Bohemond IV

Who he is

Name

Bohemond IV

Title

Count of Tripoli; claimant to Antioch

Since

late 1187 (Wikipedia) or 1189 (FMG)

Born

about 1172 (French Wikipedia) or about 1175 (English Wikipedia)

Family

Younger son of Bohemond III and Orgueilleuse of Harenc; married Plaisance Embriaco of Gibelet

Confidence

high

In late 1198 he came to Antioch, denounced the oath sworn to Raymond-Roupen, won the military orders and the Italian merchants with promised grants and had the commune release its oath to his father and accept him; Leo restored Bohemond III within about three months and Bohemond returned to Tripoli. His charters of 21 August 1198, 6 May 1199 and 26 August 1199 are witnessed by Raymond and Bertrand of Gibelet, Guy of Gibelet and Plebanus of Botron (FMG). Constable of Tripoli on 1 January 1200: not pinned (Raymond of Gibelet was constable in 1181; 'Guido de Ham' witnesses as constable in December 1204, and FMG's Besmedin entry names a Gerard of Ham as constable without a date).

Overlord

None in practice; heir-claimant to his father's Antioch.

What it holds

• Tripoli: the city, its port, tolls and the castle of Mount Pilgrim
• The plain of Tripoli, the Koura and the Zgharta hills (villages and gardens)
• The Akkar plain with Arqa (whether Arqa is comital domain in 1200 is not pinned)
• The High Court of Tripoli and the overlordship of Gibelet, Botron, Nephin, Gibelcar and Besmedin
• Claim to the succession of Antioch

How it was acquired

Sent by his father to take up Raymond III's bequest in late 1187; accepted by the Tripolitan vassals.

Allies and rivals

Allies: the Embriaci, the Templars, the commune of Antioch, the Genoese and Pisans (1198), the Hospitallers in 1198 (later estranged). Rivals: Leo of Armenia, Raymond-Roupen's barons. Al-Zahir of Aleppo becomes his ally in 1201.

How things stand that morning

In Tripoli (not pinned) after the failure of his Antiochene coup; he holds the county firmly and keeps the commune of Antioch's goodwill.

Wealth

Tripoli's port dues and markets, the city's crafts, the plain's sugar and gardens, the mint (gold bezants and deniers). No figures.

Military

Household knights, the vassals' service, Turcopoles; the walls of Tripoli and Mount Pilgrim. He can call on the Templars of Tortosa.

Threats

• Leo of Armenia
• Vassal quarrels (Nephin, 1203-1205, later)
• The Muslim frontier if the truce lapses

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)Takes Antioch on his father's death with the commune's support.Depends on: Bohemond III's death. Stopped by: Leo taking the city first.

Places of note

• Mount Pilgrim (Qal'at Sanjil): The count's castle above Tripoli.

Where the sources disagree

• Birth about 1172 or about 1175; accession 1187 or 1189 (see Tripoli).

Evidence: Count, marriage, coup and charters of 1198-1199 are attested; his household offices in 1200 are not pinned.

On the map: The count's domain and his vassals' fiefs round Tripoli are not separable in detail.

Primary sources for Tripoli

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 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
• 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 for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• General Cartulary of the Order of the Hospital, Various, edited by Joseph Delaville Le Roulx (documents 1100 to 1310; published in 4 vols, Paris, 1894 to 1906). Volume 1 (1100 to 1200) and volume 2 (1201 to 1260) print in full the Hospital's charters: royal and baronial grants in Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch and Cilicia, papal bulls, the order's European priories and its agreements with the Temple and the Italians. Read online
• The Rule of the Templars: the Latin Rule, the French Rule and the hierarchical statutes, Anonymous (the Council of Troyes and the order's chapter) (Latin rule 1129; French translation about 1140; hierarchical statutes (retrais) about 1165; further statutes to about 1260). Not a chronicle but the constitution of the Temple as it stood in 1200: the hierarchical statutes describe the master, seneschal, marshal and the commanders of Jerusalem, Tripoli and Antioch, the drawing up of the line of battle, the convent's discipline and the horses, squires and tents allowed to each rank. Read online
• The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, Benjamin of Tudela (about 1173). A generation before 1200 but the only survey of its kind: the Jewish communities and their heads from Navarre through Provence, Italy, Constantinople and the Aegean, Antioch, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, Mosul and Baghdad to the Persian Gulf, with notes on rulers, trades, the exilarch at Baghdad, the Assassins of Syria and Persia, and hearsay on India, Ceylon and China. Read online