Baldwin IV - a little-known hero

 

Despite the known errors, I still think Runciman is a good starting point,  following by Tom Ashbridge.

 

However, I would put neither of them in the same class as Weir, whose works I find very are often flawed, and in one instance, gratuitously fabricated.

 

Massive empire ?

 

He controlled Jerusalem, a few of the coastal cities and border castles, dessert patches, I would not call that massive, even the original crusader states were not massive, and most of that territory had been lost by Baldwin IV's time. Not to mention that these were feudal states, so that in accordance to feaudal society, he only controlled his own Kingdom of Jerusalem, the rest of the duchies were in control of other men.

 

 

This map shows the intial Crusader states, they were allied to each other, but all had greedy monarchs who knew well where their territory extended to, and would not give an in unless they were forced to.

 

 

 

The aftermath of Sultan Salah ad-Din's conquests are shown on this map.

 

 

 

 

Here is another map with relative dates of the various states' existence.

 

 

 

 

 

Another map of the Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East in 1100.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the Seljuk Zengi, atabeg of Mosul, had added Aleppo to his rule in 1128. Aleppo was the key to power in Syria, contested between the rulers of Mosul and Damascus. Both Zengi and King Baldwin II turned their attention towards Damascus; Baldwin was defeated outside the city in 1129. Damascus, ruled by the Burid Dynasty, later allied with King Fulk when Zengi besieged the city in 1139 and 1140; the alliance was negotiated by the chronicler Usamah ibn Munqidh.

In late 1144, Joscelin II allied with the Ortoqids and marched out of Edessa with almost his entire army to support the Ortoqid Kara Aslan against Aleppo. Zengi, already seeking to take advantage of Fulk's death in 1143, hurried north to besiege Edessa, which fell to him after a month on December 24, 1144. Manasses of Hierges, Philip of Milly and others were sent from Jerusalem to assist, but arrived too late. Joscelin II continued to rule the remnants of the county from Turbessel, but little by little the rest of the territory was captured or sold to the Byzantines. Zengi himself was praised throughout Islam as "defender of the faith" and al-Malik al-Mansur, "the victorious king". He did not pursue an attack on the remaining territory of Edessa, or the Principality of Antioch, as was feared; events in Mosul compelled him to return home, and he once again set his sights on Damascus. However, he was assassinated by a slave in 1146 and was succeeded in Aleppo by his son Nur ad-Din. Joscelin attempted to take back Edessa following Zengi's murder, but Nur ad-Din defeated him in November of 1146.

 

Exactly.