Raymond III, Count of Tripoli

Raymond III

His seal
Count of Tripoli
Reign 1152–1187
Predecessor Raymond II
Successor Raymond IV
Regent Hodierna of Jerusalem (1152–1155)
Amalric of Jerusalem (1164–1174)
Born 1140
Died 1187 (aged 46–47)
Tripoli
Spouse Eschiva of Bures
House House of Toulouse
Father Raymond II of Tripoli
Mother Hodierna of Jerusalem
Religion Catholicism

Raymond III (1140 – September/October 1187) was count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187. He was still a minor when Assassins murdered his father, Raymond II of Tripoli. Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli, made Raymond's mother, Hodierna of Jerusalem, regent. Raymond spent the following years in the royal court at Jerusalem. After he reached the age of majority in 1155, he participated in a series of military campaigns against Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler of Damascus. In 1161, he hired pirates to pillage the Byzantine coastline and islands to take vengeance of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos who had refused to marry his sister, Melisende.

Raymond was captured in the Battle of Harim on 10 August 1164. He was held in prison in Aleppo for almost ten years. During his captivity, Amalric I of Jerusalem administered the county of Tripoli on his behalf. Raymond was released for a large ransom, for which he had to borrow money from the Knights Hospitaller and gave hostages to guarantee the payment of the arrears. His marriage to Eschiva of Bures made him prince of Galilee, and thus one of the wealthiest noblemen in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. After Amalric died in 1174, Raymond laid claim to the regency, emphasizing that he was the closest male relative of Amalric's minor son and successor, Baldwin IV. Although all bishops and many influential noblemen supported him, he was elected bailiff (or regent) only after lengthy debates. He remained neutral during the conflicts between Nur ed-Din's successors and his former commander, Saladin, which facilitated the unification of Egypt and a significant part of Syria under Saladin's rule.

Early life

Born in 1140, Raymond was the only son of Raymond II of Tripoli and Hodierna of Jerusalem.[1] Similarly to her sisters, Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem, and Alice, Dowager Princess of Antioch, Hodierna was an influential and active "political agent" in the crusader states.[2] Raymond first witnessed a letter of grant of his father in 1151, along with his mother.[3] Raymond II's jealousy gave rise to a scandalous matrimonial strife in the early 1150s.[4] Melisende personally came to Tripoli to mediate a reconciliation, but Hodierna decided to leave Tripoli for Jerusalem.[5][6] However, shortly after their leave, a band of Assassins attacked and murdered Raymond II at the southern gate of Tripoli.[5]

Reign

Minority

A lady holding a man in her arms
The trobadour Jaufre Rudel dying in the arms of Raymond's mother, Hodierna of Jerusalem

Melisende's son, Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli when Raymond II was murdered, recalled the widowed Hodierna to the town.[7][8] After the murdered count was buried, Baldwin held an assembly where the nobles of the County of Tripoli paid homage to both Hodierna and her two minor children, Raymond and Melisende.[7] When appointing Hodierna to administer the county, Baldwin III ignored the instructions of her late husband.[3] Raymond II had ordered that a high-ranking official, the "master of the county", was to take care of the administration of Tripoli if an underage count mounted the throne.[3]

The teenaged Raymond spent several years in the royal court of Jerusalem.[9] The first extant document that he witnessed in the royal capital was issued on 23 September 1152 or 1153.[9] Raymond's knightly education was most probably supervised personally by Baldwin III, according to Lewis.[10]

Personal rule

Raymond reached the age of majority in 1155.[9] On 11 June 1157, he confirmed the charter in which his father had granted Tortosa (now Tartus in Syria) to the Knights Templar.[9] Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler of Damascus, ambushed Baldwin III at Jacob's Fort on the Jordan River on 19 June.[11] Hundreds of Christian soldiers were captured or killed and the king was forced to flee to Safed.[12] After Nur ad-Din laid siege to Baniyas, Baldwin III sent envoys to Tripoli and Antioch to seek assistance from Raymond and Raynald of Châtillon.[10] Raymond and Raynald hurried to Chastel Neuf (at present-day Margaliot in Israel]] to join the decimated army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[13][10] After their arrival, Nur ad-Din lifted the siege and withdrew his troops without resistance.[13][10]

An earthquake destroyed most major settlements of North Syria, including Tripoli, Arqa and Krak des Chevaliers in August 1157.[10] Taking advantage of the arrival of Thierry, Count of Flanders at the head of a sizeable army in October, Baldwin III, Raynald of Châtillon and Raymond decided to launch a joint campaign against the Muslim towns of North Syria.[10][14] The crusaders first wanted to occupy Chastel Rouge near the borders of the County of Tripoli, but they could not force the defenders into surrender.[15] Neither did they seize Shaizar, because both Thierry of Flanders and Raynald of Châtillon laid claim to the town even before it was occupied and they could not reach a compromise.[16][17] The siege of Harenc (now Harem in Syria) was a success, but after the fortress was captured in January 1158, the crusader leaders finished the campaign.[17][18]

Seeking a wife from the crusader states, the widowed Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos sent envoys to Baldwin III in 1160.[19] Manuel stated that he was willing to marry either Maria of Antioch, or Raymond's sister, Melisende, who were both closely related to the king.[20] Baldwin decided to propose Melisende and the emperor acknowledged his choice.[20] Twelve galleys were built at Raymond's order, because he wanted to set up a magnificent retinue for his sister during his voyage towards Constantinople.[20] Their mother and aunt spent considerable amount of money to buy precious jewelry for the future empress.[21] However, the emperor changed his mind and started negotiations about his marriage to Maria of Antioch with her mother, Constance of Antioch.[22][23] Feeling slighted for both himself and his sister, Raymond crewed his newly built fleet with criminals and sent them to raid the Byzantine coasts and islands in August 1161.[23][24] The pirates captured and plundered sacred places and attacked pilgrims during their raid.[24]

Nur ad-Din made a raid agains Krak des Chevaliers and laid siege to Harenc in the summer of 1164.[25] Raymond marched out to join the crusaders who had assembled to relieve the fortress.[26] Their united army was defeated in the ensuing battle on 10 August.[27] Thousands of crusaders fell during the battle, but Raymond, Bohemond III of Antioch, Joscelin III of Edessa, Hugh VIII of Lusignan, and other commanders were captured.[28][29]

Captivity

Three crusader states along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the nearby territories
The crusader states in 1165

The crusaders captured at Harenc were taken to Aleppo where they were imprisoned.[29][30] William of Tyre recorded that Raymond had spent the time "in beggary and iron", but he also emphasized that Raymond had learnt to read and acquired a high level of education in the prison.[29] Raymond instructed his "loyal vassals" to acknowledge Amalric of Jerusalem, who had succeeded Baldwin III, as the lawful ruler of Tripoli for the period of his captivity.[31] Amalric hurried to Tripoli[32] and took full responsibility for its government, assuming the title of "administrator of the county of Tripoli".[31]

In November 1164, Bertrand de Blanchefort, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, reminded Louis VII of France that Amalric would be unable to defend the crusader states alone.[33] Indeed, Nur ad-Din captured the fortress at al-Munaytira in 1165 or 1166 and destroyed the Templars' castles at Halba, Araima and Safita in the summer of 1167.[33] During the latter campaign, Nur ad-Din allegedly captured Gibelacar, according to Lewis, but the fortress was recaptured in late 1169 or early 1170.[34]

Both the date and the circumstances of Raymond's release are uncertain.[35][36] According to William of Tyre, Raymond was set free after spending eight (solar) years in captivity, but Ibn Jubayr stated that Raymond had been held in prison for twelve (lunar) years.[36] Ali ibn al-Athir recorded that Raymond was released after Nur ad-Din died on 15[37] May 1174, but he was obviously wrong, because Raymond had witnessed a royal charter in Jerusalem already on 18 April 1174.[36] On the other hand, according to Lewis, Ali ibn al-Athir may have been right when claiming that Raymond was released because of the emering conflict between Nur ad-Din's family and his ambitious commander, Saladin.[38]

William of Tyre stated that Raymond had to pay 80,000 pieces of gold as ransom, but he could only pay 20,000.[39] To guarantee the payment of the arrears, Raymond gave hostages.[40] Muslim authors wrote that Raymond's ransom amounted to 150,000 Syrian dinars.[41] According to a charter of Bohemond III of Antioch, Raymond borrowed money from the Knights Hospitaller to pay at least a part of his ransom.[41]

Road to regency

Walter of Saint Omer, Prince of Galilee, died in early 1174.[42][43] Amalric of Jerusalem soon gave Walter's widow, Eschiva of Bures, in marriage to Raymond, who thus seized one of the largest fiefs in the kingdom.[42][43] The king died on 11 July 1174.[44] Four days later, his only son, Baldwin, who was a minor who had suffered from lepromatous leprosy, was crowned king.[45][46] The senechal Miles of Plancy took charge of the government,[46] but he was unable to persuade the most powerful crusader commanders to cooperate with him.[47]

Taking advantage of the senechal's unpopularity, Raymond went to Jerusalem and laid claim to the regency for the minor king in August.[43] He argued that he was both the closest male relative and the most powerful vassal of the child king..[48] He also emphasized that he had appointed the king of Jerusalem to administer Tripoli during his captivity for which he was entitled to claim the same treatment.[48] Miles of Plancy postponed the decision about Raymond's claim, stating that only the plenary session of the High Court of Jerusalem could hear it.[49] Raymond returned to Tripoli.[50]

Regent of Jerusalem

Miles of Plancy was murdered in Acre in October 1174.[46] The most powerful noblemen and clergymen assembled in Jerusalem before the end of the month to decide on the administration of the kingdom.[46][51] The bishops unanimously supported Raymond's claim to regency.[50] The constable Humphrey II of Toron, Reginald of Sidon and the Ibelin brothers, Baldwin and Balian, also stood by him, but Raymond was elected bailiff (or regent) only after a debate which lasted for two days.[51][50] Raymond was installed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which had been the traditional venue of royal coronations, during an extravagant ceremony.[52] He allowed the king's mother, Agnes of Courtenay, to return to the royal court, enabling her to strengthen her influence on the young monarch.[53] He made the erudite William of Tyre chancellor, but left the office of senechal vacant.[54]

Saladin had meanwhile expanded his rule over Damascus, Baalbek, Shaizar and Hama, taking advantage of the minority of Nur ed-Din's son, As-Salih Ismail al-Malik.[55][56] He also occupied Homs in early December 1174, but the garrison at the citadel resisted.[46] He soon left Homs, leaving only a small army in the lower town, because the capture of Aleppo was his principal object.[56]

Saladin's fierce determination to unite Egypt and Syria under his rule threatened the crusader states.[55] Raymond mustered the troops of Jerusalem and Tripoli at Arqa in early 1175, but without intervening in the conflict between Saladind and the Zengids.[55][56] The defenders of the Homs citadel offered to set their Christian prisoners free, including the hostages held as a guarantee for the arrears of Raymond's ransom if he provided military assistance for them.[55] According to Ali ibn al-Athir, the Muslim burghers of Aleppo also urged Raymond to attack Saladin's troops at Homs.[55] Raymond demanded the immediate release of the Christian prisoners from Homs as the price of his intervention.[56] William of Tyre would later emphasize that the commanders of the crusader army doubted if the defenders of the Homs citadel were actually willing to release their prisoners.[57] After being informed about the negotiations between the crusaders and the garrison at Homs, Saladin returned to the town.[58] Instead of attacking Saladin, the crusader army marched to Krak des Chevaliers.[58]

The garrison at the Homs citadel surrendered on 17 March 1175.[59] Saladin sent envoys to the crusaders' camp, because he wanted to secure their neutrality in his conflict with the Zengids.[58] After he agreed to release the hostages standing surety for Raymond's ransom, the crusader army withdrew to Tripoli.[58] William of Tyre blamed Humphrey II of Toron for the crusaders' decision.[60] Saladin defeated the united armies of the Zengid rulers of Aleppo and Mosul in the Battle of the Horns of Hama on 13 April, which enabled him to consolidate his authority in Syria.[59] After Saladin concluded a peace treaty with Aleppo and allowed his Egyptian troops to return home, the crusader army was also disbanded in early May.[58] Raymond proposed a truce to Saladin which was signed on 22 July.[59][60] The truce enabled Saladin to march through Oultrejordain—the easternmost territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem—without resistance during his new campaign against Ghazi II Saif ud-Din of Mosul in the summer of 1176.[61]

Military campaigns

Baldwin IV came of age at his fifteenth birthday on 15 July 1176.[60] With his regency terminated, Raymond returned to Tripoli.[60] Philip I, Count of Flanders landed at Acre at the head of a considerable army on 1 August 1177.[62][63] The young king and his advisors made several efforts to persuade him to join a military campaign against Egypt which was the principal base of Saladin's power, but Philip always gave an excuse to object their offers.[64] According to widespread rumours, Bohemond III of Antioch and Raymond jointly convinced the count to resist, because they wanted to "entice him to their own lands, hoping with his help to undertake something which would benefit their states".[65][66]

Philip came to Tripoli to meet with Raymond in late October.[67] Roger de Moulins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallers, and more than 100 knights and 2,000 foot soldiers from the Kingdom of Jerusalem joined them in less than a month.[68][69] They made an assult on Hama, taking advantage of the sickness of its governor.[69] The siege of the town lasted only for four days, because Bohemond III of Antioch sent envoys to Hama, urging them to join his campaign against Harenc.[70] They laid siege the fortress in early December, but they could not capture it and Bohemond III made peace with the Zengid ruler of Aleppo in early next year.[71]

Raymond attacked a group of Turkmens and seized considerable booty from them in 1178 or 1179.[72] Saladin strengthened border defence to prevent him from further raids.[72] Saladin also dispatched a group of horsemen to make a raid around Sidon in early June 1179.[73] To prevent their return to Saladin's realm, Baldwin IV mustered his troops.[73][74] Raymond, who was staying at Tiberias in Galilee, joined the royal army.[72] They routed the raiders at a ford on the Litani River, but Saladin intervened and defeated the crusaders in the Battle of Marj Ayyun on 10 June.[73][72][74] Raymond, who had watched the battle from a hill, escaped to Tyre, but one of his stepsons, Hugh of Saint Omer fell into captivity.[72]

According to a story recorded in the Estoire de Eracles, which contains many folkloristic elements, Raymond pledged that he would give the first wealthy heiress in his county in marriage to Gerard of Ridefort, a Flemish knight.[75][76] However, when William Dorel, Lord of Botrun (now Batroun in Lebanon), died, leaving a daughter as his heir, Raymond gave her hand to Plivain, a wealthy merchant from Pisa, who had promised her weight in gold to him.[75][77] Raymond's perfidy outraged Ridefort who left Tripoli and settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1179.[78]

Dynastic factions

Raymond and Bohemond III mustered their troops and marched to Jerusalem shortly before Easter 1180.[79][80] Fearing that they actually wanted to depose him, the ailing Baldwin IV hastily married his sister and heiress, Sibylla, to a knight who had recently arrived from Poitou, Guy of Lusignan, although her hand had been promised to Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy.[81][82] Studying the controversial reports about the events, historian Bernard Hamilton concludes that Raymond and Bohemond had really wanted to stage a coup, because they felt concerned about the growing influence of the king's maternal relatives, Agnes and Joscelin III of Courtenay.[83] They, Hamilton continues, wanted to persuade the king by force to marry his sister to a local candidate of their own choosing Baldwin of Ibelin instead of Hugh, who was related to the Courtenays, but Sibylla's marriage to Guy destroyed their plan.[83]

[T]he lord Prince Bohemond of Antioch and the lord Count Raymond of Tripoli, entering the kingdom with an army, terrified the lord king who feared lest they should attempt to organise a revolution by deposing the king and laying claim to the kingdom for themselves. For the king was afflicted more grievously than usual by his illness and day by day the symptoms of leprosy became more and more evident. The sister of the king ... was awaiting the arrival of [Hugh III of Burgundy]... When the king knew that these noblemen had come, although both of them were his kinsmen, he viewed them with suspicion and hastened his sister's marriage. ... [B]ecause certain things had happened, she was unexpectedly married to a certain young man called Guy of Lusignan.
— William of Tyre: History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea[84]
Raymond and Bohemond III of Antioch ride to Jerusalem.
The ancient water system at Saffuriya: the royal troops customarily assembled at the springs

Raymond and Bohemond were returning to their realms across Galilee when Saladin invaded the principality, but their arrival forced him to withdraw.[79] Raymond stayed away from Jerusalem for two years, which shows that he had lost Baldwin IV's favor.[85] The king signed a two-year truce with Saladin, but it did not cover Raymond's county.[79][86] Saladin launched a sudden raid into the couty.[79][86] Raymond could not muster his troops and fled to the fortress of Arqa.[79] Saladin's army pillaged the northern plains and his fleet captured the island of Ruad at Tortosa (now Arwad in Lebanon).[79] Saladin withdrew from the county only after Raymond agreed to sign a truce.[87] During the following years, Raymond strengthened the defence of the county through granting new territories to the Knights Hospitaller or confirming his vassals' grants to them.[87]

After two years of absence, Raymond decided to again visit his fiefs in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in April 1182.[88] However, Agnes and Joscelin III of Courtenay persuaded Baldwin IV to forbide his entrance, forcing him to turn back at Beirut.[88][89] Before long, certain "princes and greater men of the realm", whom William of Tyre failed to identify, persuaded the king to allow Raymond to come to Jerusalem.[88] At the following general assembly, Raynald of Châtillon, Lord of Oultrejordain, proposed a military expedition across the Jordan River to prevent Saladin's march from Egypt to Syria in May 1182.[90] Raymond tried to persuade the barons to refuse this plan, saying that the lands to the west of the river would be left undefended during the campaign, but Châtillon, who had emerged as the king's key advisor in military affairs, convinced them to accept his proposal.[90]

Raymond accompanied the royal army to Oultrejordain.[88] During his absence, troops from the nearby Muslim towns invaded Galilee and captured 500 women.[91][92] The invaders also seized a fortified cave near Tiberias with the assistance of the local Christian garrison.[91][93] The royal army returned to the central territories of the kingdom, because Baldwin suspected that Saladin was planning further raids.[94] Raymond went to Tiberias where he fell seriously ill.[92] When Saladin laid siege to the castle of Bethsain (now Beit She'an in Israel) on 13 July, Raymond dispatched his stepson, Hugh, to command the troops of Galilee[92] and join the royal army which was assembling near Saffuriya.[94] The royal army forced Saladin to lift the siege and withdraw his troops from Galilee.[94] Raymond made a plundering raid against the region of Bosra in late 1182.[92] Hamilton argues that it was actually "a reconnaissance expedition", because Bosra was an excellent location to discover the southward movements of the army of Damascus.[95] According to Lewis, Raymond must have also participated in Baldwin IV's unsuccessful campaign against Syria before Christmas, because the royal army had assembled at Tiberias.[96]

Saladin seized the Zengids' last important stronghold in Syria, Aleppo, on 12 June 1183.[97] He soon decided to invade the Kingdom and bring the crusaders to a pitched battle.[98][99] At Baldwin IV's order, more than 1,000 knights and about 15,000 foot soldiers gathered at Saffuriya.[98][99] Raymond also hurried to the mustering point.[96] However, Baldwin suddenly started running a fever, which forced him to provide for the administration of the country.[98] He made Guy of Lusignan bailiff, only reserving some royal income, Jerusalem and the title of king.[100] Saladin crossed the Jordan on 29 September and pillaged Bethsan.[101] The campaign lasted for nine days, but no major engagements occurred and Saladin returned to Syria.[102] William of Tyre recorded that a rumour spread among the common soldiers which accussed Guy's opponents of refusing to support him in an attack against Saladin, because they feared that a victory would strengthen his position.[96]

Relationship between the king and his bailiff became tense, especially after Baldwin IV proposed to asked Tyre in exchange of Jerusalem, but Guy refused the offer.[103] The king convoked the barons of the realm to an assembly to discuss the administration of the kingdom.[104] Raymond, Bohemond III, Reginald of Sidon and the Ibelin brothers easily persuaded him to dismiss Guy.[96][105] They also achieved that the king made Guy's infant stepson, Baldwin of Montferrat, his heir, which prevented Guy from seizing the throne through his marriage to the king's sister after the king's death.[96][105] The child's grandmother, Agnes of Courtenay, also achieved that he was crowned on 20 November 1183.[105] William of Tyre recorded that it was "the general wish" that the king should also appoint a regent and most barons said that only Raymond "was suited to hold this office".[106]

The assembly was soon dissolved, because news about Saladin's sudden attack against Raynald of Châtillon's Kerak Castle reached Jerusalem.[107] The king mustered an army, but he could not personally participate in the campaign for long, thus he appointed Raymond to command it before the army crossed the Jordan.[108] On learning of the arrival of the relief army, Saladin lifted the siege on 3 or 4 December.[108]

Second regency

Baldwin IV appoints Raymond regent at his death bed; the child Baldwin V's coronation

Heraclius, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the grand masters of the Templars and Hospitallers tried to mediate a reconciliation between Baldwin IV and Guy of Lusignan, but the king did not forgive his brother-in-law.[108] In October 1184, Guy of Lusignan made a plundering raid against the Bedouin tribes who grazed their herds in the royal domain of Deir al-Balah.[96] This action outraged the king who soon convened the barons of the realm to an assembly and handed over "the government of the kingdom and its general administration" to Raymond, according to William of Tyre.[96] However, Ernoul's chronicle and the Estoire de Eracles write that Baldwin IV decided to appoint a regent only after the members of the High Court had warned him that Guy was still entitled to govern the kingdom after his death as the minor Baldwin V's stepfather.[109] The dying king requested them to name their candidate and they unanimously nominated Raymond.[110] Baldwin IV accepted their choice and asked Raymond "to act as regent of the kingdom and of the child for ten years until the child came of age", according to Ernoul's chronicle.[110] A version of the Estoire de Eracles clearly states that Raymond was made regent in 1185.[111][112]

Both Ernoul and the Estoire de Eracles recorded that the High Court passed specific rules about the regency before Raymond was installed.[113] First of all, the barons of the realm elected Joscelin of Courtenay the child king's guardian to look after him.[113][114] The High Court also stipulated that the military orders could hold all royal fortresses during the king's minority, but Beirut was granted to Raymond to compensate him for the expenses of state administration.[113][114] Finally, the High Court ruled that if the child king died before reaching the age of majority, the pope, the Holy Roman Emperor and the kings of France and England were to be approached to decide whether his mother or her half-sister, Isabella, had the stronger claim to succeede him.[113][114] Although some versions of the Estoire de Eracles hint that Raymond had persuaded the Hight Court to pass these rules, most of them were clearly adopted to limit the regent's authority.[113]

The date of Baldwin IV's death is unknown, but it is certain that he died before 16 May 1185.[114] The leper king was still alive when Raymond sent envoys to Saladin to start negotiations about an armistice.[115] Saladin granted a four-year truce, thus "the land was free from external battles" during Raymund's second regency, as a continuator of William of Tyre's chronicle remarked.[115] Saladin agreed to make peace with the crusaders because Izz ad-Din Mas'ud, the Zengid ruler of Mosul, had formed a coalition against him.[116] He made a series of attacks against Mosul, forcing Izz ad-Din to accept his suzerainty in March 1186.[114][117]

Raymond could not strengthen his authority during his regency.[118] Joscelin of Courtenay, Patriarch Heraclius and Peter, Archdeacon of Lydda, who had succeeded William of Tyre as chancellor, were Guy of Lusignan's supporters.[118] The Knights Templar elected his personal enemy, Gerard of Ridefort their grand master.[118][75]

Towards Hattin

Baldwin V died unexpectedly in Acre in the summer of 1286.[114] Joscelin of Courtenay convinced Raymond to go to Tiberias to make preparations for a general assembly and let the Templars deliver the young king's body to Jerusalem.[119][120] Taking advantage of Raymond's absence, Joscelin took full control of Acre and also seized Beirut.[120] Raymond convened the barons of the realm to Nablus, which was the fief of one of his main supporters, Balian of Ibelin.[119][120] Arnold of Lübeck and Ali ibn al-Athir recorded that Raymond tried to seize the throne at the general assembly, but the reliability of their report is questionable.[120]

While most barons of the realm were assembling at Nablus, Sybilla and Guy of Lusignan attended the child king's funeral in Jerusalem.[120]

Neither side paid any heed to Baldwin IV's will. After the funeral, Joscelin had Sibylla named as her brother's successor, although she had to agree to divorce Guy, just as her father had divorced her mother, with the guarantee that she would be allowed to choose a new consort. Once crowned, she immediately crowned Guy. Meanwhile, Raymond had gone to Nablus, home of Balian and Maria, and summoned all those nobles loyal to Princess Isabella and the Ibelins. Raymond wanted instead to have her and her husband Humphrey IV of Toron crowned. However, Humphrey, whose stepfather Raynald of Châtillon was an ally of Guy, deserted, and swore allegiance to Guy and Sibylla. Instead of arguing and possibly causing a civil war, Raymond withdrew to Tripoli.

Battle of Hattin

In Tripoli Raymond made peace with Saladin, perhaps hoping to ally with him against their common enemy Guy. At the end of 1186 Saladin, with his army stationed at Raymond's fief of Tiberias, threatened an invasion of the kingdom if Raynald continued to attack Muslim caravans. An embassy, led by Balian of Ibelin, was sent by Guy to negotiate with Raymond, but Saladin's troops ambushed them at the Battle of Cresson in May 1187. Raymond reluctantly made peace with Guy after this, and Saladin immediately besieged Tiberias, rather than pillage the kingdom as the Crusaders expected. Raymond and Guy combined their forces at Acre but could not agree on a plan of action; Raymond preferred not to meet Saladin in a pitched battle, even though Raymond's wife Eschiva was still in Tiberias. Guy did not agree, and instead the Crusaders marched into a waterless plain, were surrounded by Saladin's army, and were almost completely destroyed at the Battle of Hattin outside Tiberias. Raymond led the vanguard, but five of Raymond's own knights defected to Saladin's side and told him of the disagreements in the crusader army. The vanguard was surrounded and Raymond led two unsuccessful cavalry charges. The Muslim troops allowed him to pass through in the second charge, and, cut off from the main army, he fled. He was one of the few to escape.

Raymond, instead of joining his wife in the trap that was the Citadel of Tiberias, and the other survivors regrouped in Tyre. He then returned to Tripoli, probably in August.

On Sunday, July 5, Saladin traveled the six miles (10 km) to Tiberias and, there, Raymond's wife surrendered the citadel of the fortress. She was allowed to leave for Tripoli with all her family, followers, and possessions.

Death

Raymond died in Tripoli around September or October 1187, of pleurisy. He had appointed as his successor his godson Raymond of Antioch, but insisted that the county should be handed to any member of the family of the Counts of Toulouse who might in the future come to Palestine. Raymond of Antioch's father Bohemund III of Antioch installed his younger son Bohemund IV as count.

Contemporary descriptions

William of Tyre described Raymond as:

Among Muslim authors, Ibn al-Athir remarked that "Among the Franj of that time, there was no wiser or more courageous man than the lord of Tripoli." Ibn Jubair stated that he had "remarkable intelligence and astuteness."

Regarding his marriage to the widow Eschiva of Bures, William of Tyre wrote that he "loved her and her children as tenderly as though she had borne them all to him." Raymond and Eschiva had no children of their own.

Raymond in fiction, film and game

Raymond appears in a number of novels set in Outremer. He receives sympathetic treatment by Graham Shelby in The Knights of Dark Renown (1969). The children's book Knight Crusader (1954) by Ronald Welch is slightly ambivalent, while Susan Peek's Crusader King (2004), a proselytising children's novel about Baldwin IV, is downright hostile towards him, depicting him as the stereotypical 'wicked uncle', plotting against Baldwin, and in Saladin's pay.

A largely fictionalised version of Raymond, renamed the Count of Tiberias in order to avoid first-name confusion with Raynald and geographical confusion with Tripoli in Libya, is played by Jeremy Irons in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven, scripted by William Monahan. His role as Count of Tripoli plays no part in the movie and Raymond/Tiberias is simply 'Marshall' (sic) of Jerusalem. Irons is a good physical match with William of Tyre's description. An earlier draft of the script did mention Raymond by first name, and included his speech before Hattin begging the king not to go to the relief of Tiberias, although it was being held by his wife. His disputes with Raynald, Guy, and the so-called "court party" are depicted broadly in accordance with the historiographical tradition of M. W. Baldwin and Steven Runciman: Monahan seems to have been unaware of more recent scholarship; however, he is depicted as not taking part in the battle of Hattin, and leaves the kingdom with the intention of retiring to Cyprus, rather than returning home to die.

Raymond is also a general of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Medieval II: Total War, Crusade Campaign.

References

  1. ↑ Lewis 2017, pp. 13, 104.
  2. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 166.
  3. 1 2 3 Lewis 2017, p. 185.
  4. ↑ Runciman 1989, pp. 332-333.
  5. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 170.
  6. ↑ Barber 2012, p. 157.
  7. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 184.
  8. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 333.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Lewis 2017, p. 186.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lewis 2017, p. 187.
  11. ↑ Barber 2012, pp. 210-210.
  12. ↑ Barber 2012, p. 210.
  13. 1 2 Barber 2012, p. 211.
  14. ↑ Lock 2006, p. 54.
  15. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 188.
  16. ↑ Lewis 2017, pp. 188-189.
  17. 1 2 Barber 2012, p. 212.
  18. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 189.
  19. ↑ Lilie 1993, p. 183.
  20. 1 2 3 Lewis 2017, p. 197.
  21. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 198.
  22. ↑ Lewis 2017, pp. 200-201.
  23. 1 2 Lock 2006, p. 55.
  24. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 199.
  25. ↑ Lock 2006, p. 56.
  26. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 203.
  27. ↑ Barber & 2012]], p. 240.
  28. ↑ Barber 2012, p. 240.
  29. 1 2 3 Lewis 2017, p. 204.
  30. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 369.
  31. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 205.
  32. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 370.
  33. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 208.
  34. ↑ Lewis 2017, pp. 208-209.
  35. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 395.
  36. 1 2 3 Lewis 2017, p. 219.
  37. ↑ Lock 2006, p. 60.
  38. ↑ Lewis 2017, pp. 219, 221.
  39. ↑ Lewis 2017, pp. 220-221.
  40. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 221.
  41. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 220.
  42. 1 2 Hamilton 2000, p. 33.
  43. 1 2 3 Lewis 2017, p. 222.
  44. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 399.
  45. ↑ Runciman 1989, pp. 399, 404.
  46. 1 2 3 4 5 Lock 2006, p. 61.
  47. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 88.
  48. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 235.
  49. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 89.
  50. 1 2 3 Lewis 2017, p. 236.
  51. 1 2 Hamilton 2000, p. 93.
  52. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 237.
  53. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 95-96.
  54. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 95.
  55. 1 2 3 4 5 Lewis 2017, p. 239.
  56. 1 2 3 4 Hamilton 2000, p. 98.
  57. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 240.
  58. 1 2 3 4 5 Hamilton 2000, p. 99.
  59. 1 2 3 Lock 2006, p. 62.
  60. 1 2 3 4 Lewis 2017, p. 241.
  61. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 103.
  62. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 414.
  63. ↑ Lock 2006, p. 64.
  64. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 122-128.
  65. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 128.
  66. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 242.
  67. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 415.
  68. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 243.
  69. 1 2 Hamilton 2000, p. 132.
  70. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 132-133.
  71. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 134.
  72. 1 2 3 4 5 Lewis 2017, p. 244.
  73. 1 2 3 Hamilton 2000, p. 143.
  74. 1 2 Barber 2012, p. 273.
  75. 1 2 3 Barber 2012, p. 294.
  76. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 250.
  77. ↑ Runciman 1989, p. 404.
  78. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 147.
  79. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lewis 2017, p. 245.
  80. ↑ Barber 2012, p. 274.
  81. ↑ Barber 2012, pp. 274-275.
  82. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 150-154.
  83. 1 2 Hamilton 2000, p. 154.
  84. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 151-152.
  85. ↑ Lewis 2017, p. 247.
  86. 1 2 Barber 2012, p. 276.
  87. 1 2 Lewis 2017, p. 246.
  88. 1 2 3 4 Lewis 2017, p. 253.
  89. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 167-168.
  90. 1 2 Hamilton 2000, p. 172.
  91. 1 2 Barber 2012, p. 278.
  92. 1 2 3 4 Lewis 2017, p. 254.
  93. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 173.
  94. 1 2 3 Hamilton 2000, p. 174.
  95. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 179.
  96. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lewis 2017, p. 255.
  97. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 187-188.
  98. 1 2 3 Hamilton 2000, p. 188.
  99. 1 2 Barber 2012, p. 281.
  100. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 188-189.
  101. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 190.
  102. ↑ Barber 2012, pp. 281-282.
  103. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 192.
  104. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 192-193.
  105. 1 2 3 Barber 2012, p. 282.
  106. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 195.
  107. ↑ Barber 2012, p. 284.
  108. 1 2 3 Barber 2012, p. 285.
  109. ↑ Hamilton 2000, pp. 205-206.
  110. 1 2 Hamilton 2000, p. 206.
  111. ↑ Hamilton 2000, p. 204.
  112. ↑ Lock 2006, p. 69.
  113. 1 2 3 4 5 Lewis 2017, p. 256.
  114. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lock 2006, p. 70.
  115. 1 2 Hamilton 2000, p. 211.
  116. ↑ Barber 2012, p. 290.
  117. ↑ Barber 2012, pp. 290-291.
  118. 1 2 3 Hamilton 2000, p. 214.
  119. 1 2 Barber 2012, p. 293.
  120. 1 2 3 4 5 Hamilton 2000, p. 217.

Sources

  • Barber, Malcolm (2012). The Crusader States. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11312-9. 
  • Dunbabin, Jean (2000). France in the Making, 843-1180. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-820846-4. 
  • Hamilton, Bernard (2000). The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64187-6. 
  • Lewis, Kevin James (2017). The Counts of Tripoli and Lebanon in the Twelfth Century: Sons of Saint-Gilles. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-4724-5890-2. 
  • Lilie, Ralph-Johannes (1993). Byzantium and the Crusader States 1096-1204. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-820407-8. 
  • Lock, Peter (2006). The Routledge Companion to the Crusades. Routledge. ISBN 9-78-0-415-39312-6. 
  • Runciman, Steven (1989). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-06163-6. 

Further reading

  • Baldwin, Marshall W. (1936). Raymond III of Tripolis and the Fall of Jerusalem (1140-1187). Princeton University Press. 
  • Richard, Jean (1945). Le comté de Tripoli sous la dynastie toulousaine (1102-1187) [The County of Tripoli under the Dynastie of Toulouse] (in French). P. Geuthner. ISSN 0768-2506. 
Raymond III, Count of Tripoli
Born: 1140 Died: 1187
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Raymond III		 Count of Tripoli
1137–1152 		Succeeded by
Raymond IV
Preceded by
Walter of Saint Omer		 Prince of Galilee
1174–1187 		Succeeded by
Hugh II of Saint Omer
as titular prince
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.