Baldwin IV

Lore & Background

Baldwin of Montferrat was born in December 1177 or January 1178 to Sibylla, sister of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, after whom he was named. His father, William of Montferrat, had died in June 1177. Though only 16, the King was not expected to live long, nor could he marry and have children, because he had contracted leprosy and was growing weaker. Baldwin had thus been expected to succeed his uncle.

By July 1178, the King recognized his sister as his heir presumptive. Her son followed her in the line of succession. In 1183, King Baldwin IV summoned a council to discuss who could succeed him as king instead of his brother-in-law, Guy. Agnes of Courtenay, mother of Sibylla and Baldwin IV, suggested that the young Baldwin, son of Sibylla, should be made co-king with Baldwin IV.

Baldwin V was acclaimed, crowned and anointed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on 20 November 1183, and he received homage from all the barons except his stepfather, Guy. After Baldwin IV died by 16 May 1185, Baldwin V became sole monarch. He died of unknown causes in Acre between May and mid-September 1186. The contemporary chronicler William of Newburgh wrote that Baldwin was poisoned by his regent, Raymond of Tripoli, but Hamilton considers foul play by Raymond unlikely because the king was in the care of Joscelin of Courtenay.

His mother, Sibylla, promptly established herself as the successor to her son and then invested her husband, Guy, with kingship.

Reader's Guide

Baldwin V is a brief, tragic figure in the late 12th-century Kingdom of Jerusalem. As a child co-king and then sole king for less than a year, his reign was defined entirely by the political maneuvers of adults around him. His coronation on 20 November 1183 was a direct move by his uncle Baldwin IV to sideline Guy of Lusignan, the boy's unpopular stepfather. After Baldwin IV's death, Count Raymond III of Tripoli became regent, but key government posts were occupied by supporters of Guy, who continued to resent not being regent for his stepson.

The young king's health was poor; the contemporary chronicler Ernoul states that Raymond insisted on not having custody of the king so that he would not be blamed if the child died. Joscelin of Courtenay, the boy's granduncle with no claim to the throne, was made his guardian. His death led to a succession crisis: his mother Sibylla promptly established herself as successor and invested her husband Guy with kingship, leading directly to the loss of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187.

Did You Know?

• At his coronation banquet, he was carried on the shoulders of Balian of Ibelin because Balian was the tallest of the great lords present.
• Baldwin V became the seventh and last of the Latin kings to be buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
• His elaborate tomb, likely commissioned by his mother Sibylla, survived until 1808 when it was destroyed in a fire.