The Leper King and His Heirs. Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Leper King and His Heirs. Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. By Bernard Hamilton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. xxvi + 288 pp. $59.95 cloth.

Bernard Hamilton's recent work, The Leper King and His Heirs, explores the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1187 in order to challenge prevalent misconceptions of the period and to reassess critical figures of the era. Hamilton criticizes the traditional argument that represents Baldwin IV's reign as a period of decline linked to the lack of Baldwin's strength of will and body owing to leprosy. According to this argument, these weaknesses led Baldwin to choose leaders who unwisely led the kingdom to seek battle with Saladin instead of peace. Hamilton's thesis asserts that peace with Saladin was not a feasible option and that Baldwin, although suffering with leprosy, was a worthy king and battle leader presiding over a "vigorous and selfconfident" society.

To support this thesis, Hamilton begins by reviewing various contemporary sources available about the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and...