Baldwin of Ibelin: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:45, 1 June 2005

Revision as of 22:25, 25 June 2005

Line 1:

'''Baldwin of Ibelin''', also known as '''Baldwin of Ramla''' (died c. [[1187]]), was an important noble of the [[crusade]]r [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] in the [[12th century]]. He was the son of [[Barisan of Ibelin]] and brother of [[Hugh of Ibelin]] and [[Balian of Ibelin]].

After the death of his eldest brother Hugh, the castle of [[Ibelin]] passed to Baldwin, who remained lord of Ramla and passed Ibelin to his younger brother [[Balian of Ibelin|Balian]]. Baldwin and Balian supported [[Raymond III of Tripoli]] over [[Miles of Plancy]] as regent for Baldwin IV in [[1174]], and in [[1177]] the brothers were present at the [[Battle of Montgisard]]. Baldwin was captured inat battlethe at[[Battle of the Ford of Jacob's Daughters]] on the [[Jordan River]] in [[1179]]. He was ransomed by [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Manuel I Comnenus]], and after his release in [[1180]] he visited [[Constantinople]]. Supposedly, duringthe whichemperor timesat him in a chair and covered him up to his head in the gold coins that were to be used as his ransom money. During his stay in Constantinople, the emperor died. In [[1183]] he supported Raymond against [[Guy of Lusignan]], husband of [[Sibylla of Jerusalem]] and by now regent for the ailing Baldwin IV. Lord Baldwin was among the barons who advised the king to crown [[Baldwin V of Jerusalem|Baldwin V]] in [[1183]], while Baldwin IV was still alive; this was an attempt to prevent Guy from succeeding as king. Baldwin V became king while still a child in [[1185]], but when the young king died in [[1186]], Raymond's choice for the kingship, [[Humphrey IV of Toron]], refused the crown and joined Guy. Baldwin refused to pay homage to Guy, placed his young son Thomas under the care of his brother Balian, and exiled himself to the [[Principality of Antioch]], where he was welcomed with great fanfare.

According to the Chronicle of [[Ernoul]], an [[Old French]] continuation of the chronicle of [[William of Tyre]], written by a scribe of Baldwin's brother Balian, Baldwin disliked Guy because he himself had wanted to marry Sibylla in [[1180]]. TheBaldwin and Sibylla exchanged letters during Baldwin's captivity, but the Ibelin family was not yet as important as the French countslords of [[Lusignan]] and Baldwin was unsuccessful. Baldwin considered Guy "a madman and a fool", and refused to pay homage because his father had not paid homage to Guy's father (i.e., Guy was a newcomer, and had no place in the kingdom where Baldwin was a native baron). He refused to return to Jerusalem to assist Guy against [[Saladin]], and probably died in his self-imposed exile in [[1187]].

Baldwin's daughter Eschiva married the future [[Amalric I of Cyprus|Amalric II of Jerusalem]] and became the mother of the future king [[Hugh I of Cyprus]].

Another '''Baldwin of Ibelin''' was the son of [[John of Ibelin, the Old Lord of Beirut]], and the grand-nephew of this Baldwin.

==Sources==

*[[William of Tyre]], ''A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea''. E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey, trans. Columbia University Press, 1943.

*Peter W. Edbury, ''The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation''. Ashgate, 1996.

*Peter W. Edbury, ''John of Ibelin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem''. Boydell Press, 1997.

*[[Steven Runciman]], ''A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem''. Cambridge University Press, 1952.

[[Category:1180s deaths]][[Category:Crusades]]