Tripoli County is the last of the four Christian Crusader states that were created after the successful First Crusade on the territory of the Levant. It existed from 1105 to 1289 year.
Founding
The founder of the county is Count Toulouse Raymond IV, who sought to obtain his own property in the Holy Land. Prior to the crusade, the Count took part in the Reconquista in Spain, then in 1071 he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and during this trip went blind in one eye. When Pope Urban II at Clermont Cathedral in 1095 appealed to go to the East and win Jerusalem from the Muslims, the Earl, being a deeply religious man, was one of the first who joined the ranks of the Crusaders.
From the very beginning of the campaign, Raymund wished to become the supreme commander of the crusading army. Among the warlords of the Crusaders, Raymund of Toulouse was the most powerful and senior in age. Arriving in the capital of Byzantium on April 27, 1097, Raymund refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Emperor Alexius Comnenus.
Since 1101, the war began for this territory between the Crusaders and the Arab Emirs. In 1102, Raymond IV conquered Tortosa, in 1104 – Bibl, in 1102-1103 the Crusaders began the siege of Tripoli, during which in 1105 he died.
History and Administration
June 22, 1105 Raymund died, and did not wait for the fall of Tripoli. His nephew Earl of Serdani Guillaume Jordan in 1109 with the help of the King of Jerusalem Baldwin I, conquered the city and founded the county of Tripoli, but in the same year was displaced by Bertrand, the eldest son of Raimund. The Toulouse Counts held power in Tripoli throughout the 12th century.
July 12, 1109, the son of Raymond IV Bertrand, with the support of the Genoese fleet, managed to take Tripoli and create his own state.
The maximum size of the county reached 1132. To ensure their rule, the Crusaders built a number of castles. An important military force was represented by the orders of the “Ioannites” and “Templars”, who received land allotments on the territory of the county.
In the economy of the county, a significant role belonged to the Genoese merchants, who enjoyed wide privileges in all cities, and in 1109 received at full disposal Bibl. Nominally, the county was in vassal submission to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but in fact it was independently of him. A closer connection existed with the county with the Antiochian principality.
After the death of Raymond III ( 1187 ), the last count of Tripoli from the Toulouse dynasty, and the defeat of Salah-ad-Din in the year 1187 of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the county and Antioch princedom in the early 13th century were united under the rule of Bohemond IV.
In 1289, Tripoli was conquered by the Egyptian sultan Calaun al-Alfi and ceased to exist.
Sources:
Baldwin M.-W. Raymond III of Tripolis and the fall of Jerusalem
Baldwin M.-W. The 20th century crusaders state of Tripolis
Sychev NV The Book of Dynasties