I
born 1172, Valenciennes
died 1205
First Latin emperor of Constantinople (1204–05).
Count of Flanders and Hainaut, he was a leader of the Fourth Crusade , which was directed against the Byzantine Empire. He helped install a pro-Latin emperor (1203). When the Crusaders in Constantinople seized power, he was elected emperor (1204) and recognized by the pope. He created a government on the western European model, granting Greek lands to his knights, but was defeated, taken prisoner, and executed by invading Bulgars.
II
known as Baldwin of Boulogne
(b. 1058?
d. April 2, 1118, Al-Arish, Egypt) King of Jerusalem (1100–18).
The son of a French count, he joined the First Crusade and created the first Crusader state when he gained control of Edessa (now in Turkey) in 1098. In 1100 his brother Godfrey died in Jerusalem, and Baldwin was summoned by the nobles to succeed him as king of the Crusader state and defender of the Holy Sepulchre. He expanded the kingdom by conquering coastal cities such as Arsuf and Caesarea, built the important castle Krak de Montréal, and established an administration that served for 200 years as the basis for Frankish rule in Syria and Palestine.