Mawdud, the Atabeg of Mosul, and his successor, Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, launched a series of campaigns against Edessa in the early 1110s, devastating the eastern regions of the country.

The new troops who accompanied Fulk to Jerusalem enabled Baldwin to invade Damascene territory, but he could seize only Banias with the support of the Nizari (or Assassins) in late 1129.

After Bohemond II was killed in a battle in early 1130, Baldwin forced Alice to leave Antioch and assumed the regency for her daughter, Constance.

[50][53] Before his departure for Europe in the autumn, Bohemond appointed Tancred to rule Antioch and their kinsman, Richard of Salerno, was entrusted with the administration of Edessa.

[63] Their raids against the Principality of Antioch persuaded Tancred to accept the arbitration of the Catholic prelates,[46][64][65] who decided in favor of Baldwin; he returned to Edessa on 18 September 1108.

[73] The King persuaded Bertrand of Tripoli, Joscelin of Courtenay and other crusader leaders to join his campaign, and the Armenian Kogh Vasil and Ablgharib also sent contingents.

[97] Lulu el-Yaya, the atabeg of Aleppo, sought assistance from Ilghazi and Toghtekin, who also persuaded Roger of Salerno to join their coalition against Bursuq.

[97] Taking advantage of the weakening of the Seljuqs' power after Roger of Salerno's victory at the Battle of Sarmin, Baldwin decided to annex the small Armenian principalities in the valley of the Euphrates.

[103][105] The highest-ranking prelate, Arnulf of Chocques, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Joscelin of Courtenay, who held the largest fief in the kingdom, argued that Baldwin should be elected without delay to avoid an interregnum.

[105][111] The modern historian Alan Murray argues that Albert of Aachen's words are evidence that Baldwin "carried out a major distribution of fiefs, granting out some lordships but retaining other towns and territories as domain lands" in 1118.

[110] Baldwin and Joscelin made a raid against Damascene territory in the autumn and defeated Toghtekin's son, Taj al-Muluk Buri near Daraa.

On the plains of Sarmada[116][117] Ilghazi's army encircled the crusaders' camp and on 28 June inflicted a major defeat in the Battle of the "Field of Blood".

[120][122] Baldwin distributed the estates of the noblemen who had perished in the Field of Blood among his retainers, mainly through giving the widows of the deceased lords to them in marriage.

[112] A confraternity of knights established by Hugh of Payns and Godfrey de Saint-Omer to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land most probably received official recognition at the council, according to historians Malcolm Barber and Christopher Tyerman.

[130] Shortly after the council, Baldwin and Patriarch Warmund also sent letters to Pope Calixtus II and the Venetians, urging them to support the defense of the Holy Land.

[132][133] Being responsible for the defense of the northern crusader states, Baldwin decided to again lead his troops to Antioch, but a significant group of the Jerusalemite noblemen and clergy opposed the expedition.

[134][135] Patriarch Warmund refused to accompany the royal army and allowed Baldwin to take the True Cross with him only after lengthy negotiations.

[142] While Belek was away in Aleppo in June, Joscelin's fifty Armenian supporters came to Kharput, disguising themselves as monks, and expelled the Seljuq garrison from the fortress.

[143] Joscelin left Kharput to gather troops in Turbessel and Antioch, but Baldwin and the Armenian soldiers remained in the fortress to defend it against Belek.

[145] On learning of Baldwin's captivity, Patriarch Warmund convoked the prelates and barons to an assembly which elected Eustace Grenier bailiff (or regent) of Jerusalem.

[140][149] They made an alliance—the so-called Pactum Warmundi—with Domenico Michiel, the Doge of Venice, offering commercial privileges to the Venetians in return for their military assistance against the Egyptian towns on the coast.

[159][161] Baldwin went to Antioch where Patriarch Bernard reminded him that he had not been authorized to renounce Antiochene territories and on 6 September 1124 forbade him to cede fortresses to Timurtash.

[159][164] Dubais ibn Sadaqa, and two Seljuq princes, Sultan Shah and Toghrul Arslan, joined him and Timurtash did not support the besieged town.

[177] After consulting with his nobles, he sent William I of Bures and Guy I Brisebarre to France to offer Melisende's hand to the powerful count of Anjou, Fulk V, in the autumn of 1127.

[183] Christopher Tyerman and Hans Eberhard Mayer agree that the pope wrote his letter to remove any doubts about the legitimacy of Baldwin's rule.

[188] The Nizari's local leader, Ismail al-Ajami, sent envoys to Baldwin and offered the fortress of Banias to the crusaders in return for receiving asylum in the kingdom.

[189] After Buri's Turcoman horsemen routed a detachment of the crusader army and a heavy storm turned the plains around Damascus into a large marshland, Baldwin had to return to Jerusalem in early December.

[189][190] After the Danishmend Gazi Gümüshtigin ambushed and killed Bohemond II in February 1130, Baldwin travelled to Antioch to make arrangements for the administration of the principality.

Jean-Nöel Mathieu raises the fundamental objection that Ebles I (who died in 1033), could not have had a sister who was still alive in 1081, instead he argues that she must have been confused with the wife of Manasses II.

[214] William of Tyre described Baldwin as "a devout and God-fearing man, notable for his loyalty and for his great experience in military matters," and said that he was nicknamed "the Thorny" (cognominatus est Aculeus).