Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon, from a fresco painted by Giacomo Jaquerio in Saluzzo, northern Italy, around 1420
Defender of the Holy Sepulchre
Reign	22 July 1099 – 18 July 1100
Predecessor	Position established
Successor	Baldwin I (as King of Jerusalem)
Duke of Lower Lorraine
Reign	1089 – 1096
Predecessor	Conrad
Successor	Henry I
Born	c. 1060 Boulogne
Died	18 July 1100 (aged 39–40) Jerusalem
Burial	Church of the Holy Sepulchre
House	House of Flanders
Father	Eustace II of Boulogne
Mother	Ida of Lorraine
Religion	Catholicism

Godfrey of Bouillon (French: Godefroy de Bullion, Latin: Godefridus Bullionensis; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a Frankish knight, and one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087. After the successful siege of Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He refused the title of King, however, as he believed that the true King of Jerusalem was Christ, preferring the title of Advocate (i.e. protector or defender) of the Holy Sepulchre (Latin: Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri). He is also known as the "Baron of the Holy Sepulchre" and the "Crusader King".

Godfrey of Bouillon was born around 1060 as the second son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida, daughter of the Lotharingian duke Godfrey the Bearded by his first wife, Doda.

His birthplace was probably Boulogne-sur-Mer, although one 13th-century chronicler cites Baisy, a town in what is now Walloon Brabant, Belgium. As second son, he had fewer opportunities than his older brother and seemed destined to become just one more minor knight in service to a rich landed nobleman. However his maternal uncle, Godfrey the Hunchback, died childless and named his nephew, Godfrey of Bouillon, as his heir and next in line to his Duchy of Lower Lorraine. This duchy was an important one at the time, serving as a buffer between the kingdom of France and the German lands.