War of the Antiochene Succession | |||||||||
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Kingdom of Cilicia, Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli in the early 13th century | |||||||||
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The War of the Antiochene Succession, also known as the Antiochene War of Succession, comprised a series of armed conflicts in northern Syria between 1201 and 1219, connected to the disputed succession of Bohemond III of Antioch. The Principality of Antioch was the leading Christian power in the region during the last decades of the 12th century, but Armenian Cilicia challenged its supremacy. The capture of an important fortress, Bagras, in Syria by Leo II of Cilicia gave rise to a prolonged conflict already in the early 1190s. Leo tried to capture Antioch, but the Greek and Latin burghers formed a commune and prevented the Armenian soldiers from occupying the town. Bohemond III's eldest son, Raymond, died in 1197, leaving an infant son, Raymond-Roupen. The boy's mother, Alice of Armenia, was Leo I's niece and heir presumptive. Bohemond III and the Antiochene noblemen confirmed Raymond-Roupen's right to succeed his grandfather in Antioch, but the commune preferred Bohemond III's younger son (Raymond-Roupen's uncle), Bohemond, Count of Tripoli.
Bohemond of Tripoli seized Antioch without resistance after his father died in April 1201, but many noblemen left the principality to seek refuge in Cilicia. Leo invaded the Principality of Antioch in almost every year between 1201 and 1208, but he had to return to his kingdom on each occasion because Az-Zahir Ghazi, the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo, or Kaykaus I, the Seljuq sultan of Rum stormed into Cilicia in his absence. Pope Innocent III initially supported Leo. However, the conflict between Leo and the Knights Templar over Bagras led to Leo's excommunication in 1208. During the following years, Leo captured new fortresses in Syria, abandoning them in 1213 as part of an effort to improve his relationship with the Holy See. Taking advantage of Bohemond IV's isolation, Leo entered Antioch, helping Raymond-Roupen seize the principality in 1216. Before long, Leo abandoned Bagras and lost the Armenian fortresses to the north of the Taurus Mountains to the Seljuqs. Raymond-Roupen increased taxes, which made him unpopular in Antioch. His relationship with Leo also became tense, enabling Bohemond IV to regain Antioch in 1219. The war contributed to the weakening of the Christian states in Northern Syria.
After Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Syria and Egypt (r. 1174–1193), destroyed the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the late 1180s, the Principality of Antioch became the leading Christian power of Northern Syria. [1] By 1186 Leo II, Lord of Armenian Cilicia (r. 1187–1219), had already acknowledged the suzerainty of Bohemond III of Antioch (r. 1163–1201), [2] but their relationship became tense after Bohemond borrowed money from Leo but failed to repay it. [2]
In 1191 Leo captured and rebuilt Bagras, a strategically important fortress that Saladin had seized from the Knights Templar and then destroyed before abandoning it. [2] [3] Bohemond ordered Leo to return it to the Templars, but Leo refused, stating that his right of recent conquest was stronger that the claim of the Templars who had lost their property. [2] [3] [4] After Bohemond failed to include Cilicia in his truce with Saladin in 1192, Leo invited him to Bagras to start negotiations. [2] [5] Bohemond accepted the offer, but Leo had him captured, forcing him to surrender Antioch. [2] [3] [6] Although the noblemen (who were closely related to Armenian nobles) were willing to accept Leo's rule, the mainly Greek and Latin townspeople formed a commune and prevented the Armenian soldiers from occupying Antioch. [6] [7]
Peace was restored with the mediation of Henry I of Jerusalem (r. 1192–1197), who persuaded both Leo and Bohemond to renounce their claims to suzerainty over each other. [8] Leo's occupation of Bagras was confirmed. [8] Bohemond's eldest son, Raymond (d. 1197), married Leo's niece and heir presumptive, Alice (d. after 1234). [8] [9] Raymond died prematurely, and his widow give birth to a posthumous son, Raymond-Roupen (d. c. 1220). [10] [5] The almost sixty-year-old Bohemond III sent Alice and her son to Armenia, showing that he did not want to acknowledge his infant grandson's right to succeed him in Antioch. [6] [10]
Leo had meanwhile united the Armenian Church in Cilicia with Rome and acknowledged the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI (r. 1191–1197). [11] [12] The emperor's envoy, Conrad of Wittelsbach (d. 1200), Archbishop of Mainz, was present when Leo was crowned the first king of Armenian Cilicia on 6 January 1198. [11] [12] Before long, Conrad went to Antioch and persuaded Bohemond and his barons to swear an oath to accept Raymund-Roupen's right to inherit Antioch. [9] [10]
Bohemond III's younger son (Raymund-Roupen's uncle), Bohemond, Count of Tripoli (r. 1187–1233), disputed the validity of their oath. [13] He expelled his father from Antioch with the support of the Templars, the Hospitallers and the commune of the burghers in late 1198. [13] [14] Three months later Leo invaded the Principality of Antioch, forcing the younger Bohemond to allow his father to return to Antioch. [14] Pope Innocent III (r. 1198–1216) also supported the restoration of Bohemond III in Antioch, but, responding to the Templars' demand, he also began urging Leo to restore Bagras to them. [13]
When Bohemond III died in April, [13] Bohemond of Tripoli hurried to Antioch, [15] [16] where, because he was the late prince's closest living relative, he was recognized by the commune of the townspeople as his father's rightful heir. [15] The nobles who had regarded Raymond-Roupen (the only son of Bohemond III's eldest son) the lawful prince, fled to the Kingdom of Cilicia. [13] [15] Bohemond repaid a loan that Raymond III of Tripoli (r. 1152–1187) had long before borrowed from the Knights Hospitaller, thus winning them over to his side. [15]
Leo continued to support Raymond-Roupen, which sparked an enduring conflict, with many theatres of war. [16] During the war, neither Leo nor Bohemond IV was able to control his own territory (Cilicia and Tripoli, respectively) and Antioch at the same time, due to insufficient forces. [16] Az-Zahir Ghazi, the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo (r. 1193–1216), and the Seljuq rulers of Anatolia were always ready to invade Cilicia, while the Ayyubid rulers of Hama and Homs controlled the territory between Antioch and Tripoli, hindering the movements of Bohemond's troops between the two Crusader states. [16]
Shortly after Bohemond seized Antioch, Leo laid siege to it to press Raymond-Roupen's cause, but Bohemond's allies, Az-Zahir Ghazi and Suleiman II, Seljuq Sultan of Rum (r. 1196–1204), stormed into Cilicia, forcing Leo to withdraw in July 1201. [15] He soon sent letters to Pope Innocent, informing him of Bohemond's cooperation with the Muslim rulers. [16] Leo again invaded Antioch in 1202, but Aimery, King of Jerusalem and Cyprus (r. 1194–1205), and the papal legate, Cardinal Soffredo (d. 1210), mediated a truce. [15] After Bohemond IV refused to acknowledge the right of the Holy See to pass judgement in the case of the succession of Antioch, Leo renewed the war. [17] Taking advantage of Bohemond's absence, Leo entered Antioch on 11 November 1203, but he was not able to seize the citadel, which was defended by the Templars and the troops of the commune. [15] Before long, Az-Zahir Ghazi again invaded Cilicia, forcing Leo to return to his kingdom. [18] [19]
Renoart of Nephin (d. after 1208), who had married an heiress in the County of Tripoli without Bohemond's consent, rose up against Bohemond in late 1204. [20] He routed Bohemond at the gates of Tripoli. [18] Leo seized the Antiochene fortresses in the Amanus Mountains, which controlled the road towards Antioch. [19] He laid siege to the fortress at Trapessac on 25 December 1205, but Az-Zahir Ghazi's troops routed his army. [19] After crushing Renoart of Nephin's revolt, Bohemond returned to Antioch, forcing Leo to sign a truce for eight years in summer 1206. [19] [18]
A conflict between the new papal legate, Peter of Capua (d. 1214), and the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, Peter of Angoulême (d. 1208), who had become Raymond-Roupen's supporter, ended with the excommunication of the patriarch. [21] Exploiting the situation to get rid of his opponent, Bohemond replaced Peter of Angoulême with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Symeon II with the support of the commune in early 1207. [20] [21] Peter of Angoulême was reconciled with the legate, excommunicated Bohemond and the commune, [20] [21] and then persuaded some nobles to rise up against Bohemond, forcing him to take refuge in the citadel. [22] [21] Leo entered Antioch, but Bohemond collected his forces and defeated the Armenians. [22] [21] Peter of Angoulême was captured and died of drink deprivation in his prison. [23]
The Ayyubid sultan, Al-Adil I (r. 1200–1218), stormed into the County of Tripoli, creating an opportunity for Leo to plunder the land around Antioch in 1208. [22] Bohemond persuaded Kaykaus I, Sultan of Rum, to invade Cilicia, forcing Leo to withdraw from Antioch. [24] Pope Innocent tasked Albert Avogadro, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to mediate a peace. [22] Avogadro, who was an ally of the Knights Templar, urged Leo to return Bagras to them. [22] In an attempt to renew the truce, Leo obeyed the legate's demand, promising to withdraw from Bagras. [19]
Before long, Leo broke his promise and refused to return Bagras to the Templars. [19] He also decided to terminate the union of the Armenian Church with Rome. [25] On the other hand, he granted fortresses to the Teutonic Knights in Cilicia. [23] [25] He also arranged the marriage of Raymond-Roupen with Helvis, sister of Hugh I of Cyprus. [25] Leo ambushed a caravan which had been transporting provisions to the Templars in 1211. [26] In the skirmish, Guillaume de Chartres, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was badly injured. [26] News of Leo's action shocked Pope Innocent, who forbade all Christian rulers to assist Leo and urged John of Brienne, King of Jerusalem, to intervene on the Templars' behalf. [27] John sent fifty knights to Northern Syria to fight against Leo. [28] Leo expelled the Latin priests from Cilicia and gave shelter to the Orthodox Patriarch, Symenon, who had been driven out of Antioch. [29] He dispatched Raymond-Roupen to plunder the region of Antioch in 1212. [26]
Pope Innocent, who had proclaimed a new crusade in 1213, wanted to persuade Leo to assist the crusaders. [30] In that year, Leo renounced all lands that he had seized from the Templars, but retained Bagras. [31] John of Brienne married Leo's daughter, Stephanie, in 1214. [32] During the same period, Bohemond's position weakened. [32] His attempt to take vengeance on the Assassins for the murder of his eldest son, Raymond, brought him into conflict with his old ally, Az-Zahir Ghazi of Aleppo. [25]
With Leo's support, Raymond-Roupen began to find new allies, promising land grants to the Hospitallers and Antiochene noblemen, including Acharie of Sermin, the head of the commune of the burghers. Taking advantage of the absence of Bohemond IV, Leo and his army entered Antioch during the night of 14 February 1216. [33] A few days later, the Templars, who had held the citadel, also surrendered without a struggle. [25] [33] The Latin Patriarch of Antioch, Peter of Ivrea, consecrated Raymond-Roupen prince. [25] [33] After his protégé seized the Principality of Antioch, Leo restored Bagras to the Knights Templar. [26] [25] During Leo's absence, Kaykaus I captured the Armenian forts to the north of the Taurus Mountains, forcing him to concentrate on the defense of Cilicia. [34] [26]
After finding an empty treasure in Antioch, Raymond-Roupen increased taxation, which made him unpopular among his subjects. [33] In 1217, Raymond-Roupen tried to capture Leo, but the Templars assisted Leo to flee to Cilicia. [26] Bohemond visited John, King of Jerusalem, in Acre in autumn 1217. [35] Early the next year, John recognized Bohemond as the lawful prince, but did not provide him with military assistance. [36] The burghers and noblemen of Antioch rose up against Raymond-Roupen. [37] Their leader, William Farabel, persuaded Bohemond to come back to the town. [37] After Bohemond's arrival, Raymond-Roupen at first sought refuge in the citadel but soon fled to Cilicia, granting the citadel to the Hospitallers. [37] Raymond-Roupen could never regain Antioch. [38]
Leo was dying when Raymond-Roupen came to Cilicia. [26] [37] With Leo's death in May 1219 and Bohemond's restoration, the war "came to a rather unspectacular end". [38] Leo disinherited Raymond-Roupen and willed Cilicia to his five-year-old daughter, Isabella. [26] [37] Both Raymond-Roupen (the grandson of Leo's elder brother, Rupen) and John, King of Jerusalem (the husband of Leo's elder daughter, Stephanie) refused to accept Leo's last will, claiming Cilicia for themselves. [39] [40] The new conflict lasted for decades, further weakening the Christian states of Northern Syria. [26]
Antioch on the Orontes was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as the capital of the Seleucid Empire and later as regional capital to both the Roman and Byzantine Empire. During the Crusades, Antioch served as the capital of the Principality of Antioch, one of four Crusader states that were founded in the Levant. Its inhabitants were known as Antiochenes. The modern city of Antakya, in Hatay Province of Turkey, was named after the ancient city, which lies in ruins on the Orontes River and did not overlap in habitation with the modern city.
Bohemond II was Prince of Taranto from 1111 to 1128 and Prince of Antioch from 1111/1119 to 1130. He was the son of Bohemond I, who in 1108 was forced to submit to the authority of the Byzantine Empire in the Treaty of Devol. Three years later, the infant Bohemond inherited the Principality of Taranto under the guardianship of his mother, Constance of France. The Principality of Antioch was administered by his father's nephew, Tancred, until 1111. Tancred's cousin, Roger of Salerno, managed the principality from 1111 to 1119. After Roger died in the Battle of the Field of Blood, Baldwin II of Jerusalem took over the administration of Antioch. However, he did acknowledge Bohemond's right to personally rule the principality upon reaching the age of majority.
The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities that existed in the Levant from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade by the European Christians, which was proclaimed by the Latin Church in 1095 in order to reclaim the Holy Land after it was lost to the 7th-century Arab Muslim conquest. Situated on the Eastern Mediterranean, the four states were, in order from north to south: the County of Edessa (1098–1144), the Principality of Antioch (1098–1268), the County of Tripoli (1102–1289), and the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291).
The Principality of Antioch was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extended around the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean, bordering the County of Tripoli to the south, Edessa to the east, and the Byzantine Empire or the Kingdom of Armenia to the northwest, depending on the date.
Leo II was the tenth lord of Armenian Cilicia, ruling from 1187 to 1219, and the first king to be crowned, in 1198/9. Leo eagerly led his kingdom alongside the armies of the Third Crusade and provided the crusaders with provisions, guides, pack animals and all manner of aid.
Ruben III, also Roupen III, Rupen III, or Reuben III, was the ninth lord of Armenian Cilicia (1175–1187).
Constance of Hauteville was the ruling princess of Antioch from 1130 to 1163. She was the only child of Bohemond II of Antioch and Alice of Jerusalem. Constance succeeded her father at the age of two after he fell in battle, although his cousin Roger II of Sicily laid claim to Antioch. Alice assumed the regency, but the Antiochene noblemen replaced her with her father, Baldwin II of Jerusalem. After he died in 1131, Alice again tried to take control of the government, but the Antiochene barons acknowledged the right of her brother-in-law Fulk of Anjou to rule as regent for Constance.
Bohemond III of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the Child or the Stammerer, was Prince of Antioch from 1163 to 1201. He was the elder son of Constance of Antioch and her first husband, Raymond of Poitiers. Bohemond ascended to the throne after the Antiochene noblemen dethroned his mother with the assistance of the lord of Armenian Cilicia, Thoros II. He fell into captivity in the Battle of Harim in 1164, but the victorious Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo released him to avoid coming into conflict with the Byzantine Empire. Bohemond went to Constantinople to pay homage to Manuel I Komnenos, who persuaded him to install a Greek Orthodox patriarch in Antioch. The Latin patriarch of Antioch, Aimery of Limoges, placed Antioch under interdict. Bohemond restored Aimery only after the Greek patriarch died during an earthquake in 1170.
Bohemond IV of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the One-Eyed, was Count of Tripoli from 1187 to 1233, and Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1216 and from 1219 to 1233. He was the younger son of Bohemond III of Antioch. The dying Raymond III of Tripoli offered his county to Bohemond's elder brother, Raymond, but their father sent Bohemond to Tripoli in late 1187. Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, conquered the county, save for the capital and two fortresses, in summer 1188.
Bohemond VI, also known as the Fair, was the prince of Antioch and count of Tripoli from 1251 until his death. He ruled while Antioch was caught between the warring Mongol Empire and Mamluk Sultanate. He allied with the Mongols against the Muslim Mamluks and his Crusaders fought alongside the Mongols in their battles against the Mamluks. The Mamluks would achieve a historic victory against the Mongols and halt their advance westwards at the Battle of Ain Jalut. In 1268 Antioch was captured by the Mamluks under Baybars, and he was thenceforth a prince in exile. He was succeeded by his son, Bohemond VII.
Raymond-Roupen was a member of the House of Poitiers who claimed the thrones of the Principality of Antioch and Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. His succession in Antioch was prevented by his paternal uncle Bohemond IV, but his maternal great-uncle Leo I of Cilicia recognized him as heir presumptive to Cilicia and pressed his claim to Antioch. In 1211 Raymond-Roupen was crowned junior king of Cilicia, and was finally installed as Prince of Antioch in 1216. The War of the Antiochene Succession ended with Leo's death in 1219, shortly before Raymond-Roupen was ousted from Antioch. He then pursued his claim to Cilicia, which Leo had unexpectedly willed to his daughter Isabella on his deathbed, but was defeated and imprisoned until death.
Isabella, also Isabel or Zabel, was queen regnant of Armenian Cilicia from 1219 until her death in 1252.
Sibylla of Armenia was the princess of Antioch and countess of Tripoli by marriage to Bohemond VI from 1254 to 1275, and then regent of the County of Tripoli until their son, Bohemond VII, came of age in 1277. She was closely allied with the bishop of Tortosa, Bartholomew Mansel, which frustrated the scheme to install her as ruler of Tripoli instead of her daughter Lucia after Bohemond VII's death in 1287. During her lifetime, both the principality and the county were lost to the Egyptian Mamluks.
Guérin de Montaigu, also known as Garin de Montaigu or Pierre Guérin de Montaigu, was a nobleman from Auvergne, who became the fourteenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, serving from 1207–1228. He succeeded the Grand Master Geoffroy le Rat after his death in 1206, and was succeeded by Bertrand de Thessy.
Plaisance of Gibelet was the daughter of Hugh III Embriaco, Lord of Gibelet, and Stephanie of Milly.
Philip of Antioch, also called Philip of Tripoli, was a member of the House of Poitiers who ruled as king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from 1222 to 1224 as the first husband of Queen Isabella.
Stephanie of Armenia, also known as Rita, was a member of the Rubenid dynasty and claimant to the throne of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
Peter of Angoulême, also called Peter of Lydda, was a French prelate who served successively as the chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, bishop of Tripoli until 1196 and Latin patriarch of Antioch from 1196 to 1208. He was imprisoned after a rebellion against Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch. He died of thirst after he could only drink the oil of his lamp in his prison in Antioch.
The timeline of the Principality of Antioch is a chronological list of events of the history of the Principality of Antioch.
Guérin Lebrun was the sixteenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, serving between 1228 and 1231. He succeeded Bertrand de Thessy in 1230 or 1231. As he was Prior of France, he was likely from France and is generally referred to by the single name of Guérin. He was succeeded by Bertrand de Comps.