page_title: Baldwin I of Jerusalem
section_title: Establishment
hierarchical_section_title: Baldwin I of Jerusalem / Count of Edessa / Establishment
caption_attribution_description: Tancrède et les envoyés ciliciens
context_page_description: Baldwin I, also known as Baldwin of Boulogne, was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100, and the first king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death. Being the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine, he was destined for a church career, but he abandoned it 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 Seljuqs. Taking advantage of a riot against Thoros, Baldwin seized the town and established the first crusader state on 10 March 1098.
context_section_description: The Armenians regarded Baldwin as a liberator. Two Armenian chiefs, Fer and Nicusus, joined him soon after he started his campaign. The local population massacred the Seljuq garrisons and officials, or forced them to flee. The Seljuqs' fear of the crusaders contributed to Baldwin's success. He seized two important fortresses, Ravendel and Turbessel, without a fight before the end of 1097. He made Bagrat the governor of Ravendel, and appointed Fer to administer Turbessel.
  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 Seljuq rulers. Being the first town to convert to Christianity, Edessa had played an important role in Christian history. Before departing for Edessa, Baldwin ordered the arrest of Bagrat, whom Fer had accused of secret correspondence with the Seljuqs. Bagrat was tortured and forced to surrender Ravendel. Baldwin left for Edessa in early February, but troops sent by Balduk, the emir of Samosata, or Bagrat prevented him from crossing the Euphrates. His second attempt was successful and he reached Edessa on 20 February. Baldwin did not want to serve Thoros as a mercenary. The Armenian townspeople feared that he was planning to leave the town, so they persuaded Thoros to adopt him. 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. Strengthened by troops from Edessa, Baldwin raided Balduk's territory and placed a garrison in a small fortress near Samosata.
  In the view of the twelve governors' and all their fellow citizens' steadfastness and goodwill towards Baldwin, [Thoros of Edessa] had to grant their request whether he liked it or not, and he made Baldwin his own adopted son according to the custom of that region and people, binding him to his naked chest and clothing him once for all under the garment closest to his own flesh, with pledges given and received by both parties. With the father-and-son relationship thus confirmed on both sides, [Thoros] one day suggested to Baldwin, in his position as son, that he call his men together, all the army and those serving for pay, taking the citizens of Edessa likewise, and set out for the fortification at Samosata which was next to the Euphrates and conquer Balduk, prince of the Turks, who had unjustly seized that same citadel, which belonged to Edessa, and was holding it.
  — Albert of Aix: History of the Journey to Jerusalem
  Unlike the majority of the Armenians, Thoros adhered to the Orthodox Church, which made him unpopular among his Monophysite subjects. 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). A riot broke out in the town, forcing Thoros to take refuge in the citadel. Baldwin pledged to save his adoptive father, but when the rioters broke into the citadel on 9 March and murdered both Thoros and his wife, he did nothing to help them. On the following day, after the townspeople acknowledged Baldwin as their ruler (or doux), he assumed the title of Count of Edessa, and so established the first crusader state.
  The Seljuqs had captured Edessa from the Byzantines in 1087, but Alexios I Komnenos did not demand that Baldwin hand over the town. 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". The acquisition of Ravendel, Turbessel and Edessa strengthened the position of the main crusader army during the siege to Antioch, which was taking place at the same time. The fertile lands along the Euphrates secured a supply of food for the crusaders. The three fortresses also hindered the movement of the Seljuq troops towards Syria and Palestine.
caption: Baldwin receiving the homage of the Armenians in Edessa.
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