage was childless.Template:Sfn Baldwin banished her to the convent of St Anne in Jerusalem before 1109, but she was soon allowed to move to Constantinople.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Although they were separated, the marriage was never annulled.Template:Sfn

Baldwin's third wife, Adelaide, was the wealthy widow of Roger I of Sicily.Template:Sfn Her first husband died in 1102 and she acted as regent for their minor sons until the end of 1111.Template:Sfn She was more than forty years old when the marriage was proposed in 1112.Template:Sfn According to William of Tyre, Baldwin wanted to marry her because he had learnt of her wealth, and even agreed to make her son, Roger II of Sicily, his heir in Jerusalem.Template:Sfn She landed at Palestine in August 1113, accompanied by hundreds of soldiers and bringing her rich dowry.Template:Sfn Their marriage was bigamous, because Baldwin's second wife was still alive.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After recovering from a serious illness in late 1116, Baldwin accepted clerical advice and sent an indignant Adelaide home.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn She sailed for Sicily on 25 April 1117.Template:Sfn Her humiliation outraged Roger II so much that he denied all support to the Kingdom of Jerusalem during his lifetime.Template:Sfn

Summarising Baldwin's marriages, historian Jonathan Phillips concludes that Baldwin "regarded women as useful sources of financial and political advancement but little else".Template:Sfn Decades after Baldwin's death, William of Tyre wrote that Baldwin was "said to have struggled with weakness of the flesh", but only a few of his "body-servants" were aware of this.Template:Sfn Historians Hans Eberhard Mayer, Christopher Tyerman and Malcolm Barber agree that William of Tyre most probably referred to Baldwin's homosexuality.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Tyerman adds that a converted Muslim was one of Baldwin's lovers, but he betrayed Baldwin during the siege of Sidon.Template:Sfn He proposed that the defenders of the town kill the king, but Baldwin was warned in advance.Template:Sfn On the other hand, Susan B. Edgington states that there is "little evidence to support" the theories about Baldwin's homosexuality, emphasizing that his contemporaries made no reference to it.Template:Sfn

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

SourcesEdit

Primary sourcesEdit

Template:Refbegin

  • Albert of Aachen: Historia Ierosolimitana – History of the Journey to Jerusalem (Edited and translated by Susan B. Edgington) (2007). Oxford University Press. Template:ISBN.
  • Anna Comnena: The Alexiad (Translated by E. R. A. Sewter) (1969). Penguin Books. Template:ISBN. Template:Registration required

Template:Refend

Secondary sourcesEdit

Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

Further readingEdit

Template:Wikisource1911Enc Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

External linksEdit

Template:S-start Template:S-reg Template:S-new Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-end

Template:Monarchs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Template:Authority control