Fulk of Jerusalem

Fulk (V)
Fulk was the first count of Anjou to use a seal
King of Jerusalem
Reign	1131–1143
Predecessor	Baldwin II
Successor	Melisende and Baldwin III
Count of Anjou
Reign	1109–1129
Predecessor	Fulk IV
Successor	Geoffrey V
Born	1089/92 Angers
Died	13 November 1143 Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Outremer, Levant
Burial	Church of the Holy Sepulchre Jerusalem
Spouse	Ermengarde of Maine Melisende of Jerusalem
Issue	Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou Sibylla, Countess of Flanders Matilda, Duchess of Normandy Elias II, Count of Maine Baldwin III of Jerusalem Amalric I of Jerusalem
House	House of Anjou
Father	Fulk IV of Anjou (1043–1109)
Mother	Bertrade de Montfort (c. 1070–1117)

Fulk (Latin: Fulco, French: Foulque or Foulques; c. 1089/92 – 13 November 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger, was the Count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129 and the King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death. During his reign, the Kingdom of Jerusalem reached its largest territorial extent.

Fulk was born at Angers, between 1089 and 1092, the son of Count Fulk IV of Anjou and Bertrade de Montfort. In 1092, Bertrade deserted her husband and bigamously married King Philip I of France.

He became count of Anjou upon his father's death in 1109. In the next year, he married Ermengarde of Maine, cementing Angevin control over the County of Maine.

He was originally an opponent of King Henry I of England and a supporter of King Louis VI of France, but in 1118 or 1119 he had allied with Henry when he arranged for his daughter Matilda to marry Henry's son and heir, William Adelin. Fulk went on crusade in 1119 or 1120, and became attached to the Knights Templar (Orderic Vitalis). He returned, late in 1121, after which he began to subsidize the Templars, maintaining two knights in the Holy Land for a year. Much later, Henry arranged for his daughter Matilda to marry Fulk's son Geoffrey of Anjou, which she did in 1127 or 1128.

By 1127 Fulk was preparing to return to Anjou when he received an embassy from King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Baldwin II had no male heirs but had already designated his daughter Melisende to succeed him. Baldwin II wanted to safeguard his daughter's inheritance by marrying her to a powerful lord. Fulk was a wealthy crusader and experienced military commander, and a widower. His experience in the field would prove invaluable in a frontier state always in the grip of war.