Barons and castellans · Principality of Antioch · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Antiochene barons

The Antiochene baronage in 1200 is a nobility without most of its castles: the inland lordships fell to Saladin or Aleppo, and the families live in Antioch on money fiefs and the villages of the plain.

As a body they swore in 1198 to accept Raymond-Roupen as Bohemond III's heir, and many of them will go into exile in Cilicia for him in 1201. They stand against the commune's candidate, Bohemond of Tripoli.

Who he is

Name
Named in the 1190s: Bartholomew Tirel, marshal (1194); Richard of L'Erminet (1194). Others not pinned for 1200
Title
The barons and knights of the principality (a group, not one lord)
Confidence
low

At the legate Conrad of Wittelsbach's demand (1198), Bohemond III summoned the Antiochene nobles, who swore fealty to Raymond-Roupen (Wikipedia, Bohemond III; Setton, p. 679). On Bohemond III's death in April 1201 many nobles loyal to Raymond-Roupen flee to Cilicia. Most of the old baronial lordships (Saone, Harim, Sarmin, Bourzey, Margat) were lost by 1188 or sold (Margat to the Hospitallers, 1186); the families live on money fiefs and village grants in the plain of Antioch.

The Sarmin family is an example: Acharie of Sarmin is seneschal and mayor of the commune in 1216. Individual holdings on 1 January 1200 are not pinned.

Overlord

Bohemond III

What it holds

  • Money fiefs and villages in the plain of Antioch (not pinned)
  • Titles to lost lordships (Saone, Harim, Sarmin, Bourzey and others)

How it was acquired

Hereditary fiefs of the principality; most lost in 1164-1188.

Allies and rivals

Bound by oath to Raymond-Roupen and so to Leo; opposed to Bohemond of Tripoli and wary of the commune.

How things stand that morning

In Antioch at Bohemond III's court, sworn to his grandson.

Wealth

Money fiefs and village revenues; no figures.

Military

The knight service of the principality; no figures.

Threats

  • Confiscation if Bohemond of Tripoli wins

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. April 1201 (later)Many flee to Cilicia when the commune accepts Bohemond IV.Depends on: Bohemond III's death. Stopped by: A settlement or Raymond-Roupen's party taking the city.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The barons appear as a group in the narrative sources; individual names for 1200 were not found in the sources read.

On the map: Not drawn: their villages lie inside the princely domain's outline.

Primary sources for Antioch

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • The Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer, Ernoul, squire of Balian of Ibelin, and later compilers (the 1187 core soon after the event; the whole in its present form 1227 to 1232). The Ibelin household's version of events in Outremer. Read online
  • The Cream of the History of Aleppo, Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Adim (about 1240 to 1260). The annals of Aleppo. Read online
  • The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (Eracles), Anonymous continuators, the earliest drawing on Ernoul (about 1220 to 1277; the first continuation (1184 to 1197, the Lyon Eracles) compiled about 1230 from material of the 1190s). For the Latin East at 1200 it narrates the aftermath of the Third Crusade: the truce of 1192, the succession to Jerusalem through Queen Isabella's marriages to Henry of Champagne (died September 1197) and Aimery of Lusignan, Aimery's rule as king of Jerusalem from 1198 while king of Cyprus, the German crusade of 1197 to 1198 and the recovery of Beirut and Sidon, the truce with al-Adil of 1198, the Antioch succession quarrel between Bohemond IV and Leo of Armenia, and the Pisan plot against Aimery. Read online
  • The Anonymous Syriac Chronicle to 1234, Anonymous (a Syrian Orthodox writer, probably of Edessa) (about 1234 to 1240). An Edessene chronicle independent of Michael the Syrian in its later part, with a secular section reaching 1234 that gives the Jazira, Edessa, Harran, Mardin and Melitene about 1200 under al-Adil's sons and the Artuqids, the Seljuks of Rum, the Armenians of Cilicia and the Franks of Antioch, and a church section to 1207 on the Jacobite succession after Michael's death in 1199. Read online
  • The Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (Michael the Great), Michael the Syrian, patriarch of Antioch 1166 to 1199 (about 1180 to 1195). The Jacobite patriarch's world chronicle, in parallel columns of church, secular and miscellaneous events, ending four years before 1200 and shortly before his own death on 7 November 1199, which left the Syrian Orthodox church with a disputed succession in 1200. Read online
  • The Chronicle of Smbat Sparapet (Sempad the Constable), Smbat Sparapet, brother of King Hetum I of Cilicia (about 1270 to 1276). The Cilician court chronicle, drawing on Matthew of Edessa for its early part and on family memory later. Read online
  • Calendar of the Acts of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Various, calendared by Reinhold Rohricht (documents 1097 to 1291; calendar published 1893, Additamentum 1904). A chronological calendar of every charter, letter and treaty of the Latin East then known, with date, parties, witnesses and the edition where each is printed. Read online
  • The Registers of Pope Innocent III (pontifical years 1 to 3, 1198 to 1201), Innocent III (Lotario dei Conti di Segni) and the papal chancery (1198 onwards, year by year). The register for the second and third pontifical years (February 1199 to February 1201) holds the letters that set the eastern stage for 1200: the exchange with Kaloyan of Bulgaria opened in December 1199 and continued through 1200 over union with Rome and a crown, letters to Vukan of Zeta and to Stefan of Serbia, letters to Alexios III and the patriarch John Kamateros pressing for church union and help for the crusade, the preaching commissions and the legation of Peter Capuano, the Antioch succession quarrel between Bohemond and Leo of Armenia, letters to Aimery of Cyprus and Jerusalem, and the French interdict over Ingeborg. Read online

4 more in the sources library for The Latin East and the Ayyubids.

Sources and studies

  1. Bohemond III of Antioch (English Wikipedia)
  2. K. M. Setton (ed.), A History of the Crusades, vol. II (Wisconsin, 1969), pp. 554-562 (the principality of Antioch and the county of Tripoli, 1192-1243) and 676-679 (Cilician Armenia), read through the archive.org full text
  3. Raymond-Roupen (English Wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.