Baldwin III (1130 – 10 February 1163) was the king of Jerusalem from 1143 until his death. Although he only took up sole rule in 1152 and died young, he was the longest-reigning of the 12th-century kings of Jerusalem. He expanded the borders of the kingdom, paved the way for the later kings' attempts to conquer Egypt, and acted as the defender of the other crusader states in the Levant.
Baldwin was the eldest son of Queen Melisende and King Fulk. Melisende's father, King Baldwin II, conferred the Kingdom of Jerusalem on the young Baldwin and his parents in 1131, but Baldwin III was only crowned after the death of his father in 1143. Baldwin initially reigned alongside his mother, who was the true ruler of the kingdom. He attempted to assert himself in warfare even before reaching the age of majority at 15, but after an initial military success in quelling a popular rebellion at Wadi Musa in 1144, he suffered a defeat in the Hauran and participated in the Second Crusade's failed attempt to capture Damascus in 1148.
Baldwin took on the traditional responsibility of the kings of Jerusalem to look after the Principality of Antioch and the counties of Edessa and Tripoli. In 1149 he intervened in Antioch after the death of its prince, Raymond of Poitiers, and in 1150 arranged the sale of the last of the Edessan fortresses to the Byzantine Empire. His relationship with his mother soured as he strived for a greater role in the government and she sought to marginalize him. Matters came to a head in April 1152, when he deposed her in a swift military action. He was soon called on to settle the affairs of the County of Tripoli after the assassination of Count Raymond II.
In 1153, Baldwin conquered the vital city of Ascalon and welcomed the marriage of his cousin Constance, widow of Prince Raymond, to Raynald of Châtillon. After nearly being killed or captured in a battle against the Aleppan ruler Nur ad-Din in 1157, he established an alliance with Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and married the emperor's niece Theodora. Baldwin and Manuel developed a close relationship, marred only by the latter's failure in the early 1160s to marry Baldwin's cousin, Melisende of Tripoli. Baldwin took up rule in Antioch once more in 1161 after Turkic forces captured Raynald. Baldwin died of an illness in 1163, having produced no children with Theodora, and was succeeded by his brother, Amalric.
Baldwin was born in the first half of 1130, or in August at the latest. His mother, Melisende, was the eldest daughter and designated heir of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. His father, Fulk, had been the count of Anjou until he left France to marry Melisende. Fulk had grown children from his first marriage in France, including Geoffrey, who succeeded him as count of Anjou. At the time of his birth, Baldwin's parents held the cities of Acre and Tyre.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was one of four crusader states established in the Levant by the Franks, the Latin Christians who conquered the region from its Muslim rulers during the First Crusade in 1098–99. The other states were dependent on the kingdom to a varying degree: Baldwin I established suzerainty over the counties of Edessa and Tripoli, while Baldwin II was invited by the nobles of the Principality of Antioch to take up rule in the name of his granddaughter, Princess Constance, after her father Bohemond II was killed in battle.
In August 1131, King Baldwin II fell ill. He summoned the young Baldwin and his parents to the house of the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and proceeded to confer the kingdom on the three of them. He died on 21 August; Baldwin's parents were crowned on 14 September. Fulk too was invited by the Antiochene nobles to rule in Constance's name, and he in turn invited Raymond of Poitiers to marry Constance and take up the government of the principality. At this time, in the early 1130s, Baldwin's parents became estranged because of Fulk's attempts to exclude Melisende from power; they had reconciled by 1135, when Baldwin's brother, Amalric, was born. They started associating Baldwin in their acts in 1138, but chose not to have him crowned. According to the chronicler William of Tyre, Baldwin was curious, well-educated, and exceptionally intelligent. He became pious and well-versed in history and law.
King Fulk died in a hunting accident on 10 November 1143, and Queen Melisende swiftly seized power. No royal election was held because the joint reign initiated in 1131 continued with Melisende and Baldwin III. The patriarch of Jerusalem, William of Messines, consecrated and anointed Baldwin as king and crowned him together with Melisende on Christmas Day. The coronation did not change much in Baldwin's life; because he was only 13 at the time, his mother became his guardian. Although she is often described as having ruled as regent in Baldwin's name, neither she nor William of Tyre understood her authority in those terms. William explicitly presented her rule as grounded in hereditary right, and the historian Bernard Hamilton has argued that she should be considered a queen regnant.
In 1144, Baldwin issued a charter without reference to Melisende. From that point on, however, all charters were issued in both of their names. This led the historian Hans E. Mayer to suggest that Melisende prohibited the issuance of any charters solely in her son's name. Because a woman could not command the army, the queen appointed her recently arrived cousin Manasses of Hierges to serve as constable. To uphold her authority, she cultivated a core group of loyal men, with Manasses at its forefront. Her inner circle also included Philip of Milly, lord of Nablus, Elinand of Tiberias, prince of Galilee, and Rohard the Elder, viscount of Jerusalem. Their support enabled Melisende to anchor her authority in the capital as well as the strategically vital regions of Samaria and Galilee, which included portions of the royal domain.
Warfare offered Baldwin III one clear advantage over his mother. As a medieval monarch—and particularly as a king of Jerusalem—he was expected to embody military prowess. In 1144, the native population in Wadi Musa rebelled and called in Muslim forces, which seized the eponymous fortress. Although Baldwin was still a minor, he decided to act. Because the stronghold was too well-defended to storm directly, he cut down the olive trees that were the inhabitants' main source of livelihood and offered pardons. The people of Wadi Musa accepted his rule and dismissed their Muslim allies. Baldwin turned 14 in 1144, and this was his first military success.
When Edessa came under siege by Zengid forces later in 1144, however, Baldwin was not called upon. The appeal for help from the Edessenes was addressed to him, but it was his mother who responded. She called a council and dispatched her key supporters—Manasses of Hierges, Philip of Nablus, and Elinard of Tiberias—with an army without involving Baldwin. Melisende apparently resented her son's success at Wadi Musa, and in the interest of preserving her own power, aimed to prevent him from building a public image as a successful military leader. The army did not reach Edessa in time: the city fell to the Turks, who killed its Frankish inhabitants. Baldwin came of age in 1145. The occasion was not publicly celebrated and, like his coronation, brought no real change in his fortunes.
In early 1147, Altuntash—governor of Bosra and Salkhad in the Hauran—attempted to secede from the authority of the Damascene ruler Mu'in ad-Din Unur. He approached the Franks with a proposal: he would surrender his towns to them in return for their support and a lordship in the Hauran. Melisende presented the offer to her council. Though Unur was an ally, the proposal was tempting. The Hauran was home to a largely Christian population, and gaining a foothold there would expose Damascus to strategic pressure. An army was assembled at Tiberias, and the government notified Unur of the plan to reinstate Altuntash. Unur objected and promised compensation for the kingdom's expenses if the operation was called off. Melisende dispatched a knight, Bernard Vacher, to Damascus, instructing him to clarify that the army would only accompany Altuntash to Bosra and not attack Damascene lands. Unur persuaded Bernard that the campaign should be abandoned. Bernard then convinced Baldwin, and the council reversed its earlier decision. Many within the army, driven by hopes of plunder, protested the change in course. Under their pressure, Baldwin decided to march.