Baldwin III of Jerusalem - Succession

Succession

Baldwin was among the second generation of children born to the descendents of the original crusaders. His father Fulk, the former count of Anjou, had married the heiress of the kingdom, Melisende, daughter of Baldwin II. He was 13 years old when Fulk died in a hunting accident in 1143, and the kingdom legally passed to his mother, who had ruled with Fulk as a consort. Baldwin was crowned co-ruler and heir to his mother. However, Melisende also appointed Manasses of Hierges, constable of Jerusalem, as an advisor, and the two essentially excluded Baldwin from power.

With a woman and a child ruling Jerusalem, the political situation was somewhat tense; the northern crusader states of Tripoli, Antioch, and Edessa increasingly asserted their independence, and there was no king to impose the suzerainty of Jerusalem as Baldwin II or Fulk had done. In the Muslim world, Zengi ruled northern Syria from the cities of Mosul and Aleppo, and desired to add Damascus in the south to his control. In 1144, Zengi captured Edessa, which shocked the Western world and led to the Second Crusade.

This crusade did not reach Jerusalem until 1148, and in the meantime Zengi was assassinated in 1146. He was succeeded by his son Nur ad-Din, who was just as eager to bring Damascus under his control. To counter this, Jerusalem and Damascus had made an alliance for their mutual protection. However, in 1147 Nur ad-Din and Mu'in ad-Din Unur, the governor of Damascus, made an alliance against Jerusalem, as the kingdom had already broken the treaty by allying with one of Unur's rebellious vassals. Baldwin marched out from Jerusalem and was defeated at the Battle of Bosra, although the truce with Damascus was later restored.