Fulk of Jerusalem (1092-13 November 1143), also known as Fulk V of Anjou, was the King of Jerusalem from 1131 to 1143, succeeding Baldwin II of Jerusalem and preceding Baldwin III of Jerusalem.
Biography[]
Fulk was born in 1092 to Fulk IV of Anjou and Bertrade de Montfort; his mother deserted his father that same year and married Philip I of France. When his father died in 1109, he succeeded his father as the Count of Anjou, and although he was originally a supporter of King Louis VI of France, he later joined Henry I of England as an ally. In 1120 he went on a crusade with the Templar Order, and in 1121 he subsidized the order, paying for two knights to live in the Holy Land. In 1127 Henry married his daughter Matilda of England to Geoffrey V of Anjou, and in 1127 Fulk planned to return to Anjou when King Baldwin II of Jerusalem asked him to marry his daughter Melisende of Jerusalem to make him his successor. In 1131, he succeeded him on his death. Hugh II of Jaffa became his rival, and Fulk failed to kill him. During his reign, he fought against the Saracens as well as John II of Byzantium, who tried to reconquer Syria for the Byzantine Empire. He died in 1143, and Melisende became the regent for their son Baldwin III of Jerusalem.