Rebellion
After Baldwin II died in 1131, his son-in-law Fulk of Anjou and daughter Melisende were crowned king and queen. Fulk initially tried to rule without Melisende, and Mayer suggests that this divided the nobles in the kingdom. According to Mayer, Hugh would have been the leader of the party which upheld the queen's right to a share in the government because they were second cousins and because he owed his rise to her father. Fulk was also actively replacing the kingdom's old nobility with newcomers from his native Anjou. Normans, who had enjoyed high offices under Baldwin II, were especially targeted; they were the neighbors and long-standing enemies of the counts of Anjou. Mayer believes that Fulk could not tolerate the establishment of yet another crusader state at the kingdom's expense–an ambition perhaps signaled by Hugh's unilateral assumption of grandiose titles–while Melisende might have been willing to allow it in return for Hugh's support in her bid for power. In addition, Riley-Smith proposes that the Egyptian embassy received by Fulk in 1131 may have offered a truce and the surrender of Ascalon; Fulk then either refused the offer or pressed for more than the Egyptians were willing to concede, leaving Hugh deprived of the city which had been promised to him.
William of Tyre recorded the gossip that Hugh was conducting an affair with the queen, and that their relationship made the king furious. Mayer argues that William himself did not believe this, and that the constant presence of her household and courtiers would have made it extremely difficult for a medieval queen to maintain a secret affair. The historian Bernard Hamilton notes that the clergy and the public supported Melisende, which would not have been the case if she had been unfaithful. Mayer suspects that it was Fulk who engineered the rumors in an effort to vanquish both Hugh and Melisende.
In July 1134, Hugh visited Melisende's sister Princess Alice of Antioch in Laodicea. Alice was engaged in her own struggle with Fulk, who prevented her from ruling Antioch. Mayer suggests that the two might have conspired against Fulk. The tensions came to a breaking point later that year when Hugh's stepson Walter publicly accused Hugh in the curia regis of lèse-majesté and conspiracy to murder the king. William says that Fulk incited Walter to make this accusation. Hugh denied the accusation. William narrates that some people were not convinced that Hugh was having an affair with Melisende, but they admitted that Hugh refused obedience to Fulk. Hugh was then challenged by Walter to a trial by combat. He retired from the court to Jaffa and failed to appear on the designated day; the historian Steven Runciman suggests that he might have been induced to stay away by Countess Emma, fearful of losing either husband or son, or by Queen Melisende. Because of his absence, he was found guilty by default. A vassal convicted for treason could have his fief confiscated. Roman of Le Puy, another powerful lord, joined Hugh's cause.
In his desperation, Hugh sailed to Ascalon and appealed to its Egyptian garrison for help. An alliance with Muslims was not in itself shocking, but when the Egyptians proceeded to raid the kingdom as far as Arsuf, Hugh's public image was destroyed. His constable, Barisan the Old, and other vassals, who had hitherto supported Hugh, left their fiefs and joined the king. The king then besieged Jaffa until the patriarch, William of Malines, intervened. It was agreed that the count and his remaining followers would be exiled for three years and that the revenues of his fiefs would be enjoyed by the king during that time. After three years, the rebels would be allowed to return and Jaffa would be restored to Hugh. Because the law allowed a permanent confiscation, Riley-Smith considers this sentence to have been extraordinarily lenient.
