Directory
Encyclopedia

NodeWorks
                              ENCYCLOPEDIA

Link Checker
Home
Encyclopedia : K : KI : KIN :

Kings of Jerusalem

  

Kings of Jerusalem

This is a list of Kings of Jerusalem, from 1099 to 1291, as well as claimants to the title up to the present day.

Kings of Jerusalem, 1099-1291

The Kingdom of Jerusalem had its origins in the First Crusade, when Godfrey of Bouillon took the title Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri in 1099 and was crowned in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The following year, his brother Baldwin I of Jerusalem was the first to use the title "king" and the first to be crowned in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem itself.

The kingship of Jerusalem was partially elected and partially hereditary. During the height of the kingdom in the mid-12th century there was a royal family and a relatively clear line of succession. Nevertheless the king was elected, or at least recognized, by the Haute Cour. In the Haute Cour the king was considered primus inter pares, and in his absence his duties were performed by his seneschal.

The royal palace was centred on the Citadel, centred on the Tower of David. The Kingdom of Jerusalem introduced French feudal structures to the Levant: the king personally held several fiefs incorporated into the royal domain (these varied from king to king). He was also responsible for leading the kingdom into battle, although this duty could be passed to the constable. While several contemporary European states were moving towards centralized monarchies, the king of Jerusalem was continually losing power to the strongest of his barons. This was partially due to the young age of many of the kings, and the frequency of regents from the ranks of the nobles.

After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the capital of the Kingdom was moved to Acre, where it remained until 1291, although coronations took place in Tyre. Even in this period the kingship was often simply a nominal position, held by a European ruler who never lived in Acre. For some of the last hundred years of the kingdom, the kingship was held by the Lusignan family, simultaneously kings of Cyprus.

King/QueenReignedRegent
Godfrey of Bouillon (Protector of the Holy Sepulchre)
1099 - 1100
Baldwin I1100 - 1118
Baldwin II 1118 - 1131
Melisende and Fulk 1131 - 1153 Fulk lost influence after 1136, and died 1143. Melisende countinued to reign by right of law
Baldwin III1153 - 1162, was crowned as co-ruler and heir of Melisende 1143
Melisende (Regent and advisor, 1154-1161)
Amalric I 1162 - 1174
Baldwin IV 1174 - 1185 Raymond III of Tripoli (Regent, 1174-1177)
Baldwin V 1185 - 1186 Raymond III of Tripoli (Regent, 1185-1186)
Sibylla and Guy of Lusignan1186 - 1187
Jerusalem lost in 1187 - remaining kings ruled over a narrow coastal strip
Isabella1192 - 1205
With Conrad of Montferrat 1192
With Henry II of Champagne 1192 - 1197
With Amalric II 1198 - 1205)
Maria of Montferrat1205 - 1212 John of Ibelin (Regent, 1205 - 1210)
John of Brienne1210 - 1212
Yolande 1212 - 1228 John of Brienne (Regent 1212-1225)
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor 1225 - 1228
Conrad of Hohenstaufen 1228 - 1254 Frederick II (Regent, 1228 - 1243)
Queen Alice of Cyprus (Regent, 1243 - 1246)
King Henry I of Cyprus (Regent, 1246 - 1253)
Queen Plaisance of Cyprus (Regent, 1253 - 1254)
Conradin 1254 - 1268 Queen Plaisance of Cyprus (Regent, 1254 - 1261
Princess Isabella of Antioch (Regent, 1261 - 1264)
King Hugh III of Cyprus (Regent, 1264 - 1268)
Hugh I 1268 - 1284 (Opposed by Charles of Anjou)
Charles of Anjou 1277 - 1285 (Opposed by John II)
John II 1284 - 1285
Henry II 1285 - 1291
Acre captured in 1291; kingdom ends.

Claimants to the throne of Jerusalem

After the end of the kingdom, Henry II continued to use the title "King of Jerusalem." After his death the title was claimed by both his direct heirs, the Kings of Cyprus, and by the Angevin Kings of Naples, whose founder, Charles of Anjou, had bought the rights to the throne from a childless supposed heiress. The Angevin claim passed down through their heirs, the Dukes of Lorraine, into the modern day House of Habsburg, and was also claimed by the Aragonese Kings who conquered Naples itself in the 15th century.

Currently, the title of King of Jerusalem is claimed by King Juan Carlos I of Spain as the successor to the royal family of Naples. The House of Savoy, as heirs of the royal family of Cyprus, have also made claims on the title at times.

None of these, however, have actually claimed a physical kingdom.

Cypriot claimants


NodeWorks boosts web surfing!
Page Returned in 4.110 seconds - HTML Compressed 76.4%

This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
 GNU Free Documentation License
© 2008 Chamas Enterprises Inc.