ABSTRACT
Baldwin I and Baldwin II both exercised control over the Latin Church of Jerusalem in a manner that ran counter to the spirit of the reform movement espoused by the papacy since the pontificate of Gregory VII. In other parts of Western Christendom, the popes and their supporters were keen to reduce lay interference in ecclesiastical affairs, above all the selection and investiture of bishops. Although William does not elaborate on them, these claims are very similar to the demands made by Daibert of Pisa on Godfrey of Bouillon in 1100, which were rejected by Baldwin I on his accession as king of Jerusalem. Political circumstances in the emirate of Damascus had been shifting since Baldwin’s last campaign. The crusade against Damascus was the grandest, most ambitious project of the second half of Baldwin’s reign. Despite its lengthy and elaborate preparations and the vast forces he had assembled, the campaign ended in pitiful failure.
