Baldwin II of Jerusalem (15 January 1075-21 August 1131), also known as Baldwin of Le Bourcq, was the King of Jerusalem from 1118 to 1131, succeeding Baldwin I of Jerusalem and preceding Fulk of Jerusalem.
Biography[]
Baldwin was born on 15 January 1075 to the House of Rethel, and he was the son of Count Hugues I of Rethel and Melissende of Montlhery. In 1096 he went with his cousins Count Eustache III of Boulogne, Godfrey de Bouillon, and the future Baldwin I of Jerusalem on the First Crusade to Jerusalem. In 1100 he became the Count of Edessa after Baldwin I of Jerusalem became king, and in 1118 he succeeded his cousin as King of Jerusalem before his other cousin Eustache could arrive to accept an offer of the throne. During his reign, the Seljuks of Syria and the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt both invaded his lands, and in 1119 the army of Roger of Salerno was destroyed at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis. However, Baldwin drove the Seljuks out later that year, and during his reign he took Tyre and won the 1125 Battle of Azaz. In 1126 an attempt to capture Damascus was defeated, and he died in 1131. His daughter Melisende of Jerusalem served as regent for Fulk of Jerusalem.