ABSTRACT
The crusader who became known to history as Baldwin II, second count of Edessa and subsequently second king of Jerusalem, is generally known in contemporary Latin sources as ‘Balduinus de Burgo’, ‘Balduinus de Burch’ or variants of these forms. This chapter examines some of the ways in which the kingship and dynastic connections of Baldwin of Bourcq were perceived and interpreted by subsequent history in contrast to the rule of his two predecessors. It also examines the genealogy and name-giving traditions of the royal family of the kingdom of Jerusalem from the time of Baldwin of Bourcq up to the reign of Baldwin IV. The first three rulers of the kingdom of Jerusalem were judged quite differently by posterity. The choices of names given to Baldwin II’s children and to the following three generations are revealing about the identity and self-perception of the new dynasty.
