Gibelet

Who he is

Name

Guy I Embriaco (Guido di Gibelletto)

Title

Lord of Gibelet

Since

1197, when Gibelet returned to Frankish hands

Born

about 1180

Family

Embriaci of Genoa: son of Hugh III Embriaco (died 1196) and Stephanie of Milly (living after 1197); brother of Plaisance, wife of Bohemond IV

Confidence

high

Hugh III was captured at Hattin and gave Gibelet to Saladin in 1187 as the price of his release. Ernoul records the town being given back to Stephanie of Milly in 1197 (FMG), and Wikipedia has Guy take part through his mother in the crusade of 1197 to recover it. Guy appears as 'Guido Biblii' in a charter of 26 August 1199. In December 1204 he marries Alice, Bohemond III's daughter, and receives property from Bohemond IV; on 1 January 1200 he is unmarried.

Kin in the county: Raymond of Gibelet, constable of Tripoli in 1181, and his brother Bertrand witness the count's charters of 1198 and 1199 (FMG, which also styles Bertrand lord of Gibelet in 1193, a point not reconciled here); the cadet line of Besmedin (Hugh of Gibelet, died 1220 or after).

Overlord

Bohemond IV, count of Tripoli. The Embriaci first held Gibelet from the commune of Genoa and the church of San Lorenzo for an annual payment; by 1200 they hold it as a hereditary fief of the county, and Genoa's claims are not pinned for 1200.

What it holds

• Gibelet: the castle, the walled town and the small harbour
• The coastal plain from the Nahr Ibrahim to the Nahr al-Madfun, with its villages (casalia)
• The hill country inland towards Afqa and the Jebbet (extent not pinned)

How it was acquired

Held by the Embriaci since the early twelfth century; ceded to Saladin in 1187; returned in 1197.

Allies and rivals

Bohemond IV (brother-in-law); the Genoese. Rivals not pinned for 1200.

How things stand that morning

Held by Guy, in the count's allegiance. The lordship of Beirut (kingdom of Jerusalem, recovered October 1197) lies to the south.

Wealth

Port dues, the coastal farms and gardens, the hill villages. No figures.

Military

The castle of Gibelet (built in the twelfth century of local limestone and reused Roman stone) and the town walls. Saladin partly dismantled the walls in 1190; the Franks rebuilt the castle's defences after the recovery of 1197 (Wikipedia, Byblos Castle). Knight service to the count.

Threats

• Recent Ayyubid occupation (1187-1197) and a frontier only two years old
• Genoese claims

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. December 1204 (later)Guy marries Alice of Antioch, Bohemond III's daughter, and receives property from Bohemond IV.Depends on: Bohemond IV's favour. Stopped by: A break between the Embriaci and the count.

Places of note

• Castle of Gibelet: The Embriaci's castle by the harbour.

Where the sources disagree

• FMG styles Bertrand Embriaco lord of Gibelet in 1193, while Wikipedia gives Guy I as lord from 1197 after the Ayyubid occupation; Guy is followed for 1 January 1200.
• Gibelet passed to Saladin as Hugh III's ransom in 1187 (Wikipedia, Guy I Embriaco) or was captured in 1188 (Wikipedia, Byblos Castle); either way it was Ayyubid until 1197.

Evidence: Guy's lordship and family are well attested; the details of the 1197 recovery and the extent of the hill lands are not.

On the map: The southern edge against Beirut and the inland reach are approximate.

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