Fulk, King of Jerusalem
Fulk (Latin: Fulco, French: Foulque or Foulques; c. 1089/1092 – 13 November 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger, was the count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129 and the king of Jerusalem with his wife Melisende from 1131 to his death. During their reign, the Kingdom of Jerusalem reached its largest territorial extent.
"Fulk of Jerusalem" redirects here. For the Latin patriarch from 1146 to 1157, see Patriarch Fulk of Jerusalem.Fulk (V)
1131–1143
Melisende and Baldwin III
1109–1129
13 November 1143
Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Outremer, Levant
Count of Anjou[edit]
Fulk was born at Angers, between 1089 and 1092, the son of Count Fulk IV of Anjou and Bertrade de Montfort. In 1092, Bertrade deserted her husband, and bigamously married King Philip I of France. Fulk V became count of Anjou upon his father's death in 1109. In the next year, he married Countess Erembourg (or Ermengarde) of Maine, cementing Angevin control over the County of Maine.
Fulk was originally an opponent of King Henry I of England and a supporter of King Louis VI of France, but in 1118 or 1119 he allied with Henry when he arranged for his daughter Matilda of Anjou to marry Henry's son William Adelin. Fulk went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1119 or 1120, and became attached to the Knights Templar. He returned, late in 1121, after which he began to subsidize the Templars, maintaining two knights in the Holy Land for a year. Much later, Henry arranged for his own daughter Matilda to marry Fulk's son Geoffrey V of Anjou, which she did in 1127 or 1128.
Securing the borders[edit]
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 Zengi, atabeg of Mosul.
In 1137 Fulk was defeated in battle near Baarin but 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 Paganus built the fortress of Kerak to the east of the Dead Sea, and to help give the kingdom access to the Red Sea, Fulk had Blanchegarde, Ibelin, and other forts built in the south-west to overpower the Egyptian fortress at 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.
In 1137 and 1142, Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus arrived in Syria attempting to impose Byzantine control over the crusader states. John's intention of making a pilgrimage, accompanied by his impressive army, to Jerusalem 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.[1]
Death[edit]
In 1143, while the king and queen were in Acre, Fulk was killed in a hunting accident.[2] His horse stumbled, fell, and Fulk's skull was crushed by the saddle, "and his brains gushed forth from both ears and nostrils", as William of Tyre describes. He was carried back to Acre, where he lay unconscious for three days before he died. He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Though their marriage started in conflict, Melisende mourned for him privately as well as publicly. Fulk was survived by his son Geoffrey by his first wife, and Baldwin and Amalric by Melisende.
A marble panel from his tomb (or Baldwin III's) is in the Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem.[3] The panel includes rosettes, one of which has a cross pattée in its center.
Legacy[edit]
Depictions[edit]
According to William of Tyre, Fulk was "a ruddy man, like David... faithful and gentle, affable and kind... an experienced warrior full of patience and wisdom in military affairs." His chief fault was an inability to remember names and faces.
William described Fulk 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 in 1144, which led to the Second Crusade.
Family[edit]
In 1110, Fulk married Erembourg/Ermengarde of Maine (died 1126), the daughter of Elias I of Maine.[4] They had:
His second wife was Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem. They married in 1129 and had two children: