page_title: Baldwin I of Jerusalem
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Baldwin I of Jerusalem / Early life
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Sainte Ide disant adieu à ses filsČeština: Svatá Ida z Boulogne se loučí se svými syny
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: Born some time after 1060, Baldwin was the third son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine. Being his parents' youngest son, he was intended for a career in the Church. He studied the liberal arts and held prebends in the cathedrals of Cambrai, Rheims and Liège. For reasons that are unknown, and at an unspecified time, he abandoned his church career and became a knight. The historian John France says that Baldwin most probably realised that the Gregorian Reform had diminished his chance to seize rich benefices. Historian Susan B. Edgington, on the other hand, proposes that Baldwin preferred a secular career because his childless brother, Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lotharingia, had taken ill suddenly, giving Baldwin a chance to inherit his duchy.
  Baldwin married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny, whose family owned land and property in both Normandy and England. Baldwin and his wife most probably settled in the court of his eldest brother, Eustace III of Boulogne. Eustace and Baldwin jointly fought for their brother, Godfrey, against Albert III, Count of Namur, and Theoderic, Bishop of Verdun, at Stenay in 1086. Godfrey mentioned Baldwin in most of his charters of grant, indicating that Baldwin was regarded as his designated heir. Baldwin regularly visited the fortress of his wife's family at Conches-en-Ouche.
caption: A 13th century illustration of Ida of Lorraine bidding farewell to her sons as they depart for the First Crusade (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
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