WI Crown of Jerusalem passed to Count Eustace III in 1118?

Upon the death of Baldwin I in 1118, the crown was offered to the king's elder brother Eustace III, but Joscelin of Courtenay insisted that the crown pass to Baldwin of Bourcq, despite Count Baldwin having exiled Joscelin from Edessa in 1113. Baldwin of Edessa accepted and was crowned king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II on Easter Sunday, April 14, 1118.
WI Joscelin de Courtenay was overruled or Baldwin of Bourq declined the Crown? Eustace III had a higher claim anyway than Baldwin...
How is that changing History? Any thoughts?
 
Apparently, there was no formal bar on female succession, with (apart from your example of succession-through-"proximity") the crown tending to pass through some variety of semi-salic primogeniture.

So, providing Eustace can hold the crown in the face of Fatimid and Seljuk aggression, we could see the Kingdom of Jerusalem pass to his daughter, Matilda. Assuming she still marries Stephen of Blois, and the couple relocate to Jerusalem proper, this could play all kinds of havoc with English history. :)

Interesting ... I've got to finish a university essay, but I'll definitely come back to this later.
 
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Stephen King of England and Jerusalem... Now thats interesting... D'Anjou's will be messing around Jerusalem earlier than OTL...
 
Stephen King of England and Jerusalem... Now thats interesting... D'Anjou's will be messing around Jerusalem earlier than OTL...

Well, that's certainly one possibility. Though, if Stephen and Matilda end up focusing their energies on the England situation, it could lead to the fall of Jerusalem, which is something that I'd ideally like to delay for as long as possible ...

Alternatively, and I think this is more entertaining, we could replace King Stephen with his brother, who defeats the English Matilda to become King Dewald I. We could also see Matilda of Boulogne assuming the crown of Jerusalem as Queen suo jure, with Stephen as the de facto power behind the throne. Interestingly, in this scenario, the French demesne would be bordered on the North, East, and West by Dewald's lands (Normandy, Champagne, and Blois). A highly vulnerable position, which could result in a very twitchy King Louis VII.
 
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I think its a long-shot but worths a try... WI Stephen abdicates during 1140s-1150s (or dies if u prefer and leaves a will) and divides his Kingdom? Eustace IV takes England and William de Blois takes Jerusalem... Could this work?
 
I think its a long-shot but worths a try... WI Stephen abdicates during 1140s-1150s (or dies if u prefer and leaves a will) and divides his Kingdom? Eustace IV takes England and William de Blois takes Jerusalem... Could this work?

Well, in your scenario (and I still don't see how Stephen and Matilda can be in the two different ends of Europe simultaneously), we'd have an inheritance which includes;

- Kingdom of England
- Kingdom of Jerusalem
- Duchy of Normandy
- County of Mortain
- County of Boulogne

There's no conceivable way that one man could hold that together. The only real question is which would be seen as most prestigious. Depending on when Stephen dies, we'd be looking either at Pope Innocent II (1130-43), who had previously expressed his support for Stephen, or one of his pro-French successors.

In the former scenario, Jerusalem would probably be emphasised as of greater importance (in a display of piety), while in the latter, England would be seen as a more established and powerful realm.

So, as long as we delay Stephen's death until, say, 1148, I see no reason why your scenario couldn't work. Of course, his wife is still kicking about until 1152 (assuming no butterflies), and she has the main claim on the crown of Jerusalem.

- Eustace I, King of England (114:cool:, and sovereign of various French bits & pieces
- William I, King of Jerusalem (1152-)

And it's about now that the butterflies start to kick in, I'd imagine. Who do they marry? What's happening in Outremer?
 
Eustace is propably marrying a French Princess (But this would enraged the english lords...)
While William being in outremer may marry a Byzantine Princess sealing that way an alliance with the Comneni Emperors...
 
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