Middle East Kingdoms

Christian Outremer (Beyond the Sea)

Christian Counts of Edessa
AD 1098 - 1144

The county of Edessa was different from the other Crusader states in that it was landlocked. Half of the county, including its capital, was located to the east of the Euphrates and therefore was positioned far to the east of the other states. The section west of the Euphrates was controlled from the stronghold of Turbessel, an important outpost in fending off the Seljuq Turks.

In 1098, Baldwin of Boulogne left the main Crusading army which was travelling south towards Antioch and Jerusalem, and went first south into Cilicia, then east to Edessa. There, he convinced its lord, Thoros, to adopt him as a son and heir. Thoros was a Greek Orthodox, and was disliked by his Armenian Orthodox subjects. He was soon assassinated, although it is unknown if Baldwin had any part in this. In any case, Baldwin became the new ruler, taking the title of count (as he had been called in Boulogne).

1098 - 1100

Baldwin I de Boulogne

King of Jerusalem (1100-1118).

1100 - 1118

Baldwin II de la Bourg

Cousin. King of Jerusalem (1118-1131).

1110

All lands east of the Euphrates are lost to Mosul.

1118 - 1131

Joscelin I de Courtenay

Lord of Turbessel. Killed in battle

1131 - 1146

Joscelin II de Courtenay

Son. d.1159.

1144

Edessa is conquered by Zangî of Mosul (now known as Urfa in Turkey).

1146

Upon the death of Zangi, Joscelin briefly recaptures Edessa - for just two months.

1147 - 1149

The Second Crusade fails to recapture Edessa.

1150 - 1159

Joscelin is captured and imprisoned in Aleppo until his death.

1159 - 1200

Joscelin III de Courtenay

Son. Titular count. Lived in, and served kings of, Jerusalem.

Norman Principality of Antioch
AD 1099 - 1268

The strategically important city of Antioch (modern Antakya in Turkey) was founded near the end of the fourth century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, who made it the capital of his Seleucid empire in ancient Syria. After the fall of the region to the Arab empire in AD 640, it was recovered by the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas in 969.

The city was lost again to the Seljuq Turks in 1085. Thirteen years later, after an eight month siege, it was captured by the Crusaders during the First Crusade, and became the capital of an independent principality of Antioch. The city of Gibelet, or Giblet (ancient Byblos) forms an important military base within the captured territories. Antioch and its domains remained in Crusader hands for the better part of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, until the city was captured by the Mameluke Sultan Baybars in 1268. Baybars' destruction of the city was so great that it was never a major city again.

1099 - 1111

Bohemond I

Son of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia.

1101 - 1103

Tancred

Regent.

1104 - 1112

Tancred

Regent. Re-appointed.

1111 - 1130

Bohemond II

Assumed power in 1126.

1112 - 1119

Roger of Salerno

Regent.

1119 - 1126

Baldwin II of Jerusalem

Regent.

1130 - 1164

Princess Constance

1140 - 1149

Raymond de Poitiers

Personally killed by Shirkuh, uncle of Ayyubid sultan, Saladin.

1153 - 1160

Reynald de Châtillon

Personally killed by Ayyubid sultan, Saladin.

1187

The Christians are defeated by the Ayyubid sultan, Saladin, at the Battle of Hattin. As partially depicted in the film Kingdom of Heaven, 2005, Reynald de Châtillon, the bloodthirsty prince of Antioch (not a Templar), is personally killed by Saladin at the end of the battle.

1163 - 1201

Bohemond III the Stammerer

1201 - 1216

Bohemond IV the One-Eyed

Count of Tripoli (1187-1233).

1216 - 1219

Raymond-Roupen

1219 - 1233

Bohemond IV the One-Eyed

Count of Tripoli (1187-1233).

1233 - 1252

Bohemond V

Count of Tripoli.

1252 - 1268

Bohemond VI

Count of Tripoli (1252-1275).

1268

Antioch falls to the Mameluke Sultan Baybars.

1275 - 1287

Bohemond VII

Count of Tripoli and Titular Prince of Antioch.

Counts of Tripoli
AD 1109 - 1287

The County of Tripoli was the last of the four major Crusader states in the Levant to be created. The beginnings of the county came in 1102, when Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, one of the leaders of the First Crusade, began a lengthy war with the Banu Ammar Emirs of Tripoli (theoretical vassals of the Fatimid caliphs in Cairo), gradually seizing much of their territory and besieging them within Tripoli itself.

Raymond died in 1105, leaving his infant son Alfonso-Jordan as his heir, with a cousin, William-Jordan of Cerdagne, as regent. William-Jordan continued the siege of Tripoli for the next four years, when a bastard son of Raymond, Bertrand, who had been acting as regent of Toulouse, arrived in the east, leaving Toulouse to Alfonso-Jordan and his mother, who returned to France. Thanks to the mediation of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, Bertrand and William-Jordan eventually came to an agreement whereby each would keep control of their own conquests, an agreement which worked best for Bertrand when he captured Tripoli later that year. When William-Jordan died a few months later, Bertrand became sole ruler.

1103 - 1105

Raymond I Count de Toulouse

Died at the siege of Tripoli.

1105 - 1109

Alfonso-Jordan

Son.

1105 - 1109

William-Jordan

Regent.

1109

Following a siege which lasts from 1103, Tripoli falls.

1109 - 1112

Bertrand

1112 - 1137

Pons

1137 - 1152

Raymond II

1152 - 1187

Raymond III

Regent of the kingdom of Jerusalem (until 1185).

1187 - 1233

Behemond IV of Antioch

Prince of Antioch (1201-1216 & 1219-1233).

1233 - 1252

Behemond V of Antioch

Prince of Antioch.

1252 - 1275

Behemond VI of Antioch

Prince of Antioch (1252-1268).

1287 - 1289

The succession is disputed between Behemond's heir and the city commune.

1275 - 1287

Behemond VII

Titular prince of Antioch.

1268

Antioch falls to the Mameluke Sultan Baybars.

1287 - 1289

Lucia of Tripoli

Sister and heir.

1289

Following a siege by Qalawun al Alfi, Tripoli falls to the Mamelukes.