BALDOVINO I, king of JERUSALEM. — Brother of Goffredo di Buglione. Destined for the ecclesiastical state, he was suitably instructed in literary disciplines during his youth. In 1096, probably following Pope Urban II’s appeal to the Flemings, B. took the cross together with two of his brothers.
In his brother Goffredo’s army, composed of Walloons, Flemings, and Germans, he reached Asia Minor after a long and perilous journey, where he fought victoriously in various battles against the Turks and the local lords. In 1098 he was recognized as prince of Edessa. After learning of the occupation of Jerusalem by the Crusaders (15 July 1099), he went to visit the holy places and arrived in Jerusalem toward the end of 1099. BAGLIONI (v.), who died on 18 July 1100, had designated his brother B. to succeed him as prince of the Franks and custodian of the Holy Sepulchre. Returning to Jerusalem in Nov. 1100, he accepted the title: « Balduinus Dei gratia rex Hierusalem Latinorum primus » and was crowned by Patriarch Daimbert in the church of Bethlehem on 25 Dec. 1100. B. was a man of courage, perseverance, and prudence, and during his reign (1100–18) succeeded in extending outward and consolidating internally the Latin State in Palestine. With the help of new forces from the West, especially the fleets of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, he gradually conquered the maritime cities belonging to Palestine. In 1101 Arsuf and Caesarea; in 1104 the important fortress of Acre, or Ptolemais; in 1109 Tripoli; in 1110 Beirut and Sidon. In the interior of the country, castles and towers were built to secure the roads. Finally, the sovereignty of the kingdom of Jerusalem over the other principalities of the Westerners in the Near East was recognized. During an expedition against Egypt in 1118, B. contracted a fatal illness and died on the return journey at el-ʿAriš on 2 April 1118. Since he had no descendants, he recommended his brother Eustachio and Count Baldovino of Edessa as his most capable successors. The nobles chose the latter, because he was already in the East and at that very time in Jerusalem.