Jump to content

Baldwin V of Jerusalem

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baldwin V
Homage to Baldwin V (crowned, centre)
King of Jerusalem
Reign1183 – 1186
Coronation20 November 1183
PredecessorBaldwin IV
SuccessorsSibylla and Guy
Co-kingBaldwin IV (1183–1185)
RegentRaymond III, Count of Tripoli (1185–1186)
BornDecember 1177 or January 1178
DiedBetween May and September 1186
Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem
Burial
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
HouseAleramici
FatherWilliam of Montferrat
MotherSibylla of Jerusalem

Baldwin V (1177 or 1178 – 1186) was the king of Jerusalem who ruled with his uncle Baldwin IV of Jerusalem from 1183 to 1185. After his uncle died, he was the only king from 1185 to his own death in 1186. Baldwin IV's leprosy meant that he could not have children. He spent his time asking his family members to become the next king. His nephew was selected, and Baldwin IV had him crowned as co-king. He wanted to stop the child's stepfather, Guy of Lusignan, from becoming king. Guy was very disliked. When Baldwin IV died, Count Raymond III of Tripoli ruled the kingdom for the child king. Baldwin V died of unknown causes in 1186. The next ruler was his mother, Sibylla, who then made Guy king.

Background

[change | change source]

Baldwin of Montferrat was born in December 1177 or January 1178. His mother was Sibylla. She was King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem's sister. Baldwin was named after him.[1] Baldwin's father, William of Montferrat, died in June of 1177.[1] The king was expected to die young because he had leprosy. He also could not marry or have children because of this.[2][3] By July 1178, the king supported his sister as his new heir presumptive.[1] Her son, Baldwin of Montferrat, was next in line to the throne.[4]

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a kingdom in the Levant ruled by Catholic Franks.[5] It was frequently threatened by the neighbouring Muslim rulers.[6] Because of the king's disease, it was important for Sibylla to marry a new husband soon.[7] She married Guy of Lusignan in early 1180[8] and had four daughters with him.[9] Baldwin IV wanted Guy to become the next king.[10] But the king soon knew that Guy was a bad option. Guy was also not liked by the nobles of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[11]

Kingship

[change | change source]
Baldwin IV on his sickbed and Baldwin V crowned, as depicted in William of Tyre's manuscripts

In 1183, King Baldwin IV and his council discussed who could become the next king instead of Guy.[12] Sibylla's supporters were not present. Agnes of Courtenay, Sibylla and Baldwin IV's mother, suggested that Baldwin be made co-king with Baldwin IV. The boy had the next best claim after Sibylla. His grandmother's suggestion was liked. Baldwin V was crowned and anointed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on 20 November 1183. He received homage from all of the nobles except for his stepfather, Guy.[12]

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Heraclius, went to Western Europe in mid-1184. He was joined by the grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar. They went to ask for military aid. The kingdom needed protection against Muslim attacks.[13] It became clear in late 1184 or early 1185 that Baldwin IV was dying. He asked the High Court of Jerusalem - a group of nobles who made important decisions - to select a regent for his nephew.[14] Both the king and the nobles wanted to stop Guy from ruling for Baldwin.[15] They selected Raymond, but made Joscelin of Courtenay, Baldwin's granduncle, the child's guardian.[16] Baldwin V was not a healthy child.[17] The squire Ernoul said that Raymond didn't want custody of the king. Raymond did not want to be blamed if the child died. But the historian Bernard Hamilton does not think that this was Raymond's idea.[18] Joscelin had no claim to the throne and wanted to keep Baldwin alive. The High Court thought that Raymond might have wanted to make himself king. They limited his power to stop this from happening.[18]

Balian carrying Baldwin V to banquet after the boy's coronation

After the question of regency was answered, Baldwin V and Raymond received homage as king and regent. The young king then took part in a crown-wearing ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on his uncle's orders.[19] From there the boy was carried to a banquet on the shoulders of Balian of Ibelin, "Because he was the tallest of the great lords present".[20] Balian was really chosen to carry the young king because he did not like Guy. He was also the stepfather of Isabella, Baldwin IV and Sibylla's half-sister. Isabella was the only other possible option for the throne. Balian showed that Isabella's family's supported the boy king.[20] Baldwin IV died by 16 May 1185. He left Baldwin V as the only monarch.[21]

The kingdom faced no Muslim threats during Baldwin V's reign. Raymond succeeded in getting a truce from Saladin.[22] Western princes did to come to help Jerusalem. This was probably because they could not be offered the kingdom.[23] Only the king's paternal grandfather, William V of Montferrat, moved to the East. He made sure that the child's rights would be protected.[23][24] Raymond was not very powerful. Important government positions were taken by Guy's supporters. They hated that Guy was not regent for his stepson.[25]

Baldwin V's family, with hereditary monarchs of Jerusalem in bold[26]
Baldwin II of JerusalemMorphia of Melitene
Joscelin II of EdessaBeatrice of SaoneFulk V of AnjouMelisende of JerusalemAlice of JerusalemHodierna of Jerusalem
William V of MontferratJoscelin of CourtenayAgnes of CourtenayAmalric of JerusalemMaria KomneneBalian of IbelinConstance of AntiochRaymond III of Tripoli
William of MontferratSibylla of JerusalemGuy of LusignanBaldwin IV of JerusalemIsabella I of JerusalemHumphrey IV of ToronBohemond III of Antioch
Baldwin V of Jerusalem

Death and aftermath

[change | change source]
An illustration of Baldwin V's tomb by Elzear Horn, which helped the art historian Zehava Jacoby reconstruct the tomb

Baldwin V died of unknown causes in Acre between May and mid-September 1186.[27] The exact date is not known.[27] The historian Steven Runciman thinks he died in late August.[28]

The historian William of Newburgh wrote that Baldwin was poisoned by Raymond of Tripoli. But William did not like the count. Hamilton considers Raymond murderin Baldwin unlikely. The king was in the care of his granduncle Joscelin of Courtenay.[27]

Baldwin V's death caused another crisis. Joscelin gave Baldwin's body to the Templars, who took it to Jerusalem for his funeral. Raymond did not go to the funeral. Historian Malcolm Barber thinks that he was getting supporters to claim the throne. But Joscelin and many other important nobles were present.[29] Baldwin became the seventh king of Jerusalem to be buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He was also the last.[27] Baldwin's mother, Sibylla, made herself the next ruler.[30] She made her husband, Guy, king.[31] Jerusalem was conquered by Saladin in 1187. Baldwin's mother and half-sisters died in 1190, leaving his half-aunt, Isabella I, as the new queen.[32] Baldwin V's tomb, likely paid for by Sibylla, survived until 1808. It was destroyed in a fire.[27]

References

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hamilton 2000, p. 139.
  2. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 109.
  3. ↑ Runciman 1952, p. 411.
  4. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 148.
  5. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 57–58.
  6. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 54.
  7. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 140.
  8. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 150–158.
  9. ↑ Hamilton 1978, p. 172.
  10. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 188.
  11. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 158, 194.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hamilton 2000, p. 194.
  13. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 201.
  14. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 205.
  15. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 195, 205.
  16. ↑ Runciman 1952, p. 443.
  17. ↑ Riley-Smith 1973, p. 107.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Hamilton 2000, p. 206.
  19. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 207, 208.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Hamilton 2000, pp. 208–209.
  21. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 210.
  22. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 211.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Hamilton 2000, p. 214.
  24. ↑ Runciman 1952, p. 444.
  25. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 215.
  26. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. xviii, xxi.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 Hamilton 2000, p. 216.
  28. ↑ Runciman 1952, p. 446.
  29. ↑ Barber 2012, p. 293.
  30. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 218.
  31. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 220.
  32. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 230–232.

Sources

[change | change source]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baldwin V of Jerusalem.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Baldwin V..
  • Barber, Malcolm (2012). The Crusader States. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300189315.
  • Hamilton, Bernard (1978). "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem". In Baker, Derek (ed.). Medieval Women. Ecclesiastical History Society. ISBN 978-0631192602.
  • Hamilton, Bernard (2000). The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64187-6.
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1973). The feudal nobility and the kingdom of Jerusalem, 1147–1277. Macmillan.
  • Runciman, Steven (1952). A History of the Crusades: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0241298768. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Baldwin IV 		King of Jerusalem
1183-1186
with Baldwin IV (1183-1185) 		Succeeded by
Sibylla
Guy
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baldwin_V_of_Jerusalem&oldid=10354276"