Amalric of Jerusalem
Amalric | |
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Melisende of Jerusalem |
Amalric or Amaury 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
Youth
Amalric was born in 1136 to
Amalric married
Succession
Baldwin III died on 10 February 1163 and the kingdom passed to Amalric, although there was some opposition among the nobility to Agnes; they were willing to accept the marriage in 1157 when Baldwin III was still capable of siring an heir, but now the
Conflicts with the Muslim states
During Baldwin III's reign, the County of Edessa, the first
Invasions of Egypt
Amalric led his first expedition into Egypt in 1163, claiming that the Fatimids had not paid the yearly tribute that had begun during the reign of Baldwin III. The vizier, Dirgham, had recently overthrown the vizier Shawar, and marched out to meet Amalric at Pelusium, but was defeated and forced to retreat to Bilbeis. The Egyptians then opened up the Nile dams and let the river flood, hoping to prevent Amalric from invading any further. Amalric returned home but Shawar fled to the court of Nur ad-Din, who sent his general Shirkuh to settle the dispute in 1164. In response Dirgham sought help from Amalric, but Shirkuh and Shawar arrived before Amalric could intervene and Dirgham was killed. Shawar, however, feared that Shirkuh would seize power for himself, and he too looked to Amalric for assistance. Amalric returned to Egypt in 1164 and besieged Shirkuh in Bilbeis until Shirkuh retreated to Damascus.[3]
Amalric could not follow up on his success in Egypt because Nur ad-Din was active in Syria, having taken
In 1167, Nur ad-Din sent Shirkuh back to Egypt and Amalric once again followed him, establishing a camp near Cairo; Shawar again allied with Amalric and a treaty was signed with the caliph al-Adid himself. Shirkuh encamped on the opposite side of the Nile. After an indecisive battle, Amalric retreated to Cairo and Shirkuh marched north to capture Alexandria; Amalric followed and besieged Shirkuh there, aided by a Pisan fleet from Jerusalem.[5] Shirkuh negotiated for peace and Alexandria was handed over to Amalric. However, Amalric could not remain there indefinitely, and returned to Jerusalem after exacting an enormous tribute.[3]
Byzantine alliance
After his return to Jerusalem in 1167, Amalric married
In 1168 Amalric and Manuel negotiated an alliance against Egypt, and William of Tyre was among the ambassadors sent to Constantinople to finalize the treaty. Although Amalric still had a peace treaty with Shawar, Shawar was accused of attempting to ally with Nur ad-Din, and Amalric invaded. The Knights Hospitaller eagerly supported this invasion, while the Knights Templar refused to have any part in it. In October, without waiting for any Byzantine assistance (and in fact without even waiting for the ambassadors to return), Amalric invaded and seized Bilbeis. The inhabitants were either massacred or enslaved. Amalric then marched to Cairo, where Shawar offered Amalric two million pieces of gold. Meanwhile, Nur ad-Din sent Shirkuh back to Egypt as well, and upon his arrival Amalric retreated.[3]
Rise of Saladin
In January 1169 Shirkuh had Shawar assassinated. Shirkuh became vizier, although he himself died in March, and was succeeded by his nephew
Now Jerusalem was surrounded by hostile enemies. In 1170 Saladin invaded Jerusalem and took the city of Eilat, severing Jerusalem's connection with the Red Sea. Saladin, who was set up as Vizier of Egypt, was declared Sultan in 1171 upon the death of the last Fatimid caliph. Saladin's rise to Sultan was an unexpected reprieve for Jerusalem, as Nur ad-Din was now preoccupied with reining in his powerful vassal. Nevertheless, in 1171 Amalric visited Constantinople himself, leaving Jobert of Syria as regent, and envoys were sent to the kings of Europe for a second time, but again no help was received. Over the next few years the kingdom was threatened not only by Saladin and Nur ad-Din, but also by the Assassins. In one episode, the Knights Templar murdered some Assassin envoys, leading to further disputes between Amalric and the Templars.[7]
Death
Nur ad-Din died in 1174, upon which Amalric immediately besieged Banias. On the way back after giving up the siege he fell ill from dysentery, 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 July 11, 1174.
Maria Comnena had borne Amalric two daughters:
Physical characteristics
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
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
Sources
- Bernard Hamilton, "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in Medieval Women, edited by Derek Baker. Ecclesiastical History Society, 1978
- S2CID 162383678.
- Runciman, Steven (1952). A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press.
- William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943
References
- ^ George Francis Hill, A History of Cyprus, vol. 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2010 [1947]), p. 45 n. 1.
- ^ Runciman 1952, p. 299.
- ^ a b c d e f Baldwin, Marshall W. (1969). "The Latin States under Baldwin III and Amalric I, 1143–1174". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades: Volume One. The First Hundred Years. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 528–563.
- ^ public domain: Barker, Ernest (1911). "Amalric s.v. Amalric I.". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 778–779. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Giuseppe Mueller, ed. (1879). Documenti sulle Relazioni delle Citta Toscane coll'Oriente Cristiano e coi Turchi. Firenze: M. Cellini. p. 14.
Notum sit omnibus, tam presentibus quam futuris, quod ego Amalricus, per Dei gratiam in sancta civitate Ierusalem Latinorum rex quintus, dono, concedo et confirmo communi Pisarum, pro bono servitio quod in obsidione Alexandrie Pisani mihi exhibuerunt, unam petiam terre iuxta ecclesiam Sancte Anne supra portum Acconis que habet in longitudine secus viam cannas xvi, in latitudine autem versus portum plus una canna quam relique domus portus, ad edificandum in ea domum et ecclesiam....Factum est hoc anno ab incarnatione Domini MCLXVIII, indictione I.
- ^ Pringle 2001, p. 167.
- ^ a b Gibb, Hamilton A. R. (1969). "The Rise of Saladin, 1169-1189". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades: Volume One. The First Hundred Years. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 563-589.
- ^ Barker 1911, p. 779.