Amalric was born in 1136 to King Fulk, the former count of Anjou who had married the heiress of the kingdom, Melisende, daughter of King Baldwin II.

Amalric, who had been given the County of Jaffa as an apanage when he reached the age of majority in 1151, remained loyal to Melisende in Jerusalem, and when Baldwin invaded the south, Amalric was besieged in the Tower of David with his mother.

Agnes soon thereafter married Hugh of Ibelin, to whom she had been engaged before her marriage with Amalric.

Amalric led his first expedition into Egypt in 1163, claiming that the Fatimids had not paid the yearly tribute that had begun during the reign of Baldwin III.

The vizier, Dirgham, had recently overthrown the vizier Shawar, and marched out to meet Amalric at Pelusium, but was defeated and forced to retreat to Bilbeis.

The year 1166 was relatively quiet, but Amalric sent envoys to the Byzantine Empire seeking an alliance and a Byzantine wife, and throughout the year had to deal with raids by Nur ad-Din, who captured Banias.

The negotiations had taken two years, mostly because Amalric insisted that Manuel return Antioch to Jerusalem.

Although Amalric still had a peace treaty with Shawar, Shawar was accused of attempting to ally with Nur ad-Din, and Amalric invaded.

Maria Comnena had borne Amalric two daughters: Isabella, who would eventually marry four husbands in turn and succeed as queen, was born in 1172 ; and a stillborn child some time later.

Amalric had an enormous curiosity, and William was reportedly astonished to find Amalric questioning, during an illness, the resurrection of the body.

Amalric and Guy were sons of Hugh VIII of Lusignan, who had himself campaigned in the Holy Land in the 1160s.

Amalric II had already inherited Cyprus from Guy, and had been crowned king by Frederick Barbarossa's son, Emperor Henry VI.

The High Court of Cyprus had elected John of Ibelin as regent, but Henry's mother Alice of Champagne wished to appoint one of her supporters ; Alice and her party, members or supporters of the Lusignan dynasty, sided with Frederick, whose father had crowned Amalric of Lusignan king in 1197.

Also in 1157, on the death of patriarch Fulcher, Melisende, her half-sister Sibylla of Flanders, and Ioveta the Abbess of Bethany, had Amalric of Nesle appointed as patriarch of Jerusalem.

Amalric had come to power in 1164 and had made it his goal to conquer Egypt.

Amalric turned towards Egypt because Muslim territory to the east of Jerusalem had fallen under the control of the powerful Zengid sultan Nur ad-Din.

On a personal level, William admired the king's education and his interest in history and law, but also noted that Amalric had " breasts like those of a woman hanging down to his waist " and was shocked when the king questioned the resurrection of the dead.

Raymond III of Tripoli, first cousin of their father Amalric I of Jerusalem, had been bailli or regent for Baldwin IV while the latter was a child, but once the king came of age in 1176 his power began to recede.

Amalric I of Jerusalem ( also Amaury or Aimery ) ( 1136 – 11 July 1174 ) was King of Jerusalem 1163 – 1174, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession.

It was also around this time that William of Tyre was promoted to archdeacon of Tyre, and was recruited by Amalric to write a history of the kingdom.

Over the next few years the kingdom was threatened not only by Saladin and Nur ad-Din, but also by the Hashshashin ; in one episode, the Knights Templar murdered some Hashshashin envoys, leading to further disputes between Amalric and the Templars.

Amalric was pious and attended mass every day, although he also " is said to have absconded himself without restraint to the sins of the flesh and to have seduced married women …" Despite his piety he taxed the clergy, which they naturally opposed.

The force was commanded by King Henry II of Jerusalem, the king of Cyprus, accompanied by his brother, Amalric, Lord of Tyre, and the heads of the military orders, with the ambassador of the Mongol leader Ghazan also in attendance.

But Raymond soon arrived and, as the closest male relative of King Amalric, demanded to be named bailli ( also " bailiff " or " regent ").

After his death, Isabella was married for a fourth time to Amalric II of Jerusalem ( also Amalric I of Cyprus ), brother of Guy of Lusignan.

King Amalric I of Jerusalem hastened back from his invasion of Egypt to take control of the regency of Antioch ; Bohemond was freed, for a large ransom ( 150, 000 dinars ), in 1165 with the intervention of Amalric and Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, his nominal overlord ; Manuel was also his brother-in-law, as he was married to Bohemond's sister Maria of Antioch.

Whether David was influenced also by Amalric of Chartres is a matter of debate.

Lord Balian of Ibelin married Maria Comnena, widow of King Amalric I, and the Ibelins became the most powerful noble family of the kingdom, later ruling also over Beirut.

He possibly also joined Landgrave Hermann I and the Henneberg count Otto von Botenlauben on the Crusade of 1197 and witnessed the coronation of King Amalric II of Jerusalem.

The Crusader king, Amalric I of Jerusalem, also received her in the Holy Land.

The Komnenos dynasty was very much involved in crusader affairs, and also intermarried with the reigning families of the Principality of Antioch and the Kingdom of Jerusalem-Theodora Komnene, niece of Manuel I Komnenos, married Baldwin III of Jerusalem, and Maria, grandniece of Manuel, married Amalric I of Jerusalem.

Amalric succeeded Guy in Cyprus, and also became King of Jerusalem in 1198.

Deir al-Balah was built on the ruins of the Crusader fort of Darom ( also referred to as " Doron ") which was built by King Amalric I.

That year Balian also married Maria Comnena, widow of King Amalric I, and became stepfather to their daughter Princess Isabella.

Although both Philip and John were closely related to Henry I, as his uncles, they were still opposed on Cyprus by supporters of the Lusignan family, of which Henry was also a member ; another of his uncles, Guy of Lusignan, and father Amalric, were the first two kings of Cyprus.

Amalric had also married a Byzantine princess, Maria Komnene, and the imperial alliance remained intact.

1 and 4 ), the first two parts of the novel The Merman's Children by Poul Anderson ( also in 1 and 4 ), two " Amalric the Mangod " stories by Lin Carter ( in 1 and 3 ), a " Pusad " tale and the first part of the novel The Incorporated Knight by L. Sprague de Camp ( in 2 and 3, respectively ), two " Elric of Melniboné " stories by Michael Moorcock ( in 2 and 4 ), two " Witch World " stories by Andre Norton ( in 2 and 3 ), two " Brak the Barbarian " stories by John Jakes ( in 2 and 4 ), one story by Avram Davidson ( in vol.

Amalric of Lusignan, although a son-in-law of Baldwin of Ibelin, had been won over by the patronage of Agnes and the king, and had brought his younger brother Guy to prominence.

* 1205 – King Amalric II of Jerusalem ( b. 1145 )

He took refuge with King Amalric I of Jerusalem, whose favour he gained, and who invested him with the Lordship of Beirut.

* Amalric I of Jerusalem, King of Jerusalem from 1162 to 1174

* Amalric II of Jerusalem, King of Jerusalem from 1197 to 1205

Amalric II of Jerusalem or Amalric I of Cyprus, born Amalric of Lusignan ( 1145 – 1 April 1205 ), King of Jerusalem 1197 – 1205, was an older brother of Guy of Lusignan.

In 1194, on the death of Guy, he became King of Cyprus as Amalric I.

After Eschiva's death in October 1197 he married Isabella, the daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem by his second marriage, and became King of Jerusalem in right of his wife and crowned at Acre in January 1198.

Egypt's capital was permanently moved to Cairo, which was eventually expanded to include the ruins of Fustat and the previous capitals of al-Askar and al-Qatta ' i. While the Fustat fire successfully protected the city of Cairo, a continuing power struggle between Shawar, King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and Zengid general Shirkuh led to the downfall of the Fatimid establishment.

Before Raymond and Bohemond arrived, Agnes and King Baldwin arranged for Sibylla to be married to a Poitevin newcomer, Guy of Lusignan, whose older brother Amalric of Lusignan was already an established figure at court.

* Amalric II succeeds Henry II of Champagne as King of Jerusalem.

* July 11 – King Amalric I of Jerusalem ( b. 1136 )

Following William's return to Jerusalem in 1165, King Amalric I made him an ambassador to the Byzantine Empire.

In 1167 he was appointed archdeacon of the cathedral of Tyre by Frederick de la Roche, archbishop of Tyre, with the support of King Amalric I.

Before Raymond and Bohemond arrived, however, Agnes and King Baldwin arranged for Sibylla to be married to a Poitevin newcomer, Guy of Lusignan, whose older brother Amalric of Lusignan was already an established figure at court.

He claimed to have been commissioned to write by King Amalric himself, but William did not allow himself to praise the king excessively ; for example, Amalric did not respect the rights of the church, and although he was a good military commander, he could not stop the increasing threat from the neighbouring Muslim states.

William accused them of hindering the Siege of Ascalon in 1153 ; of poorly defending a cave-fortress in 1165, for which twelve Templars were hanged by King Amalric ; of sabotaging the invasion of Egypt in 1168 ; and of murdering Assassin ambassadors in 1173.

Emperor Manuel, whom William met during his visits to Constantinople, was portrayed more ambivalently, much like King Amalric.

# 1173: The Assassins of Syria enter negotiations with Amalric I, King of Jerusalem, with the aim of converting to Christianity.

Here he acted as regent until the arrival of the new King, Amalric II.