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Amalric, King of Jerusalem

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Amalric
King of Jerusalem
Reign1163–1174
Coronation1163
PredecessorBaldwin III
SuccessorBaldwin IV
Born1136
Died11 July 1174(1174-07-11) (aged 38)
Jerusalem, Kingdom of Jerusalem
SpousesAgnes of Courtenay
Maria Komnene
Issue
HouseAnjou
FatherFulk V of Anjou
MotherMelisende of Jerusalem

Amalric (Latin: Amalricus; French: Amaury; 1136 – 11 July 1174) was King of Jerusalem from 1163, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. He was the second son of Queen Melisende and King Fulk, and succeeded his older brother King Baldwin III. During his reign, Jerusalem became more closely allied with the Byzantine Empire, and the two states launched an unsuccessful invasion of Egypt. 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.[1]

Youth

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On his deathbed in 1131 King Baldwin II conferred the Kingdom of Jerusalem–one of the crusader states established by the Latin Christians who invaded the Levant and defeated its Muslim rulers[2]–on his eldest daughter, Melisende; her husband, Fulk of Anjou; and their infant son, Baldwin III.[3] Fulk was considerably older than Melisende and had adult children in Europe from his first marriage, including Count Geoffrey V of Anjou and Countess Sibylla of Flanders.[4] He excluded Melisende from power until she and the barons forced him to acknowledge her as a co-ruler in 1135.[5] Fulk was eager to be reconciled, and historian Malcolm Barber suggests that Melisende agreed because the succession of her family rested on only one son. The couple consequently conceived Amalric in late 1135 or early 1136.[6] To the north of the kingdom were three more crusader states: the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa.[2] Antioch and Tripoli were ruled by the families of Melisende's sisters Alice and Hodierna.[7]

Amalric's father, King Fulk, was fatally injured in a horse-riding accident on a family outing near Acre in 1143. He died on 10 November. Queen Melisende seized power and was crowned again on 25 December, this time alongside 13-year-old King Baldwin III.[8] In 1144 the Turkish Muslim atabeg of Mosul, Zengi[9] captured Edessa.[10] This prompted the Second Crusade, which failed in its objective to conquer Damascus,[11] one of the greatest Muslim-held cities.[12] Melisende continued to withhold power from Baldwin after he reached the age of majority, and by 1151 their relationship had broken down.[13] Amalric became a part of his mother's inner circle. In 1151 Melisende bestowed on him the County of Jaffa, which was part of her endeavor to consolidate her position against Baldwin.[14] Amalric became his mother's most important partisan besides the Church.[15]

In 1152 Baldwin summoned the High Court and demanded that the kingdom be divided between him and Melisende. The queen retained the regions of Judaea and Samaria while Acre and Tyre remained under the young king's rule.[16] Baldwin soon invaded his mother's lands, defeated and exiled her constable, Manasses of Hierges, and marched on Jerusalem. Melisende's lords deserted her as Baldwin advanced, and she took refuge in the Tower of David with her most loyal men, including Amalric, Viscount Rohard the Elder, and Philip of Milly.[17] Baldwin besieged them, but they put up a defense until the negotiations of a settlement that saw Melisende deposed and restricted to ruling the city of Nablus. By the end of April 1152 Baldwin was the sole ruler of the kingdom.[18] Based on charter evidence, Mayer concludes that Baldwin punished Amalric for siding with their mother by depriving him of the County of Jaffa in 1152.[19] The king conquered Ascalon from Fatimid Egypt in 1153 and forced the Egyptians to pay a tribute.[20] He granted both Ascalon and Jaffa to Amalric. Historian Hans E. Mayer dates Amalric's acquisition of the double county to shortly after July 1154.[19]

In 1157 Amalric married Agnes of Courtenay. Agnes was the daughter of the dispossessed Count Joscelin II of Edessa, a second cousin of Queen Melisende, and a widow since the death in battle of her first husband, Reynald of Marash.[21] The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Fulcher of Angoulême, objected to Amalric's marriage with Agnes. According to contemporary chronicler William of Tyre, Fulcher disapproved because of the couples's kinship; but the late-13th-century Lignages d'Outremer states that Agnes had been betrothed to the lord of Ramla, Hugh of Ibelin, and that Amalric married her when she came to marry Hugh, which the patriarch deemed uncanonical.[22] Mayer argues that Agnes had already been married to Hugh in 1157, making her marriage to Amalric bigamous[22] and, in Barber's opinion, possibly the result of an abduction.[23] Historian Bernard Hamilton rejects this interpretation and states that a bigamous marriage would have resulted in the excommunication of both Amalric and Agnes.[22] Fulcher died in November 1157, possibly before the couple married.[23]

In 1159 Count Amalric accompanied King Baldwin to Antioch, where they welcomed Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. [24] Baldwin and Manuel were allied through Baldwin's marriage with Manuel's niece Theodora.[25] Both Baldwin and Amalric placed a great value on good relations with the Byzantine Empire,[26] a Greek Orthodox state[27] that claimed suzerainty over the Christian states in the Levant.[28] Amalric and Agnes had a daughter, Sibylla, between 1157 and 1161. In 1161 a son, Baldwin, was born.[21] The children were named after Amalric's siblings.[29]

Accession

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Amalric's mother, Queen Melisende, died on 11 September 1161. His brother, King Baldwin, barely outlived her. He came down with dysentery while visiting Antioch in late 1162 and died in Beirut on 10 February 1163.[30] Baldwin and Theodora had had no children, and Amalric was thus his heir. The chronicler Ernoul relates that Baldwin named Amalric as his heir.[31]

Having convened to discuss the succession, the High Court refused to recognize Amalric as king unless he repudiated his wife, Agnes. Their spokesman was the patriarch, Amalric of Nesle. According to William of Tyre, the patriarch objected because of the couple's kinship.[32] Barber describes this story as "so unlikely that historians have been unwilling to accept it at face value".[29] Hamilton notes that such an objection to an established marriage was "extremely unusual",[32] and argues that there was a "deep-seated animosity" towards Agnes behind it.[21] Amalric accepted the High Court's demand, and his marriage to Agnes was annulled on the grounds of consanguinity. Cardinal John of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio, the legate of Pope Alexander III, was present. Amalric obtained papal confirmation of the legitimacy of his children, Sibylla and Baldwin, and exoneration of Agnes from any moral censure.[33] On 18 February, the day of Baldwin III's funeral, the patriarch crowned Amalric in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[31]

William of Tyre, whom Amalric tasked with recording the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, left a detailed description of the king. Amalric was light-skinned with blond receding hair[34] and, although he did not eat or drink excessively, considerably overweight.[35] He shook with laughter when he was amused, but this was rare; whereas Baldwin was affable, Amalric was serious and taciturn.[34] He was intellectually gifted but less refined than Baldwin,[34] preferring a hunt to poetry.[35] He enjoyed reading and debates with scholars, and was well-informed about the issues facing the crusader states. In battle he was daring, and in command composed and decisive.[35] He regularly attended Mass, but William noted that not even the Church was spared from the king's "lust for money"; and he was promiscuous, pursuing even married women.[34]

Early in his reign Amalric strengthened his position against his most powerful vassals (tenants-in-chief) by passing the Assise sur la ligece. This legislation enabled the vassals of the powerful vassals to appeal directly to the king if their lord did them injustice.[36][37] 13th-century jurists John of Ibelin and Philip of Novara believed that the assise resulted from Amalric's war with the lord of Sidon, Gerard Grenier, who had unjustly seized a fief from one of his vassals, but contemporary chroniclers Michael the Syrian and Ibn al-Athir say that it was Baldwin III who defeated Gerard.[38]

Invasions of Egypt

[edit]

Amalric's chief aim as king was to conquer Egypt.[20] Its government was in disarray: Dirgham and Shawar, rival viziers, fought for power while the Fatimid caliph was sidelined.[39] Zengi's son Nur ad-Din unified the Muslim principalities of Syria by bringing the great cities of Damascus and Aleppo under his rule; if he were to conquer Egypt as well, the crusader states would be encircled.[40] Although his lords were preoccupied with extending their own holdings, Amalric could not ignore Egypt, and in this had the support of the masters of the military orders, the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar.[41]

In 1163 the Egyptian government failed to pay the tribute. In response Amalric came with a large force within 35 miles (56 km) of the capital, Cairo,[39] and besieged Bilbais.[40] Dirgham, who had driven out Shawar, desperately attempted to fend off the invaders by opening the floodbanks on the Nile, but ended up agreeing to pay an even larger tribute and surrendered hostages as guarantees. After returning to Jerusalem, Amalric wrote to King Louis VIII of France that it was only the annual flooding of the Nile that prevented him from taking Bilbais.[39]

Shawar appealed to Nur ad-Din for help against Dirgham. Nur ad-Din dispatched Asad al-Din Shirkuh, one of his most able generals, who helped Shawar defeat Dirgham and seize power. Shirkuh then decided to conquer Egypt for himself, forcing Shawar to request help from Amalric. After Shawar offered a once again increased tribute, the king undertook his second Egyptian expedition, fully financed by Shawar, in July 1164. The invasion ended in Shirkuh's defeat and Amalric's restoration of Shawar to power.[39]

Nur ad-Din could not afford to allow Amalric to control Egypt. The king's southern expedition left the kingdom and the northern crusader states undefended, which allowed Nur ad-Din to act. On the battle of Artah on 10 August he destroyed a large Christian army and captured Prince Bohemond III of Antioch, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, Joscelin III of Edessa, and the Byzantine governor of Cilicia, Constantine Coloman, and on 12 August he captured Harim. Amalric's brother-in-law Count Thierry of Flanders arrived with numerous knights, but this failed to deter Nur ad-Din.[42] Amalric returned to Jerusalem in October,[39] and then hurried with Thierry to install governors in the cities of Bohemond's principality.[42] On 18 October Nur ad-Din captured Banias, described by Patriarch Amalric as "the gateway to the whole kingdom". The king and the master of the Knights Templar, Bertrand of Blancfort, declared that Banias had been sold by traitors. In mid-1165 King Amalric secured the release of Prince Bohemond.[42] Amalric and Bertrand's attempts to entice the king of France to assist in their planned conquest of Egypt proved fruitless, and so the Christian leaders continued to court the Byzantines. In late 1165 the king sent an embassy led by the royal butler, Odo of Saint-Amand, and the archbishop of Caesarea, Ernesius, to arrange a royal marriage with a member of Emperor Manuel's family.[43]

William relates that a Templar garrison surrendered a cave fortress besieged by Shirkuh while Amalric was on his way to relieve them; in his anger the king hanged about a dozen Templars who were responsible. Barber dates the incident to 1166.[44] In January 1167, before the Byzantines could assist, news reached Jerusalem that Shirkuh was marching towards Egypt at the head of a large army furnished by Nur ad-Din.[43] Amalric called a general council at Nablus, at which funds were raised for a counter-strike, and set out from Ascalon on 30 January.[45] Amalric rapidly mobilized an army, but failed in his attempt to catch Shirkuh before he crosed the Nile. Shawar again agreed to an annual tribute to the king of Jerusalem in return for Frankish help against Shirkuh.[46] The Franks secured the support of the Fatimid caliph, al-Adid, but then a stalemate ensued between them and Shirkuh as the opposing forces were encamped on the opposite banks of the Nile.[47]

For over a month Amalric waited for enforcements from his constable, Humphrey II of Toron, and Philip of Milly. The king then secretly moved his men 8 miles (13 km) south, leaving some to protect the young caliph and the wooden bridge they had raised on the Nile. A whirlwind prevented them from crossing the river, however, and so instead of catching Shirkuh by surprise, Amalric chased him with his knights for three days.[47] On 18 March an indecisive battle took place, after which Shirkuh subjugated Alexandria. The Franks followed him and blockaded the city until Shirkuh fled, leaving his nephew Saladin in charge. The king pursued Shirkuh until the Egyptians convinced him to attack Alexandria instead. The siege of Alexandria forced Shirkuh to sue for peace. The Franks entered Alexandria, where the king placed his banner on the city's Lighthouse, and then departed Egypt.[48]

Byzantine alliance

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King Amalric returned to his kingdom on 21 August 1167. His envoys to Emperor Manuel arrived with his new bride, the emperor's grandniece Maria Komnene. On 29 August, in the Cathedral of Tyre [it], Patriarch Amalric celebrated the king's second marriage. The new queen's arrival was shortly followed by that of two envoys from the emperor, Alexander of Gravina and Michael Hydruntius of Otranto. The envoys were immediately met by the king. They stated that the king and the emperor ought to conquer Egypt together lest the weakened country should fall in the hands of another. William of Tyre believed that the idea came from Amalric; Barber sees a link between his Byzantine marriage and the arrival of the envoys. A treaty was drawn up and taken by William to the emperor for ratification.[49] In this period the king was depicted on his seal wearing a sash in the Byzantine fashion, and the two rulers cooperated in the extensive mosaic program undertaken in the Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.[50] Amalric was even willing to concede to Manuel on theological issues, such as the exclusion of the filioque clause from the Bethlehem church's mosaic inscriptions and the admission of Greek clergy into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in order to secure military assistance.[51]

William returned to the kingdom in late 1167 and was astonished to find that, by 20 October, King Amalric had departed on another expedition to Egypt without the Byzantines. He did not know the reason for it: he recorded the rumor that Shawar, the vizier of Egypt, had allied with Nur ad-Din, but did not himself believe in it and suggested that the vizier had faithfully kept his treaty with Amalric.[52] Ibn al-Athir depicts the king as a reluctant invader, pressured by "the Frankish knights and policy makers".[53] Amalric struck a deal with the Hospitallers, who pledged more men than ever before and to whom the king in return promised a vast lordship from Bilbais to the coast as well as the first pick of the spoils and the best house or palace after the king's in all the major cities of Egypt. William names the order's master, Gilbert of Assailly, as the driving force, if not the mastermind, behind the campaign. The Templars refused to participate; William speculates that they either objected to betraying Shawar or to following the lead of the Hospitallers, their rivals.[54] Barber suggests that the Templar master, Bertrand of Blancfort, may have also resented the king's execution of some of his knights.[54]

Bilbais was captured and plundered and its inhabitants massacred in 1168 after a three-day siege. Amalric then moved onto Cairo, but Shawar burned it down to prevent the Franks from seizing it. Unable to resist, Shawar offered huge sums of money to Amalric while simultaneously petitioning Nur ad-Din for help. The Christian fleet arrived, took Tinnis, and blocked the Nile below Cairo. Shawar convinced Amalric to retreat a few miles so that Shawar could collect the money he had promised to the king; the vizier actually worked to strengthen the city's defenses and the population's morale. Ibn al-Athir reports that the inhabitants of Cairo grew resolute when they heard about the fate of the people of Bilbais. William believes that the city could have been taken but for the greed of the king, encouraged by his seneschal, Miles of Plancy: if they had taken the city by storming, they would have had to share the plunder, but all the tribute money would go to the king.[55]

On 2 December Shirkuh set out from Damascus with a large army and ample provisions provided by Nur ad-Din. Amalric returned to Bilbais, but Shirkuh bypassed him and encamped on the other side of the Nile. Amalric judged it too risky to attack him. On 2 January he set out for his kingdom with his army. Not only was the expedition a complete failure, but it also delivered Egypt to Shirkuh: Shawar was soon killed, and the caliph appointed Shirkuh to succeed him.[56]

Amalric was undeterred and in mid-1169 started planning his fifth attempt to take Egypt.[56] He appealed for help in letters sent to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Kings Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, Queen Margaret of Sicily, and Counts Philip I of Flanders, Theobald V of Blois, and Henry I of Champagne. Patriarch Amalric and Archbishop Ernesius, who were carrying the letters, were driven back by a severe storm at sea.[57] He sent a new embassy, consisting of the archbishop of Tyre, Frederick de la Roche, and the bishop of Banias, John, but to no avail.[56] Frederick succeeded only in persuading Count Stephen I of Sancerre, brother of the count of Blois, to come to Jerusalem and marry King Amalric's daughter, Sibylla.[58]

Death

[edit]

Nur ad-Din died in 1174, upon which Amalric immediately besieged Banias.[59] On the way back after giving up the siege he fell ill from dysentery,[60] 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 11 July 1174.[60]

Maria Comnena had borne Amalric two daughters: Isabella,[61] 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

[edit]

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.[62] 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.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ George Francis Hill, A History of Cyprus, vol. 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2010 [1947]), p. 45 n. 1.
  2. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 2.
  3. ^ Barber 2012, p. 149.
  4. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 178.
  5. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 155–156.
  6. ^ Barber 2012, p. 155.
  7. ^ Barber 2012, p. 157.
  8. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 233.
  9. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 163–164.
  10. ^ Barber 2012, p. 179.
  11. ^ Barber 2012, p. 188.
  12. ^ Barber 2012, p. 150.
  13. ^ Barber 2012, p. 196.
  14. ^ Barber 2012, p. 176.
  15. ^ Mayer 1972, p. 175.
  16. ^ Mayer 1972, p. 166.
  17. ^ Mayer 1972, p. 168.
  18. ^ Mayer 1972, p. 169.
  19. ^ a b Mayer 1972, pp. 175–176.
  20. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 237.
  21. ^ a b c Hamilton 2000, p. 24.
  22. ^ a b c Hamilton 2000, p. 25.
  23. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 233.
  24. ^ Setton 1969, p. 544.
  25. ^ Setton 1969, pp. 542–543.
  26. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 309.
  27. ^ Hamilton 2000, p. 50.
  28. ^ Hamilton 2000, p. 31.
  29. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 232.
  30. ^ Barber 2012, p. 216.
  31. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 231.
  32. ^ a b Hamilton 2000, p. 23.
  33. ^ Hamilton 2000, p. 26.
  34. ^ a b c d Barber 2012, p. 234.
  35. ^ a b c Setton 1969, p. 548.
  36. ^ Setton 1969, p. 549.
  37. ^ Barber 2012, p. 236.
  38. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 236–237.
  39. ^ a b c d e Barber 2012, p. 238.
  40. ^ a b Setton 1969, pp. 549–550.
  41. ^ Barber 2012, p. 241.
  42. ^ a b c Barber 2012, p. 240.
  43. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 242.
  44. ^ Barber 2012, p. 250.
  45. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 242–243.
  46. ^ Barber 2012, p. 243.
  47. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 244.
  48. ^ Barber 2012, p. 245.
  49. ^ Barber 2012, p. 246.
  50. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 246–247.
  51. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 247–248.
  52. ^ Barber 2012, p. 247.
  53. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 248–249.
  54. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 249.
  55. ^ Barber 2012, p. 251.
  56. ^ a b c Barber 2012, p. 252.
  57. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 384.
  58. ^ Barber 2012, p. 253.
  59. ^ Lyons & Jackson 1982, p. 72–73.
  60. ^ a b Murray 2023, p. 44.
  61. ^ Runciman 1952, Appendix III.
  62. ^ Barker 1911, p. 779.

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amalric I of Jerusalem.
  • Barber, Malcolm (2012). The Crusader States. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300189315.
  • Hamilton, Bernard (2000). The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521017473.
  • Lyons, Malcolm Cameron; Jackson, D. E. P. (1982). Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31739-8.
  • Mayer, Hans E. (1972). "Studies in the History of Queen Melisende of Jerusalem". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. Dumbarton Oaks.
  • Murray, Alan V. (2023). "From Alexandria to Tinnis: the Kingdom of Sicily, Egypt and the Holy Land, 1154-87". In Drell, Joanna H.; Oldfield, Paul (eds.). Rethinking Norman Italy: Studies in honour of Graham A. Loud. Manchester University Press.
  • Pringle, Denys (2001). "The Crusader Cathedral of Tyre". Levant. 33 (1): 165–188. doi:10.1179/lev.2001.33.1.165. S2CID 162383678.
  • Runciman, Steven (1952). A History of the Crusades. Vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press.
  • Setton, Kenneth (1969). Marshall W. Baldwin (ed.). A History of the Crusades. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-04834-1.
  • William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Jerusalem
1162–1174 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Royal domain
Title last held by
Hugh II 		Count of Jaffa
1151–1162 		Vacant
Royal domain
Title next held by
William
New title Count of Ascalon
1153–1162
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