Who was the first crowned King of Jerusalem?

Baldwin I was the first crowned King of Jerusalem.

After the First Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099, its leaders chose Godfrey of Bouillon as the city’s first ruler. Godfrey declined the title of king and was styled “Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre” instead, reportedly avoiding a royal crown in the city associated with Christ’s Passion. This distinction is why Godfrey is often confused with the first king.

Godfrey died in 1100, and his younger brother Baldwin, then Count of Edessa, travelled south to claim the succession. Baldwin reached Jerusalem in November and was crowned by Patriarch Daimbert of Pisa on Christmas Day, 25 December 1100. The ceremony took place in the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem rather than in Jerusalem itself.

Baldwin I ruled until 1118 and strengthened the new kingdom through military campaigns and coastal conquests. He captured Arsuf and Caesarea in 1101, Acre in 1104, Beirut in 1110, and Sidon in 1111. Baldwin II succeeded him, while later rulers such as Amalric I and Baldwin IV belonged to subsequent generations.