Pons, Count of Tripoli

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Pons
Catholicism

Pons (c. 1098 – 25 March 1137) was count of Tripoli from 1112 to 1137. He was a minor when his father, Bertrand, died in 1112. He swore fealty to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in the presence of a Byzantine embassy. His advisors sent him to Antioch to be educated in the court of Tancred of Antioch, ending the hostilities between the two crusader states. Tancred granted four important fortresses to Pons in the Principality of Antioch. Since Pons held his inherited lands in fief of the kings of Jerusalem, Tancred's grant strengthened the autonomy of the County of Tripoli. On his deathbed, Tancred also arranged the marriage of his wife, Cecile of France, to Pons.

Pons closely cooperated with Tancred's successor,

Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg of Mosul
, with Fulk's assistance.

Bazwāj, the mamluk (slave) commander of Damascus, invaded Tripoli in a battle in March 1137. Bazwāj defeated Pons, forcing him to flee to the mountains where native Christians captured Pons. His captors handed him over to Bazwāj who had him killed. The County of Tripoli developed into a fully independent crusader state during Pons' reign.

Early life

Pons' father,

English chronicler Orderic Vitalis stated that Helie of Burgundy (a daughter of Odo I, Duke of Burgundy) was his mother. William of Malmesbury, however, wrote that Pons had been born to an unnamed niece of the powerful Matilda of Tuscany.[3] The year of Pons' birth is also uncertain.[4] The contemporaneous Muslim author, Ibn al-Qalanisi, noted that Pons was a "small boy" when his father died in early 1112.[4] William of Malmesbury and William of Tyre wrote that Pons had been an "adolescent" when he succeeded his father.[4] According to historian Kevin James Lewis, available information suggests Pons was born around 1098.[4]

Pons' grandfather, Raymond IV, was the first prominent nobleman to join the

Lower Lorraine, Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne (or Baldwin I).[10]

Raymond IV laid siege to Tripoli—an important economic and cultural center on the northern border of the Fatimid Caliphate—with Byzantine support in May 1103.[11][12] Although he adopted the title of count of Tripoli and took control of the nearby villages, he died on 28 February 1105 without conquering the town.[13] Raymond's troops continued the siege, but his infant son, Alfonso Jordan, was taken back to the County of Toulouse.[14] Pons' father, Bertrand, renounced Toulouse in favor of Alfonso Jordan for unknown reasons in the summer of 1108.[15][16] He soon sailed to Syria to claim the lands his father had conquered around Tripoli.[15][17] He swore allegiance to Baldwin I of Jerusalem to secure his support and the united armies of the crusader states captured Tripoli on 12 July 1109.[18][19] Pons most probably had accompanied his father from Toulouse to Syria.[4] He signed one of Bertrand's charters issued in Tripoli in 1110 or 1111.[4]

Reign

Minority

A ruined tower made of stone
Fortress of Safita, granted to Pons by Tancred of Antioch

Pons was a minor when his father died on 3 February 1112.

Anna Comnena recorded that Bishop Albert of Tripoli wanted to keep the money that a Byzantine embassy had deposited with Pons' father and himself.[22] Lewis says, the dispute is evidence the bishop exerted a strong influence on the government during Pons' minority.[23] The money was returned to the Byzantines only after they had threatened to impose a blockade on Tripoli.[23][24] Pons could only keep the gold and other valuable objects explicitly promised to his father as personal gifts.[25] The Byzantines also persuaded Pons to swear fealty to Alexios I Komnenos as his grandfather and father had done.[26][27]

His "guardians and lords" concluded an agreement with Tancred of Antioch, making Pons "one of Tancred's knights", according to Ibn al-Qalanisi.[4] Historian Jean Richard associated the "guardians and lords" with the most influential noblemen of the County of Tripoli who ruled the county on the minor count's behalf.[28] Their decision helped to reconcile Antioch's Norman and Tripoli's Occitan crusaders, who had fallen out during the Siege of Antioch.[29][30] The conflict with the Byzantines also contributed to the rapprochement between Tripoli and Antioch.[26]

Tancred granted Tortosa (now

crusader state.[33] He died in December 1112, but only after ordering his wife, Cecile of France, be engaged to Pons.[32][34] William of Malmesbury wrote that the dying prince arranged the marriage because he was convinced that Pons would be a successful military leader.[32]

Pons remained in Antioch during the first months or years of the rule of Tancred's successor,

His army was defeated on 28 June.[4][37] Pons accompanied Roger during the campaign and they sharply criticized Baldwin for his impatience after their arrival.[4]

Cooperation

defeated Bursuq on 14 September.[41][42]

Latin patriarch of Antioch, convinced Roger to again seek help from Baldwin II and Pons.[43][44] However, Roger could not wait until their arrival. He launched a counter-attack against Ilghazi leading his principality's whole army.[45][46] Roger died fighting and his army was annihilated on 28 June.[47][48] Ilghazi tried to prevent Baldwin and Pons from reaching Antioch, but Baldwin entered the town without resistance. Pons, who arrived a day later, warded off Ilghazi's attack in early August.[49] Baldwin was acknowledged as the ruler of Antioch until its absent prince, Bohemond II, came of age.[50][51]

Conflicts and alliances

Baldwin's acquisition of Antioch made him the most powerful monarch of the crusader states which annoyed Pons.[52] Neither Pons nor the bishops of his county attended the synod which was held on 23 January 1120 at Nablus, although all prelates and secular lords of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were present at the assembly.[53] He openly refused obedience to the king in early 1122.[54][55] Baldwin mustered his army and marched towards Tripoli, taking the True Cross from Jerusalem with him.[54] According to Fulcher of Chartres' report, to avoid an armed conflict, the two rulers' vassals mediated a reconciliation, making Baldwin and Pons "friends".[56]

laid siege to the town on 16 February 1124.[60]

The Jerusalemite nobles sent envoys to Pons, urging him to join the siege.

Joscelin I of Edessa who had brought the severed head of Balak (Baldwin's captor) to the crusaders' camp.[62] After the capture of Tyre on 7 July,[60] Pons' banner was one of the three flags erected over the town's towers.[64] Balak's relative, Timurtash, released Baldwin II in return for 80,000 dinars and Antiochene fortresses on 29 July, but the Antiochene lords prevented Baldwin from ceding the fortresses to him.[60]

Pons' activities in the late 1120s and early 1130s are poorly documented.

Rafaniya (an important castle once held by Pons' grandfather, but lost to Toghtekin in 1115).[68][69] They besieged the fortress for 18 days and captured it on 31 March 1126.[70][71] Pons also participated in an unsuccessful campaign against Damascus in November 1129.[72]

Sedition

crusader states
in 1135

Relationships between the crusader states became tense after Baldwin II died on 21 August 1131.

Joscelin II of Edessa in the summer of 1132.[75][76] According to William of Tyre, Alice bribed Pons into the alliance.[77] The Antiochene lords who opposed Alice asked King Fulk to intervene, but Pons refused the king passage through Tripoli. Fulk was forced to avoid the county and travel by sea to the Antiochene port of Saint Symeon (now Samandağ in Turkey).[78][79]

Pons hurried to Antioch and launched a series of attacks against Fulk and his allies from the Antiochene fortresses Arcicanum and Rugia (two castles forming his wife's dowry).[80] Fulk attacked Pons near Rugia in late 1132.[81] Pons suffered a heavy defeat. Although many of his retainers were captured on the battlefield, he was able to flee.[81][82] His soldiers were taken in chains to Antioch where they were either imprisoned or executed.[81] Pons lost Arcicanum and Rugia, but Fulk did not restore the suzerainty of the kings of Jerusalem over Tripoli.[83]

Last years

Pons renounced the estates he held in the

Nizari strengthened their hold on the mountainous region along the northern border of the county in the 1130s.[86]

Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg (governor) of Mosul, invaded the County of Tripoli, plundering the capital and the neighboring region in 1133.[87] Pons wanted to stop the invaders near Rafaniya, but his army was almost annihilated.[87] After this catastrophic defeat, he fled first to Montferrand, and soon to Tripoli, while Zengi laid siege to the fort of Montferrand.[88] Pons sought Fulk's assistance and the arrival of the Jerusalemite army forced Zengi to lift the siege and to withdraw his troops from the county.[82][89]

In March 1137, Bazwāj, the

Pilgrims' Mount near the town.[90] Pons rode out of Tripoli to meet the enemy, but suffered a defeat.[90] He fled to the nearby mountains, but local Christians—according to Lewis, most probably Jacobites or Nestorians—captured and handed him over to Bazwāj who had him killed on 25 March 1137.[91][92] His son, Raymund, who inherited the County of Tripoli, and his retainers captured the local Christians from the nearby villages and had most of them tortured to death in revenge for Pons death.[93]

Family

According to

Bertrade de Montfort, she was the half-sister of Fulk of Jerusalem.[95] Pons' prestigious marriage strengthened his position and his descendants' royal ancestry was a well-known fact in the crusader states for decades.[32] The eldest son of Pons and Cecile, Raymund, was most probably born in the late 1110s, because he was an "adolescent"—at least fifteen-year-old—when he succeeded Pons in 1137.[96] Pons' younger son, Philip, was last mentioned in the 1140s, but the details of his life are unknown.[97] Agnes, the only daughter of Pons and Cecile, was married to Rainald II Masoir who was a prominent Antiochene nobleman.[98]

References

  1. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 26, 28, 73.
  2. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 61.
  3. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 73.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis 2017, p. 76.
  5. ^ Lock 2006, p. 20.
  6. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 18.
  7. ^ Lilie 1993, pp. 66–67.
  8. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 19.
  9. ^ Lilie 1993, p. 68.
  10. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 18–19, 64–66.
  11. ^ Lock 2006, p. 27.
  12. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 21–23.
  13. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 22, 25.
  14. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 26.
  15. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 65.
  16. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 34.
  17. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 35, 37.
  18. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 49–50.
  19. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 91–19.
  20. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 72, 76.
  21. ^ Lock 2006, p. 31.
  22. ^ Lilie 1993, pp. 87–88.
  23. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 78.
  24. ^ Lilie 1993, p. 88.
  25. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 137–138.
  26. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 81.
  27. ^ Lilie 1993, pp. 68, 88.
  28. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 77–78.
  29. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 124–125.
  30. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 80–81.
  31. ^ Barber 2012, p. 102.
  32. ^ a b c d e Lewis 2017, p. 82.
  33. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 82–83.
  34. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 125.
  35. ^ a b c Lewis 2017, p. 77.
  36. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 76–77.
  37. ^ Lock 2006, p. 32.
  38. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 84.
  39. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 131.
  40. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 132.
  41. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 132–133.
  42. ^ Lock 2006, p. 33.
  43. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 148.
  44. ^ Barber 2012, p. 122.
  45. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 149.
  46. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 122–123.
  47. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 149–150.
  48. ^ Barber 2012, p. 123.
  49. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 152.
  50. ^ Barber 2012, p. 125.
  51. ^ Lock 2006, p. 34.
  52. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 94.
  53. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 92–93.
  54. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 93.
  55. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 160.
  56. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 93, 96.
  57. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 161–162.
  58. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 97.
  59. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 166–167.
  60. ^ a b c d Lock 2006, p. 37.
  61. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 167–168.
  62. ^ a b c d e Lewis 2017, p. 98.
  63. ^ Barber 2012, p. 141.
  64. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 96.
  65. ^ a b c Lewis 2017, p. 100.
  66. ^ Barber 2012, p. 142.
  67. ^ Barber 2012, p. 143.
  68. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 100–101.
  69. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 174.
  70. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 101.
  71. ^ Lock 2006, p. 38.
  72. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 101–102.
  73. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 102–103.
  74. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 102.
  75. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 103.
  76. ^ Barber 2012, p. 152.
  77. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 104.
  78. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 105–106.
  79. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 152–153.
  80. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 107–108.
  81. ^ a b c Lewis 2017, p. 108.
  82. ^ a b Lock 2006, p. 41.
  83. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 108, 112.
  84. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 79–80, 117.
  85. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 116.
  86. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 114–115.
  87. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 112.
  88. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 112–113.
  89. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 113.
  90. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 117.
  91. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 43, 134.
  92. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 202.
  93. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 134.
  94. ^ Barber 2012, p. 103.
  95. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 113.
  96. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 130.
  97. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 109, 183.
  98. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 109.

Sources

  • Barber, Malcolm (2012). The Crusader States.
    ISBN 978-0-300-11312-9
    .
  • Lewis, Kevin James (2017). The Counts of Tripoli and Lebanon in the Twelfth Century: Sons of Saint-Gilles.
    ISBN 978-1-4724-5890-2
    .
  • ISBN 0-19-820407-8
    .
  • Lock, Peter (2006). The Routledge Companion to the Crusades. Routledge.
    ISBN 9-78-0-415-39312-6
    .
  • ISBN 0-521-06163-6
    .

Further reading

Pons, Count of Tripoli
Born: c. 1098 Died: 25 March 1137
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Bertrand
 Count of Tripoli
1112–1137 		Succeeded by
Raymond II
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pons,_Count_of_Tripoli&oldid=1185616314"