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Council of Tripoli

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The Council of Tripoli was an assembly of the leaders of the crusader states that formed near the end of the prolonged siege of the city of Tripoli.

Sources

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The History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, a chronicle written by the German monk Albert of Aachen contain all available information about the 1109 assembly held at the eastern Mediterranean city of Tripoli.[1] Albert who never visited the region used accounts by those who had returned from the Levant, thus (as the historian Susan B. Edgington summarises) his chronicle has the "weaknesses of oral history", such as chronological and topographical inaccuracy.[2] The medievalist Thomas S. Asbridge emphasises that "we cannot blindly trust the information recorded by Albert" and Albert's "accounts of reported speech" are certainly fabricated.[3] Rivalries preceding the council are also mentioned by two contemporary historians, the Muslim Ibn al-Qalanisi, and the Armenian Matthew of Edessa.[4] A scion of an influential Damascene family, Al-Qalanisi narrates the history of his hometown, and mainly fails to give a detailed account of events occurring outside its closer region.[5] Matthew's Chronicle is an indispensable source of the history of northern Syria and the neighboring lands. He proudly declares that he collected information from "respectable people".[6]

Background

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A man riding a horse embraces a woman, with other knights in the background
A 13th-century illustration of the Dowager Countess Ida bidding farewell to her sons, Godfrey and Baldwin of Bouillon as they depart for the First Crusade in August 1096

A prosperous city on the coast of Syria, Tripoli was ruled by a native Muslim family of qadis (judges), the Banu Ammar in the late 11th century.[7][8] Once a battleground between the Christian Byzantine Empire and the Shiite Muslim Fatimid Caliphate, Syria had disintegrated into autonomous lordships, each under the rule of an Arab or Turkoman warlord, tribal leader or prince.[9][10] The Turkomans were a loose federation of wandering Turkic groups from Central Asia who conquered much of the Near East in the second half of the 11th century. Like the majority of Muslims, they adhered to the Sunnite branch of Islam, acknowledging the Fatimids' opponents, the Abbasid caliphs as legitimate (although only titular) heads of the Muslim commonwealth.[11] They also attacked the Anatolian territories of the Byzantine Empire, expanding nearly as far as the capital city of Constantinople. Early in 1095, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent envoys to Pope Urban II, the head of Western (or Catholic) Church, requesting his support to raise western troops against the Muslim invaders.[12][13] Pope Urban answered at a church council in the town of Clermont in central France where he called for a military campaign for the rescue of fellow Christians on 28 November 1095.[14][13]

Urban's call raised unexpected enthusiasm in Western Christendom, with tens of thousands of people—aristocrats, knights and commoners—joining the expedition that would be known as the First Crusade.[15] The count of Toulouse, Raymond of Saint-Gilles was the first and wealthiest high-ranking nobleman to make the decision. Before departing in August 1096, he appointed his son Bertrand to rule Toulouse.[13][16] Another crusader leader Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine (r. 1089–1101), had to sell or mortgage large chunks of his patrimony to raise funds. The Italo-Norman prince Bohemond of Taranto regarded the crusade as an opportunity to expand his authority. The most powerful aristocrats commanded their own armies, each including hundreds of armed and unarmed people, such as vassals, and less well off neighbours and relatives: Godfrey was accompanied by his younger brother, Baldwin of Boulogne and their kinsman Baldwin of Bourcq, Bohemund by his nephew Tancred.[17]

The First Crusade led to the formation of new countries in the Levant, each dominated by westerners, collectivelly known as Franks.[18] The first among these crusader states, the County of Edessa was established on lands both to the east and west of the Euphrates River early in 1098 by Baldwin of Boulogne.[19] The Principality of Antioch was formed after the crusaders captured the city of Antioch in northern Syria in June 1098. Most crusader leaders acknowledged Bohemond's claim to rule it in reward for his prudent command of the siege, and he overcame Raymond who tried to carve out his own principality in northern Syria.[20][21] Raymond also planned to conquer the Banu Ammar's lordship early in 1099, but he was unable to take their fortress of Arqa, and the commoner crusaders rejected his demand to attack Tripoli.[22][23] A third crusader state came into being after the crusaders captured Jerusalem on 15 July 1099.[24] Although some crusaders, especially the clergy, demanded the establishment of a lordship under clerical rule in the Holy City, the majority elected Godfrey as Jerusalem's first Frankish ruler. He ruled lands that would form the Kingdom of Jerusalem in Palestine without adopting the title of king.[25]

Internal conflicts

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The borders of four nascent crusader states and the nearby Cilician Armenia depicted on a map of the eastern Mediterranean
Latin East c. 1102

In September 1099, Archbishop Daimbert of Pisa arrived to the Levant leading a fleet of 120 ships. Before the end of the year, he came to Jerusalem accompanied by Bohemond of Antioch and Baldwin of Edessa. He was elected as the city's Catholic patriarch, and both Godfrey and Bohemond did homage to him.[26][27] After Godfrey died of an illness in July 1100, Daimbert renewed the idea of transforming Jerusalem into an ecclesiastic state. He sought Bohemond's support against Godfrey's retainers who regarded Baldwin as Godfrey's lawful heir, but Bohemond was captured by an Anatolian Muslim ruler. Baldwin departed to claim Jerusalem after installing Baldwin of Bourcq as his successor and vassal in Edessa. His opponents, including Tancred who ruled Galilee, could not stop him. He was crowned king by Daimbert on Christmas Day.[28][29]

Early in 1101, Tancred went to Antioch to assume the regency for Bohemond. He renounced Galilee but stipulated that he would regain it in fief from King Baldwin if he came back from Antioch within fifteen months.[30] In a year, Tancred compelled Raymond to completely abandon his ambitions in northern Syria.[31][32] Instead of leaving the Levant, Raymond allied with the Genoese, and they captured the Banu Ammar's port town of Tortosa in 1102. Next year, he built a fortified camp at Mount Pilgrim near Tripoli with Byzantine assistance, beginning the city's prolonged siege.[7][33] Although the defenders resisted with naval support from Fatimid Egypt, Raymond styled himself as count of Tripoli in his charters.[34] In 1104, he and his Genoese allies captured another port town, Jubayl.[33]

Changes in the crusader states' governments were not uncommon. Count Baldwin II invested his cousin Joscelin of Courtenay with the Lordship of Turbessel, charging him with the defence of Edessa's western lands in 1102.[35] Bohemond was ransomed and his return to Antioch put an end to Tancred's regency in May 1103.[36] Baldwin II's attempts to seize the fertile lands to the southeast of his capital, prompted two nearby Turkoman rulers, Jikirmish of Mosul and the Artuqid leader Sokman to attack Edessa. Bohemond, Tancred and Joscelin hurried to his rescue, but the Turkomans routed the Franks at Harran in May 1104. Baldwin II and Joscelin were captured, and Tancred assumed power in Edessa, but he returned to rule Antioch in autumn when Bohemond left his principality to muster new crusaders in Western Europe.[37][38] Tancred appointed Bohemond's cousin[39] Richard of the Principate as Edessa's new governor, transforming the county—a Jerusalemite fief—into an Antiochene protectorate.[40] As Edessa provided the Antiochene rulers with a significant income, both Bohemond and Tancred were reluctant to achieve Baldwin II's release.[note 1][41]

Raymond died of an accident on 28 February 1105. His kinsman Willam Jordan of Cerdanya assumed the command of the siege of Tripoli. Although a Twelver Shiite, the Banu Ammar qadi Fakhr al-Mulk approached the Abbasid caliph and the Seljuk sultan in Bagdad, and the Turkoman ruler of Damascus Toghtekin for support, but they rejected him. On his return, the Tripolitan leaders expelled him, and a Fatimid governor assumed power in the city in 1108. Toghtekin attacked Arqa, but William Jordan defeated him and captured it in March or April 1109.[42][43] Around the same time, Raymond's son Bertrand came to Syria, accompanied by about 4,000 soldiers, to claim his father's inheritance, including first the parts of Antioch once held by Raymond from Tancred, then the lands near Tripoli from William Jordan. Heavily outnumbered by Bertrand's forces, William Jordan offered his fealty to Tancred in return for his support. Tancred accepted the offer, prompting Bertrand to seek protection from King Baldwin I, submitting himself to Baldwin's suzerainty.[44]

Joscelin ransomed himself in 1107, and Baldwin II also came to an agreement with Jawali Saqawa, the atabeg (governor) of Mosul, who held him captivity.[note 2] Baldwin was released for a ransom and a promise to support Jawali against Mawdud who had expelled Jawali from Mosul. Baldwin went to Antioch to claim Edessa, but Tancred demanded an oath of fealty from him that Baldwin refused to take. Baldwin made an alliance with Jawali and an Armenian ruler Kogh Vasil. Immediate conflict was avoided with the mediation of church leaders who persuaded Tancred to return Edessa to Baldwin in September 1108. Their reconciliation was short-lived. Baldwin and Joscelin supported Jawali to attack the Seljuk ruler of Aleppo, Ridwan who turned to Tancred for assistance. Tancred routed the united armies of Baldwin, Joscelin and Jawali. Baldwin took refuge in the fortress of Duluk. Tancred soon attacked it, but Jawali forced him to abandon the siege.[45]

Arbitration at Tripoli

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Summons

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King Baldwin I eagerly intervened in the conflicts of the northern Frankish leaders. In Asbridge's view, Baldwin's worry about Tancred's expansionism prompted his intervention which also served as a demonstration of his authority over all crusader states.[46] Lewis argues that Baldwin also feared that a prolonged conflict would leave the Franks unprotected against their Muslim neighbors.[47]

In response to Bertrand's appeal, Baldwin appointed two Jerusalemite lords, Pagan of Haifa and Eustace Grenier to summon the arguing Frankish leaders to "an assembly and council" (as Albert of Aachen mentioned it).[48] Otherwise an almost unknown aristocrat, Pagan likely had recently received the Lordship of Haifa in the Jerusalemite kingdom, according to the historian Alan V. Murray. Eustace had been Baldwin's principal advisor, and would make what Murray describe as a "meteoric career".[49] The historian Malcolm Barber argues that Eustace "may well have played a key role in preparing the ground, for he appears to have been one of Baldwin's long-term companions".[48]

Baldwin summoned Tancred to the besiegers' camp at Tripoli in April 1109. As Tancred was not Baldwin's vassal, the summons was issued in the name of the "church of Jerusalem". The formula reminds the historian Harold S. Fink of the opinion of those who had demanded the transformation of the Holy City into an ecclesiastical lordship.[50][51] Baldwin called on Tancred and William Jordan to answer for their "injustices", mentioning their usurpation of lands that lawfully belonged to Baldwin II, Joscelin and Bertrand, thus prejudicing their guilt. As the cities of Edessa and Turbessel had already been restored to Baldwin II and to Joscelin, respectively, Asbridge assumes that the summons referred to the Lordship of Marash that was still probably held by Tancred in the County of Edessa.[3] The summons outraged William Jordan who decided to attack Bertrand, but Tancred pacified him. They raised an army of 700 horsemen, allegedly to join the siege of Tripoli, and marched to the besiegers' camp.[47][52] On the King's summons, Baldwin II and Joscelin also went to Tripoli.[52]

Decision

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The council was opened after the arrival of all parties. King Baldwin I and his vassals acted as what Asbridge calls "some sort of jury" presided by Baldwin himself.[53]

Notes

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  1. ^ The contemporary historian Albert of Aachen writes that Edessa yielded a yearly income of more than 40,000 besants. He adds that King Baldwin requested Bohemond and Tancred to exchange a high-born captured Muslim woman for Count Baldwin, but they rejected him.[41]
  2. ^ Baldwin had been Sokman's prisoner, but was first seized by Jikirmish, and then by Jawali.[40]

References

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  1. ^ Asbridge 2000, pp. 117–118.
  2. ^ Edgington 2006, p. 25.
  3. ^ a b Asbridge 2000, p. 117.
  4. ^ Asbridge 2000, pp. 10–11, 117.
  5. ^ Christie 2006, p. 626.
  6. ^ Stewart 2006, p. 807.
  7. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 86.
  8. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 14.
  9. ^ Köhler 2013, pp. 7–9.
  10. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 21.
  11. ^ Jotischky 2017, p. 41.
  12. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 9–10.
  13. ^ a b c Lock 2006, p. 20.
  14. ^ Jotischky 2017, pp. 52–53.
  15. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 4–5.
  16. ^ Duncalf 1969, pp. 272–273.
  17. ^ Duncalf 1969, pp. 267–270.
  18. ^ Barber 2012, p. 2.
  19. ^ Jotischky 2017, p. 73.
  20. ^ Jotischky 2017, pp. 60–61.
  21. ^ Lock 2006, pp. 23–24.
  22. ^ Barber 2012, p. 85.
  23. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 15–17.
  24. ^ Jotischky 2017, p. 61.
  25. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 18–19.
  26. ^ Fink 1969, pp. 377–378.
  27. ^ Lock 2006, p. 25.
  28. ^ Fink 1969, pp. 380–382.
  29. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 61–63.
  30. ^ Barber 2012, p. 65.
  31. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 19–20.
  32. ^ Jotischky 2017, p. 74.
  33. ^ a b Fink 1969, p. 396.
  34. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 22, 30.
  35. ^ Barber 2012, p. 82.
  36. ^ Lock 2006, p. 27.
  37. ^ Lock 2006, p. 28.
  38. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 82–83.
  39. ^ Duncalf 1969, p. 270.
  40. ^ a b Fink 1969, p. 392.
  41. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 84.
  42. ^ Barber 2012, pp. 87–90.
  43. ^ Lewis 2017, pp. 30–31.
  44. ^ Fink 1969, pp. 396–397.
  45. ^ Fink 1969, pp. 392–394.
  46. ^ Asbridge 2000, pp. 116–117.
  47. ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 39.
  48. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 91.
  49. ^ Murray 2000, pp. 193–194, 218.
  50. ^ Fink 1969, p. 397.
  51. ^ Lock 2006, p. 30.
  52. ^ a b Asbridge 2000, p. 118.
  53. ^ Asbridge 2000, p. 119.

Sources

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