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- Fulk was the latin king of Jerusalem (1131-43), and count of Anjou (1109-29) and great-grandson of Fulk Nerra. He journeyed (1120) to the Holy Land as a pilgrim and returned there in 1129, making his son, Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou as Geoffrey IV. Having taken as his new wife Melisende, daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, he succeeded his father-in-law in 1131 as King of Jerusalem.
Fulk V, count of Anjou, abandoned the ways of his mother and father and led an honourable life, ruling his territory wisely. He negotiated with Elias count of Maine in order to marry the latter's only daughter, the girl whom Martel had been going to wed, and with her hand to acquire the county of Maine. It was in this way that the counties of Maine and Anjou were recognized as united. Fulk V was an upright and vigorous man of orthodox faith who was benevolent towards men of God. Having received both counties, he raised his friends up, put down the wicked and, in short, achieved a glorious and excellent reputation that was second to none.
While Fulk was ruling Anjou, Touraine and the county of Maine, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem sent envoys find a suitable man to wed his daughter and accept the kingdom of Jerusalem. On the advice of King Louis VI of France, he chose Fulk V of Anjou, who had, by this time, lost his wife. Fulk consummated his marriage with the king's daughter and became king of Jerusalem in 1129.
Jerusalem was on of four Christian states that had been established in Syria some 30 years earlier, in the aftermath of the First Crusade. In 1096 a multitude had answered Pope Urban's call to arms in
defence of Christianity.
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1092 - Abt 1143 (51 years)
