Baldwin IV of Jerusalem as the image of the ideal ruler of the Middle Ages

Abstract

This article is dedicated one of the most remarkable kings of Jerusalem Baldwin IV, also calked the “Leper King”. The goal lies in analyzing the role of Baldwin IV in military-political history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The central task is to determine historical veracity of the positive image of Baldwin IV described in literature and cinematography. The historiographical framework is comprised on the works of national and foreign authors devoted to the history of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem; works of the Latin chronographers, as well as fragments from Arabic sources that were translated into English by M. C. Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson in their monograph “Saladin: the Politics of the Holy War”. The article raises the question of whether it is possible to advance a thesis that Baldwin IV is the prominent ruler of his time based on the analysis of personal traits and actions. Special attention is given to consideration of the domestic policy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the late XII century, as well as relationship of the young king with different political alliances. The conclusion is made that by virtue of his personal traits and actions, Baldwin IV significantly contributed to ensuring security of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. However, serious illness alongside critical internal challenges, led to the siege of Crusader state in the Battle of Hattin. Baldwin IV was unable to prevent it. The personality of Baldwin IV has not previously become the object of separate comprehensive study, which defines the scientific novelty of this paper. The article also views the events that took place in the Kingdom of Jerusalem over the period from 1160 to 1180 from the perspective of personality approach.