Raymond III of Tripoli: Encyclopedia II - Raymond III of Tripoli - Regent of Jerusalem

Raymond III of Tripoli - Regent of Jerusalem

In 1174 Amalric died and was succeeded by his son Baldwin IV, who was still too young to rule on his own and furthermore was suffering from leprosy; Miles of Plancy, seneschal of the kingdom, claimed the regency, but Raymond soon arrived and demanded to be named regent as the closest male relative of the king (he was a first cousin of Amalric). In this he was supported by the major barons of the kingdom, including Humphrey II of Toron, Balian of Ibelin, and Reginald of Sidon. Soon Miles was assassinated in Acre and Raymond was invested as regent.

Raymond also married Eschiva of Bures, Princess of Galilee and the widow of Walter of Tiberias, which allowed him to gain control over much of the northern part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, especially the fortress at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. As regent, he appointed William of Tyre chancellor of Jerusalem in 1174 and archbishop of Tyre in 1175. He retired as regent when Baldwin IV was old enough to rule in 1176, though he still had some influence over the king, and in 1177 he arranged for Baldwin IV's sister Sibylla of Jerusalem to marry William of Montferrat. William died later in the year while Sibylla was pregnant with the future Baldwin V.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Regent of Jerusalem", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki