Raymond II, Count of Tripoli

Raymond II (

Since his army proved unable to secure the defence of the eastern borders of his county, Raymond granted several forts to the Knights Hospitaller in 1142. The sudden death of his father's uncle, Alfonso Jordan, Count of Toulouse, during the Second Crusade gave rise to gossips which suggested that Raymond had poisoned him, because Alfonso Jordan had allegedly wanted to lay claim to Tripoli. Alfonso Jordan's illegitimate son, Bertrand of Toulouse, actually seized the fortress of Areimeh in the County of Tripoli in 1149, but Raymond recaptured it with the assistance of Muslim rulers. Raymond ceded the castle to the Knights Templar.

The marriage of Raymond and his wife,

He was the elder son of Pons, Count of Tripoli and Cecile of France.^[1] The date of his birth is unknown, but William of Tyre noted that Raymond was "adolescent" when his father died, implying that he was at least fifteen in 1137.^[2] He and his younger brother, Philip, were mature enough to sign their father's charters in the early 1130s.^[3] Historian Kevin J. Lewis argues that Raymond "could easily have been in his early twenties" in 1137, suggesting that he was born around 1116.^[2] Lewis also states that Raymond was most probably betrothed to Hodierna, who was a younger daughter of Baldwin II of Jerusalem, "as early as 1127".^[4]

Reign

War with Muslim powers

Bazwāj, the mamluk (or slave) commander of Damascus made a raid against Tripoli and defeated Pons in a battle.^[5][6] Pons fled from the battlefield, but native Christians captured and handed him over to Bazwāj who had him executed on 25 March 1137.^[5] Bazwāj captured a frontier fort, but returned to Damascus without attacking Tripoli.^[7] To take vengeance for his father's death, Raymond invaded the local Christians' settlements in the Mount Lebanon area and captured many of them.^[8][9] The captured men, women and children were taken to Tripoli where the majority was tortured and executed.^[8] William of Tyre remarked that Raymond's campaign against the local Christians provided "the first lessons of his martial courage".^[10]

After learning of Pons' death, Zengi invaded Tripoli in July 1137.^[10] A Muslim historian, Kamal al-Din, would later claim that Zengi attacked Tripoli only after Raymond mustered his troops to force Zengi to lift the siege of Homs.^[10] Lewis emphasizes that Kamal al-Din's report is doubtful, because Bazwāj had almost annihilated the army of Tripoli, preventing Raymond from launching major campaigns.^[10] After Zengi laid siege to Montferrand,^[11] Raymond sent envoys to his maternal uncle, Fulk, King of Jerusalem, urging him to hurry to the besieged fortress.^[12] Shortly after Fulk and his army crossed the frontier of the County of Tripoli, the envoys of Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, informed him that the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos had invaded Antioch.^[12]

Fulk and Raymond of Tripoli decided to launch an assault on Zengi's forces before marching to Antioch, because they thought they could easily defeat the atabeg.

Raymond was a great-grandson of

Alfonso-Jordan was one of the supreme commanders of the Second Crusade, but he died shortly after he landed at the Holy Land in April 1148.^[26][27] Because of his unexpected death, gossip about his murder started spreading among the Crusaders,^[28] although he most probably died of natural causes, as a consequence of his lengthy voyage across the Mediterranean Sea.^[29][30] An anonymous Syrian chronicler accused Raymond of the crime, stating that he poisoned Alfonso-Jordan because he feared that his uncle had come to seize Tripoli.^[26] Lewis emphasizes, the chronicle "is hardly the most reliable piece of evidence, so some skepticism about Raymond's involvement in Alfons's death is surely advisible".^[26] Another contemporaneous author—the continuator of Sigebert of Gembloux's chronicle—was convinced that Raymond's sister-in-law, Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem, had poisoned Alfons-Jordan, because she wanted to prevent him from claiming Tripoli.^[31]

Raymond did not attend the assembly of the leaders of the crusade at

A Fatimid fleet pillaged Tripoli during a plundering raid against the coastal towns in the summer of 1151.^[41][42] The Egyptians destroyed ships and killed or captured hundreds of people in the harbor.^[41][42] In December, Crusader troops invaded the Beqaa Valley, seizing prisoners and booty during their campaign before the Muslim governor of Baalbek routed them.^[43] Nur ad-Din broke into the county in April or May 1152 and captured Tortosa, leaving a garrison there.^[40][43] Baldwin III came to Tripoli and held a "general court", attended by the leading barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli.^[40][43] After the king's arrival, the Nur ad-Din's troops left Tortosa, but they destroyed the fortress.^[43] Since its restoration proved costly, Raymond ceded Tortosa first to the local bishop, then to the Templars who transformed it into one of their most important headquarters.^[44]

An "enmity born from marital jealousy" had meanwhile emerged between Raymond and his wife, according to William of Tyre.

The exact date of the marriage of Raymond and Hodierna is unknown.[4] According to historian Peter Lock, it took place in the spring of 1133, after her brother-in-law, Fulk of Jerusalem, provided military assistance to Raymond's father against Zengi.^[52] Raymond and Hodierna's son, Raymond III, was born only in 1140, thus he was still a minor when he succeeded his father in 1152.^[53] Raymond and Hodierna's daughter, Melisende, was famed for her beauty, but her delicate health and rumours about her mother's possible infidelity prevented her marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.^[54]

References

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