Baldwin I (ca. 1058-1118), a Norman known earlier as Baldwin of Boulogne and a chief lay leader of the First Crusade, reigned as king of Jerusalem from 1100 to 1118.

Son of the Norman Count of Boulogne, Baldwin joined the First Crusade with his brothers, Eustace and Godfrey of Bouillon. Baldwin soon left the main army to establish himself in Edessa (modern Urfa, Turkey), a Byzantine town beyond the Euphrates River, at the invitation of the Armenian prince Thoros. Upon the latter's death in 1098 Baldwin became head of the first crusading state in the East. His wife, Godvere of Tosni, died shortly before this successful venture, and Baldwin soon authenticated his position by marrying Arda, an Armenian princess.

When Godfrey of Bouillon died in 1100, a group of knights in Jerusalem asked Baldwin to succeed him. This succession was opposed by the patriarch Daimbert, who wished to maintain his ecclesiastical control...