cementing Angevin control over the County of Maine
What was the noble title of Fulk, King of Jerusalem from 1110 to 1129?
Fulk , King of Jerusalem Fulk ( , or Foulques ; c . 1089/92 – 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 from 1131 to his death . During his reign , the Kingdom of Jerusalem reached its largest territorial extent . Count of Anjou . 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 fathers death in 1109 . In the next year , he married Countess 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 to marry Henrys son William Adelin . Fulk went on crusade in 1119 or 1120 , and became attached to the Knights Templar ( Orderic Vitalis ) . 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 Fulks son Geoffrey , which she did in 1127 or 1128 . Crusader and king . By 1127 Fulk was preparing to return to Anjou when he received an embassy from King Baldwin II of Jerusalem . Baldwin II had no male heirs but had already designated his daughter Melisende to succeed him . Baldwin II wanted to safeguard his daughters inheritance by marrying her to a powerful lord . Fulk was a wealthy crusader and experienced military commander , and a widower . His experience in the field would prove invaluable in a frontier state always in the grip of war . However , Fulk held out for better terms than mere consort of the queen ; he wanted to be king alongside Melisende . Baldwin II , reflecting on Fulks fortune and military exploits , acquiesced . Fulk abdicated his county seat of Anjou to his son Geoffrey and left for Jerusalem , where he married Melisende on 2 June 1129 . Later Baldwin II bolstered Melisendes position in the kingdom by making her sole guardian of her son by Fulk , Baldwin III , born in 1130 . Fulk and Melisende became joint rulers of Jerusalem in 1131 with Baldwin IIs death . From the start Fulk assumed sole control of the government , excluding Melisende altogether . He favored fellow countrymen from Anjou to the native nobility . The other crusader states to the north feared that Fulk would attempt to impose the suzerainty of Jerusalem over them , as Baldwin II had done ; but as Fulk was far less powerful than his deceased father-in-law , the northern states rejected his authority . Melisendes sister Alice of Antioch , exiled from the Principality by Baldwin II , took control of Antioch once more after the death of her father . She allied with Pons of Tripoli and Joscelin II of Edessa to prevent Fulk from marching north in 1132 ; 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 Melisendes cousin , the popular Hugh II of Le Puiset , count of Jaffa , who was devotedly loyal to Melisende . Fulk saw Hugh as a rival , and it did not help matters when Hughs 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 of Ascalon . He was able to defeat the army set against him by Fulk , but this situation could not hold . The patriarch 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 . Fulk , or his supporters , were commonly believed responsible , though direct proof never surfaced . The scandal was all that was needed for the queens party to take over the government in what amounted to a palace coup . Author and historian wrote that Fulks supporters went in terror of their lives in the palace . Contemporary author and historian William of Tyre wrote of Fulk : He never attempted to take the initiative , even in trivial matters , without ( Melisendes ) 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 . Securing the borders . Jerusalems 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 Melisendes niece . However , the greatest concern during Fulks reign was the rise of Atabeg Zengi of Mosul . In 1137 Fulk was defeated in battle near Baarin but allied with Muin 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 kingdoms 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 . Johns 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 . Death . In 1143 , while the king and queen were in Acre , Fulk was killed in a hunting accident . His horse stumbled , fell , and Fulks 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 . Legacy . Depictions . According to William , 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 of Tyre 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 of Edessa in 1144 , which led to the Second Crusade ( see Siege of Edessa ) . Family . In 1110 , Fulk married Ermengarde of Maine ( died 1126 ) , the daughter of Elias I of Maine . Their four children were : 1 . Geoffrey V of Anjou ( 1113–1151 ) , father of Henry II of England . 2 . Sibylla of Anjou ( 1112–1165 , Bethlehem ) , married in 1123 William Clito ( div . 1124 ) , married in 1134 Thierry , Count of Flanders . 3 . Matilda of Anjou ( 1106–1154 , Fontevrault ) , married William Adelin ; after his death in the White Ship disaster of 1120 , she became a nun and later Abbess of Fontevrault . 4 . Elias II of Maine ( died 1151 ) His second wife was Melisende , Queen of Jerusalem 1 . Baldwin III of Jerusalem 2 . Amalric of Jerusalem Sources . - Orderic Vitalis - Robert of Torigny - William of Tyre - Runciman , Steven ( 1952 ) A History of the Crusades , Vol . II : The Kingdom of Jerusalem , Cambridge University Press . - Medieval Women , edited by Derek Baker , the Ecclesiastical History Society , 1978 - Payne , Robert . The Dream and the Tomb , 1984 - The Damascus Chronicle of Crusades , trans . H.A.R . Gibb , 1932 .