Daily Medieval

When King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was worried about finding a husband for his sister who could run the kingdom, he sent Heraclius, the Patr...

After the death of William of Montferrat, Sibylla of Jerusalem needed a new husband. The kingdom of Jerusalem was in a difficult position. ...

King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay , had three children. When Amalric was forced to put Agnes aside via an...

In 1173 King of Jerusalem Amalric I tried to make an alliance with the Order of Assassins . They were a sect of Shi'ite Islam whose goa...

(I said we would get back to Amalric, but I've discovered a side story that I would rather not put off.) King of Jerusalem Amalric I di...

Queen Melisende and Fulk of Anjou had a second son, Amalric, born in 1136. When his grandfather, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, was on his d...

The decision to go to Bosra (pictured) and help Altuntash become ruler of the Hauran against the wishes of Damascene ruler Mu'in ad-Din ...

After a rocky start to their life as King and Queen of Jerusalem, Fulk of Anjou and Melisende  started to work together. Melisende was part...

After Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a long statement endorsing the new order at the request of his uncle André de Montbard , the Knights Temp...

I've written many times before about the importance of marriages in noble families, forging alliances with other powerful families throu...

When William of Tyre was asked by King Amalric of Jerusalem to raise and tutor his son, Baldwin (1161 - 1185), he noticed something unusual...

The First Crusade founded several Christian territories in the East. In order of their founding, they were the County of Edessa, the Princip...

In yesterday's post on Eve of Wilton I mentioned that much of what we learn about her comes from the writing of Hilary the Englishman. ...

In 1977-79, a shipwreck off the southern coast of Turkey was investigated. It was determined to have sunk about 1025. The ship's hold c...