Collapse of the Crusader States

Collapse of the Crusader States

Succession in the House of Jerusalem

·       Baldwin III ruled 1143-1163, dying childless and succeeded by Amalric who ruled until 1174 and was replaced by his son Baldwin IV

·       Baldwin IV ascended the throne as a minor with Raymond III of Tripoli, Lord of Galilee, as regent, and as he approached puberty it became clear he had leprosy meaning a short life expectancy and no heir

·       His sister, Sybilla was married off to a candidate to the Count of Montferrat, William Longsword, an Italian nobleman who was related to the German royal house and was a respected warrior

·       They married in 1176 but William died before their child was born and Sybilla married an Angevin nobleman, Guy de Lusignan, which created a factional dispute in Jerusalem with one side supporting Guy: the Courtenay faction; and the other supporting Raymond and his protégé, Baliban of Jbelin

·       Baldwin IV died in 1184 and was replaced by Guy and Sybilla’s son, Baldwin V, a minor, with Raymond again acting as regent, but he then also died

·       The settler nobility made a proposal to Sybilla, agreeing to allow her to become Queen of Jerusalem on the condition that she would divorce Guy, which she agreed to as long as she could chose her next husband

·       She divorced Guy and was crowned Queen, choosing Guy as her next husband who then became King of Jerusalem in 1186

Lack of Support from the West

·       There was great distrust between Louis VII of France and Henry II of England and Normandy who had married Louis’s ex wife, Eleanor, acquiring through her the rich duchy of Aquitane, and Louis felt he could leave his kingdom due to the threat Henry presented to him, even with Outremer’s appeal for help in 1169 against Nur ad-Din

·       Henry was embroiled in a dispute with Tomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and when it seemed peace would be reached between Henry and Louis and Henry and Becket, Becket was murdered by Henry’s knights and he was condemned thus ending any goodwill or unity and Henry was later stopped from going by a rebellion led by his son, Henry the Younger, supported by Eleanor and encouraged by Louis

·       When the Leper King appealed for help in 1181 against Saladin, Henry, as he was not the closest male relative of his, feared if he went he would be forced to stay there for years, and Louis’s son, Phillip, was focused on retrieving Henry’s lands from him in France, allying himself with Henry’s sons

·       When Phillip, now king, was offered the keys…