Fulk V of Anjou

     Fulk V of Anjou was born between 1089 and 1092 at Angers, France.¹ He was the son of Fulk IV of Anjou and Bertrade de Montfort. Fulk V of Anjou married (?) Ermengarde of Maine, daughter of (?) Elias I of Maine and (?) Matilde de Chateau du Loire, in 1109.² Fulk V of Anjou married (?) Melisende on 2 June 1129 at Jerusalem, Israel; By 1127 Fulk was preparing to return to Anjou when he received an embassy from King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Baldwin II had no male heirs but had already designated his daughter Melisende to succeed him. Baldwin II wanted to safeguard his daughter's inheritance by marrying her to a powerful lord. Fulk was a wealthy crusader and experienced military commander, and a widower. His experience in the field would prove invaluable in a frontier state always in the grip of war.
However, Fulk held out for better terms than mere consort of the Queen; he wanted to be king alongside Melisende. Baldwin II, reflecting on Fulk's fortune and military exploits, acquiesced. Fulk abdicated his county seat of Anjou to his son Geoffrey and left for Jerusalem, where he married Melisende.³ Fulk V of Anjou died on 10 November 1143 at Jerusalem, Israel; While the king and queen were on holiday in Acre, Fulk was killed in a hunting accident. His horse stumbled, fell, and Fulk's skull was crushed by the saddle, "and his brains gushed forth from both ears and nostrils", as William of Tyre describes. He was carried back to Acre, where he lay unconscious for three days before he died. He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Though their marriage started in conflict, Melisende mourned for him privately as well as publicly. Fulk was survived by his son Geoffrey of Anjou by his first wife, and Baldwin III and Amalric I by Melisende.³ He was buried at St Sepuchre, Jerusalem, Israel.