BALDOVINO II, king of GERUSALEMME. - Son of Ugo, count of Rethel, he took the cross and departed with the army of Goffredo di Buglione in 1096. He was appointed by his uncle B. as successor in the principality of Edessa
in 1100, which he had to defend against various attacks by the Saracens. From 1104 to 1109 he was a prisoner of the Persians. At the time of the death of Baldovino I (2 Apr. 1118), B. II was in Jerusalem. Thanks to the intervention of Patriarch Arnolfo, B. was elected king of Jerusalem and crowned on 14 Apr. 1118 (Easter Sunday) in the church of Bethlehem together with his consort, daughter of an Armenian prince of Melitene. Despite his advanced age, B. defended his kingdom with great energy amid the vicissitudes of continual battles. He defeated al-Gāzi of Maridin and Tuğtikin of Damascus near Danith (14 Aug. 1119); he promoted the foundation of the Order of the Templars (in 1119), captured the important city of Tyre (Tyrus) in 1124 with the aid of the Venetian fleet, and defeated the Saracens near Ezaz in 1125 and near Damascus in 1126. Under his rule the kingdom of Jerusalem attained its greatest extent. After a long career troubled by almost continual wars, B. died piously on 21 Aug. 1131 in Jerusalem.