King of Jerusalem King of Jerusalem The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Crusader state founded by Christian princes in 1099 when the First Crusade took the city. Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, himself refused the title of king, and instead chose the title "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre". Thus, the title of king was only introduced for his successor, King Baldwin I in 1100. The city of Jerusalem was lost in 1187, but the Kingdom of Jerusalem survived, moving its capital to Acre in 1191. The city of Jerusalem
Baldwin I of Jerusalem his adoptive father, but he did nothing when the rioters broke into the citadel on 9March. Thoros and his wife were captured and murdered. On the following day, the townspeople acknowledged Baldwin as their ruler (or "doux"). He assumed the title of count and established the first crusader state. The Seljuqs had captured Edessa from the Byzantines in 1087, but Alexios I Komnenos did not demand that Baldwin hand over the town. MacEvitt argues that the local population did not regard Baldwin's ascension as "a change in regime, but the replacement of one strongman with vague Byzantine ties with another