House of Boulogne

The family of Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin I — the first ruling line of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Eustace II of Boulogne and his wife Ida of Lorraine had three sons who took the cross in 1096: Eustace III, who returned home and became Count of Boulogne; Godfrey of Bouillon, who became Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099; and Baldwin, who founded the County of Edessa in 1098 and succeeded Godfrey as the first king of Jerusalem in 1100.

The Boulogne line in Jerusalem ended with Baldwin I's death in 1118. He was succeeded by his cousin Baldwin of Bourcq (Baldwin II), who came from the related Rethel family; from Baldwin II onwards the dynasty is conventionally called the House of Anjou-Rethel or, after the marriage of Baldwin II's daughter Melisende to Fulk V of Anjou, the House of Anjou. Boulogne thus stands as the founding family of the kingdom even though its direct line in the Holy Land was very short.

Read more on Wikipedia: English article