"Baldwin IV" redirects here. The term may also refer to Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders or Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut or Wade Baldwin IV.
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
King of Jerusalem
Reign
11 July 1174 – March 1185
Coronation
15 July 1174
Predecessor
Amalric
Successor
Baldwin V (as sole king)
Co-king
Baldwin V (1183–1185)
Born
Mid-1161 Kingdom of Jerusalem
Died
Between March and May 1185 (aged 24) Kingdom of Jerusalem
Burial
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
House
Anjou
Father
Amalric of Jerusalem
Mother
Agnes of Courtenay
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (Latin: Balduinus, French: Baudouin) (1161–1185), known as the Leper King, was the king of Jerusalem, from 1174 until his death in 1185. He was admired by his contemporaries and later historians for his willpower and dedication to the Latin Kingdom in the face of debilitating leprosy. Choosing competent advisers, Baldwin ruled a thriving crusader state and succeeded in protecting it from the Muslim ruler Saladin.
Baldwin developed the first symptoms of leprosy as a child but was only diagnosed after he succeeded his father, King Amalric (r. 1163–1174). Thereafter his hands and face became increasingly disfigured. Count Raymond III of Tripoli ruled the kingdom in Baldwin's name until the king reached the age of majority in 1176. As soon as he assumed government, Baldwin planned an invasion of Egypt, which fell through because of his vassals' uncooperativeness. Saladin in turn attacked Baldwin's kingdom in 1177, but the King and the nobleman Raynald of Châtillon repelled him at Montgisard, earning Baldwin fame. The young king mastered horse riding despite gradually losing sensation in his extremities and was able to fight in battles until his last years.
Leprosy precluded Baldwin from marrying. He hoped to abdicate when his sister, Sibylla, married William of Montferrat in 1176, but William died the next year. In 1180, in order to forestall a coup by Count Raymond III of Tripoli and Prince Bohemond III of Antioch, Baldwin had Sibylla marry Guy of Lusignan. Guy was opposed by a large fraction of the nobility, and soon permanently impaired his relationship with Baldwin. The internal discord that followed forced Baldwin to remain king, as only he was capable of uniting the quarreling nobility. Baldwin again repelled Saladin in 1182 but leprosy rendered him blind and unable to walk or use his hands in 1183. He disinherited Guy and had Sibylla's son, Baldwin V, crowned co-king before having himself taken in a litter to lift Saladin's siege of Kerak. Baldwin failed to have Sibylla's marriage to Guy annulled and Guy's fief of Ascalon confiscated. In early 1185 he arranged for Raymond to rule as regent for Sibylla's son and died before 16 May.
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Baldwin V (1177 or 1178 – 1186) was the king ofJerusalem who reigned together with his uncle BaldwinIV from 1183 to 1185 and, after his uncle's death...
half-brother, BaldwinIVofJerusalem, engaged her to Humphrey IVof Toron. Her mother's second husband, Balian of Ibelin, and his stepfather, Raynald of Châtillon...
16-year-old BaldwinIVofJerusalem, severely afflicted by leprosy, led outnumbered Christian forces against Saladin's troops in what became one of the most...
launched an unsuccessful invasion of Egypt. He was the father of three future rulers ofJerusalem, Sibylla, BaldwinIV, and Isabella I. Older scholarship...
health of his brother-in-law, BaldwinIVofJerusalem, deteriorated, Sibylla appointed Guy as regent for his stepson, Baldwin V ofJerusalem. BaldwinIV died...
Defender of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1100 Baldwin I, Godfrey's successor, was the first ruler crowned as king. The crusaders in Jerusalem were...
(also Baldwin II of Edessa, died 1131), King ofJerusalemBaldwin III ofJerusalem (1130–1162), King ofJerusalem from 1143 to 1163. BaldwinIVof Jerusalem...
Humphrey IVof Toron (c. 1166 – 1198) was a leading baron in the Kingdom ofJerusalem. He inherited the Lordship of Toron from his grandfather, Humphrey...
August 1182 against the Crusaders. Crusader forces led by King BaldwinIVofJerusalem battled with Ayyubid forces from Egypt commanded by Saladin. Saladin...
The siege of Kerak was conducted by the forces of Muslim Sultan Saladin against the Crusaders and the Christian King BaldwinIVofJerusalem at the Kerak...
Lebanon) in June 1179 between the Kingdom of Jerusalem under BaldwinIV and the Ayyubid armies under the leadership of Saladin. It ended in a decisive victory...
Baldwin was in Jerusalem at the time of Sibylla's wedding in 1180. Raymond of Tripoli seems to have been planning a coup to marry Sibylla to Baldwin,...
sister of and heir presumptive to BaldwinIVofJerusalem. Baldwin made Aimery the constable ofJerusalem at around 1180. He was one of the commanders of the...
The Battle of Banias was a military engagement between the Ayyubid force and the Crusader force led by King BaldwinIVofJerusalem. The Ayyubids routed...
influence in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the reign of her son, King BaldwinIV. Though she was never queen, she has been described as the most powerful...
1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwinof Boulogne to the Holy Land...
Godfrey of Bouillon did not take the title of king and swore fealty to the Latin Patriarch ofJerusalem, Daimbert. Godfrey's brother and successor Baldwin I...
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of Assailly Andronikos Kontostephanos BaldwinIVofJerusalem Guy of Lusignan Raynald of Châtillon Raymond III of Tripoli Balian of Ibelin Conrad of Montferrat...
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