What was the noble title of Amalric of Jerusalem from Feb 1162 to Jul 1174?
Amalric of Jerusalem Amalric ( ; ; 113611 July 1174 ) was King of Jerusalem from 1163 , and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession . He was the second son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem , and succeeded his older brother Baldwin III . During his reign , Jerusalem became more closely allied with the Byzantine Empire , and the two states launched an unsuccessful invasion of Egypt . Meanwhile , the Muslim territories surrounding Jerusalem began to be united under Nur ad-Din and later Saladin . He was the father of three future rulers of Jerusalem , Sibylla , Baldwin IV , and Isabella I . Older scholarship mistook the two names Amalric and Aimery as variant spellings of the same name , so these historians erroneously added numbers , making Amalric to be Amalric I ( 1163–74 ) and King Aimery ( 1197–1205 ) to be Amalric II . Now scholars recognize that the two names were not the same and no longer add the number for either king . Confusion between the two names was common even among contemporaries . Youth . Amalric was born in 1136 to King Fulk , the former count of Anjou married to the heiress of the kingdom , Queen Melisende . After the death of Fulk in a hunting accident in 1143 , the throne passed jointly to Melisende and Amalrics older brother Baldwin III , who was still only 13 years old . Melisende did not step down when Baldwin came of age two years later , and by 1150 the two were becoming increasingly hostile towards each other . In 1152 Baldwin had himself crowned sole king , and civil war broke out , with Melisende retaining Jerusalem while Baldwin held territory further north . Amalric , who had been given the County of Jaffa as an apanage when he reached the age of majority in 1151 , remained loyal to Melisende in Jerusalem , and when Baldwin invaded the south , Amalric was besieged in the Tower of David with his mother . Melisende was defeated in this struggle and Baldwin ruled alone thereafter . In 1153 Baldwin captured the Egyptian fortress of Ascalon , which was then added to Amalrics fief of Jaffa ( see Battle of Ascalon ) . Amalric married Agnes of Courtenay in 1157 . Agnes , daughter of Joscelin II of Edessa , had lived in Jerusalem since the western regions of the former crusader County of Edessa were lost in 1150 . Patriarch Fulcher objected to the marriage on grounds of consanguinity , as the two shared a great-great-grandfather , Guy I of Montlhéry , and it seems that they waited until Fulchers death to marry . Agnes bore Amalric three children : Sibylla , the future Baldwin IV ( both of whom would come to rule the kingdom in their own right ) , and Alix , who died in childhood . Succession . Baldwin III died on 10 February 1163 and the kingdom passed to Amalric , although there was some opposition among the nobility to Agnes ; they were willing to accept the marriage in 1157 when Baldwin III was still capable of siring an heir , but now the Haute Cour refused to endorse Amalric as king unless his marriage to Agnes was annulled . The hostility to Agnes , it must be admitted , may be exaggerated by the chronicler William of Tyre , whom she prevented from becoming Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem decades later , as well as from Williams continuators like Ernoul , who hints at a slight on her moral character : car telle nest que roine doie iestre di si haute cite comme de Jherusalem ( there should not be such a queen for so holy a city as Jerusalem ) . Nevertheless , consanguinity was enough for the opposition . Amalric agreed and ascended the throne without a wife , although Agnes continued to hold the title Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon and received a pension from that fiefs income . Agnes soon thereafter married Hugh of Ibelin , to whom she had been engaged before her marriage with Amalric . The church ruled that Amalric and Agnes children were legitimate and preserved their place in the order of succession . Through her children Agnes would exert much influence in Jerusalem for almost 20 years . Conflicts with the Muslim states . During Baldwin IIIs reign , the County of Edessa , the first crusader state established during the First Crusade , was conquered by Zengi , the Turkic emir of Aleppo . Zengi united Aleppo , Mosul , and other cities of northern Syria , and intended to impose his control on Damascus in the south . The Second Crusade in 1148 had failed to conquer Damascus , which soon fell to Zengis son Nur ad-Din . Jerusalem also lost influence to Byzantium in northern Syria when the Empire imposed its suzerainty over the Principality of Antioch . Jerusalem thus turned its attention to Egypt , where the Fatimid dynasty was suffering from a series of young caliphs and civil wars . The crusaders had wanted to conquer Egypt since the days of Baldwin I , who died during an expedition there . The capture of Ascalon by Baldwin III made the conquest of Egypt more feasible . Invasions of Egypt . Amalric led his first expedition into Egypt in 1163 , claiming that the Fatimids had not paid the yearly tribute that had begun during the reign of Baldwin III . The vizier , Dirgham , had recently overthrown the vizier Shawar , and marched out to meet Amalric at Pelusium , but was defeated and forced to retreat to Bilbeis . The Egyptians then opened up the Nile dams and let the river flood , hoping to prevent Amalric from invading any further . Amalric returned home but Shawar fled to the court of Nur ad-Din , who sent his general Shirkuh to settle the dispute in 1164 . In response Dirgham sought help from Amalric , but Shirkuh and Shawar arrived before Amalric could intervene and Dirgham was killed . Shawar , however , feared that Shirkuh would seize power for himself , and he too looked to Amalric for assistance . Amalric returned to Egypt in 1164 and besieged Shirkuh in Bilbeis until Shirkuh retreated to Damascus . Amalric could not follow up on his success in Egypt because Nur ad-Din was active in Syria , having taken Bohemund III of Antioch and Raymond III of Tripoli prisoner at the Battle of Harim during Amalrics absence . Amalric rushed to take up the regency of Antioch and Tripoli and secured Bohemunds ransom in 1165 ( Raymond remained in captivity until 1173 ) . The year 1166 was relatively quiet , but Amalric sent envoys to the Byzantine Empire seeking an alliance and a Byzantine wife , and throughout the year had to deal with raids by Nur ad-Din , who captured Banias . In 1167 , Nur ad-Din sent Shirkuh back to Egypt and Amalric once again followed him , establishing a camp near Cairo ; Shawar again allied with Amalric and a treaty was signed with the caliph al-Adid himself . Shirkuh encamped on the opposite side of the Nile . After an indecisive battle , Amalric retreated to Cairo and Shirkuh marched north to capture Alexandria ; Amalric followed and besieged Shirkuh there , aided by a Pisan fleet from Jerusalem . Shirkuh negotiated for peace and Alexandria was handed over to Amalric . However , Amalric could not remain there indefinitely , and returned to Jerusalem after exacting an enormous tribute . Byzantine alliance . After his return to Jerusalem in 1167 , Amalric married Maria Comnena , a great-grandniece of Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus . The negotiations had taken two years , mostly because Amalric insisted that Manuel return Antioch to Jerusalem . Once Amalric gave up on this point he was able to marry Maria in Tyre on August 29 , 1167 . During this time the queen dowager , Baldwin IIIs widow Theodora , eloped with her cousin Andronicus to Damascus , and Acre , which had been in her possession , reverted into the royal domain of Jerusalem . It was also around this time that William of Tyre was promoted to archdeacon of Tyre , and was recruited by Amalric to write a history of the kingdom . In 1168 Amalric and Manuel negotiated an alliance against Egypt , and William of Tyre was among the ambassadors sent to Constantinople to finalize the treaty . Although Amalric still had a peace treaty with Shawar , Shawar was accused of attempting to ally with Nur ad-Din , and Amalric invaded . The Knights Hospitaller eagerly supported this invasion , while the Knights Templar refused to have any part in it . In October , without waiting for any Byzantine assistance ( and in fact without even waiting for the ambassadors to return ) , Amalric invaded and seized Bilbeis . The inhabitants were either massacred or enslaved . Amalric then marched to Cairo , where Shawar offered Amalric two million pieces of gold . Meanwhile , Nur ad-Din sent Shirkuh back to Egypt as well , and upon his arrival Amalric retreated . Rise of Saladin . In January 1169 Shirkuh had Shawar assassinated . Shirkuh became vizier , although he himself died in March , and was succeeded by his nephew Saladin . Amalric became alarmed and sent Frederick de la Roche , Archbishop of Tyre , to seek help from the kings and nobles of Europe , but no assistance was forthcoming . Later that year however a Byzantine fleet arrived , and in October Amalric launched yet another invasion and besieged Damietta by sea and by land . The siege was long and famine broke out in the Christian camp ; the Byzantines and crusaders blamed each other for the failure , and a truce was signed with Saladin . Amalric returned home . Now Jerusalem was surrounded by hostile enemies . In 1170 Saladin invaded Jerusalem and took the city of Eilat , severing Jerusalems connection with the Red Sea . Saladin , who was set up as Vizier of Egypt , was declared Sultan in 1171 upon the death of the last Fatimid caliph . Saladins rise to Sultan was an unexpected reprieve for Jerusalem , as Nur ad-Din was now preoccupied with reining in his powerful vassal . Nevertheless , in 1171 Amalric visited Constantinople himself and envoys were sent to the kings of Europe for a second time , but again no help was received . Over the next few years the kingdom was threatened not only by Saladin and Nur ad-Din , but also by the Assassins . In one episode , the Knights Templar murdered some Assassin envoys , leading to further disputes between Amalric and the Templars . Death . Nur ad-Din died in 1174 , upon which Amalric immediately besieged Banias . On the way back after giving up the siege he fell ill from dysentery , which was ameliorated by doctors but turned into a fever in Jerusalem . William of Tyre explains that after suffering intolerably from the fever for several days , he ordered physicians of the Greek , Syrian , and other nations noted for skill in diseases to be called and insisted that they give him some purgative remedy . Neither they nor Latin doctors could help , and he died on July 11 , 1174 . Maria Comnena had borne Amalric two daughters : Isabella , who would eventually marry four husbands in turn and succeed as queen , was born in 1172 ; and a stillborn child some time later . On his deathbed Amalric bequeathed Nablus to Maria and Isabella , both of whom would retire there . The leprous child Baldwin IV succeeded his father and brought his mother Agnes of Courtenay ( now married to her fourth husband ) back to court . Physical characteristics . William was a good friend of Amalric and described him in great detail . He had a slight impediment in his speech , not serious enough to be considered as a defect but sufficient to render him incapable of ready eloquence . He was far better in counsel than in fluent or ornate speech . Like his brother Baldwin III , he was more of an academic than a warrior , who studied law and languages in his leisure time : He was well skilled in the customary law by which the kingdom was governed – in fact , he was second to no one in this respect . He was probably responsible for an assize making all rear-vassals directly subject to the king and eligible to appear at the Haute Cour . Amalric had an enormous curiosity , and William was reportedly astonished to find Amalric questioning , during an illness , the resurrection of the body . He especially enjoyed reading and being read to , spending long hours listening to William read early drafts of his history . He did not enjoy games or spectacles , although he liked to hunt . He was trusting of his officials , perhaps too trusting , and it seems that there were many among the population who despised him , although he refused to take any action against those who insulted him publicly . He was tall and fairly handsome ; he had sparkling eyes of medium size ; his nose , like that of his brother , was becomingly aquiline ; his hair was blond and grew back somewhat from his forehead . A comely and very full beard covered his cheeks and chin . He had a way of laughing immoderately so that his entire body shook . He did not overeat or drink to excess , but his corpulence grew in his later years , decreasing his interest in military operations ; according to William , he was excessively fat , with breasts like those of a woman hanging down to his waist . Amalric was pious and attended mass every day , although he also is said to have absconded himself without restraint to the sins of the flesh and to have seduced married women.. . Despite his piety he taxed the clergy , which they naturally opposed . As William says , he was a man of wisdom and discretion , fully competent to hold the reins of government in the kingdom . He is considered the last of the early kings of Jerusalem . Within a few years , Emperor Manuel died as well , and Saladin remained the only strong leader in the east . Sources . - Bernard Hamilton , Women in the Crusader States : The Queens of Jerusalem , in Medieval Women , edited by Derek Baker . Ecclesiastical History Society , 1978 - William of Tyre , A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea , trans . E.A . Babcock and A.C . Krey . Columbia University Press , 1943