melvourne's father, baldwin the second, his accession to the throne was a bit dodgy aboas well. He had followed his brother, godfrey of buion, but there was another brother, eustace, who was alsoa first crusader and he was back in the west. So so baldwin thesecond kind wo gets it in a bit of a, you know, he kind of dives in there first because he's present. But i think perhaps that's why he's quite obsessed with making sure his line stays on the throne. And an nin particular designated melisont as his heir, is an important step for him.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the most powerful woman in the Crusader states in the century after the First Crusade. Melisende (1105-61) was born and raised after the mainly Frankish crusaders had taken Jerusalem from the Fatimids, and her father was King of Jerusalem. She was married to Fulk from Anjou, on the understanding they would rule together, and for 30 years she vied with him and then their son as they struggled to consolidate their Frankish state in the Holy Land.
The image above is of the coronation of Fulk with Melisende, from Livre d'Eracles, Guillaume de Tyr (1130?-1186)
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France
With
Natasha Hodgson
Senior Lecturer in Medieval History and Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Nottingham Trent University
Katherine Lewis
Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Huddersfield
and
Danielle Park
Visiting Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London
Producer: Simon Tillotson