Raymond of Poitiers (1105 – 29 June 1149) was the prince of Antioch from 1136 until his death. He ruled the Principality of Antioch as the first husband of Princess Constance. He preserved the integrity of the principality, but failed in his attempts to expand it.
Raymond was born to Duke William IX of Aquitaine and Countess Philippa of Toulouse. Aquitaine passed to William X, Raymond's older brother, and Raymond moved to the court of King Henry I of England. There he received an offer from King Fulk of Jerusalem and the nobles of Antioch to marry Constance, a child princess, and take up rule over her principality. Despite the respective attempts of her kinsman King Roger II of Sicily and her mother, Princess Alice, to prevent the union, Raymond arrived in the Latin East and married Constance in 1136 with the help of the Latin patriarch of Antioch, Ralph of Domfront.
Raymond's priority as prince was to recapture Cilicia, but he was foiled by the arrival of Emperor John II Komnenos, who both captured the region and exacted homage from Raymond. Raymond promised to surrender Antioch in return for a new principality in northern Syria, but was not eager to help John carve it out. A power struggle with Ralph, which originated shortly after Raymond's accession, flared up after the emperor's departure and ended with the patriarch's deposition in 1140. Raymond readily assisted Fulk in his struggles against the Muslim Turkic rulers in Syria and initially cooperated with his northern neighbor Count Joscelin II of Edessa. The principality saw an influx of Poitevin culture, and Raymond was able to secure the appointment of a Poitevin, Aimery of Limoges, to the patriarchal office.
John returned in 1142 and demanded Antioch, but died in Cilicia the following year before he could launch an attack. Raymond attempted to conquer Cilicia from John's successor, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and Aleppo from Imad al-Din Zengi, but was driven back by both. Raymond's relationship with Joscelin broke down after Joscelin refused to assist Raymond against Zengi, and when Zengi attacked Edessa in 1144, Raymond declined Joscelin's pleas for help. The loss of Edessa to the Muslims triggered the Second Crusade. King Louis VII of France and his wife, Raymond's niece Queen Eleanor, arrived in Antioch in 1148. Raymond enlisted Eleanor's help in convincing Louis to attack Zengi's son and successor, Nur al-Din, but Louis grew jealous of their relationship, which was rumored to be incestuous. After Louis left, Raymond boycotted the crusade, which ended in an ignominious defeat at Damascus. This defeat encouraged the sultan of Rum, Mesud I, who launched an attack on Marash with Nur al-Din's help. Raymond clashed with Zengi, and was killed in the Battle of Inab.
Background and character Raymond was a son of William IX of Aquitaine and Philippa of Toulouse. William was count of Poitiers and duke of Aquitaine and Gascony as well as one of the leaders of the Crusade of 1101. Raymond was born in Toulouse in 1115, at a time when his mother had briefly succeeded in asserting her claim to the County of Toulouse. He was given a name associated with the counts of Toulouse and otherwise unknown in the House of Poitiers.
The only contemporary writer to discuss William X's progeny is the chronicler of the Abbey of Saint-Maixent near Poitiers, who attributes two sons—William X and Raymond—and five unnamed daughters to William IX and Philippa; according to his account, Raymond would have been the couple's youngest child. Armenian sources—Gregory the Priest, Michael the Syrian, and Basil the Doctor—describe the lords of Marash, Baldwin and Reynald, as brothers of Raymond. William of Tyre mentions yet another brother, Henry.
Raymond's older brother, William X, inherited their father's titles in 1126. Raymond was left landless, and is not mentioned in any of his brother's acts. By 1130, Raymond had left Poitou and joined the court of King Henry I of England, where he received his knighthood. He may have been sent to Henry to keep him out of his brother's way or to teach him the ways of court. Raymond grew up to be a handsome man famous for his physical strength. He received a subpar education, but was conventionally devout. William of Tyre considered him impulsive, idle, and too fond of gambling, but respected his chivalry and moral integrity.
Accession
In 1130, Prince Bohemond II of Antioch died in battle with the Muslim Turks, leaving his infant daughter, Constance, as heir to the Principality of Antioch in the Latin East. Her mother, Princess Alice, tried to establish control over this crusader state, but faced significant opposition. Without a prince, Antioch was in disarray; Alice's brother-in-law King Fulk of Jerusalem had to leave his kingdom several times to defend Antioch against Turks. At some point between 1133 and 1135, Fulk–erstwhile a cupbearer to Raymond's father–and the Antiochene nobles opposed to Alice decided that Constance should be married to provide Antioch with a new prince, and their choice fell on Raymond. The plan was kept secret to prevent interference from Alice or King Roger II of Sicily. As Bohemond II's kinsman, Roger was heir presumptive to the principality and believed that he should select Constance's husband. Because of this, the mission was entrusted to a low-profile Hospitaller knight, Gerald Jeberrus.
Raymond embarked on his journey from England to Antioch after the death of his patron, King Henry, in December 1135. To avoid attracting attention, he could not afford to bring any troops with him. Roger got word of his intentions anyway and resolved to arrest the groom-to-be as he passed through his lands in southern Italy. Having split up his entourage and disguised himself variously as a pilgrim and a merchant's servant, Raymond succeeded in embarking on a ship to Antioch. Alice, meanwhile, sent an embassy to Constantinople to acknowledge Byzantine overlordship and propose that Constance marry Manuel, son of Emperor John II Komnenos. The barons of Antioch were aghast, and the Latin patriarch of Antioch, Ralph of Domfront, was determined not to be replaced by a Byzantine-appointed Orthodox patriarch.
When Raymond arrived in Antioch in mid-1136, Alice was in a strong position, having control over the government and the city's citadel. To prevail against her, Raymond needed the support and assistance of Patriarch Ralph. Ralph was willing, but demanded liege homage from Raymond in return. Raymond acquiesced, and their agreement was put into writing. William of Tyre says that Ralph then convinced Alice that Raymond had come to marry her rather than her daughter; after Alice allowed Raymond into the city, Ralph immediately married him to the 8-year-old Constance. According to William, the patriarch also promised to arrange for Alice to marry Raymond's brother Henry if he came to Antioch. Raymond thus became prince, and because his authority could not be doubted, Alice's party abandoned her. She retreated to her dower lands in Latakia and Jabala, but–in William's words–"ever after she pursued the prince with relentless hatred".
Reign Initial campaigns By the time Raymond took control over Antioch, the principality had been much reduced. The Turks had gained large areas on the eastern frontline, while the Armenian Roupenid princes had entrenched themselves in Cilicia. Raymond's priority was to recover Cilicia. He allied with Baldwin of Marash and launched a campaign against the Roupenid prince Leo I with the approval of King Fulk. Count Joscelin II of Edessa–ruler of the northernmost crusader state and Baldwin's suzerain–supported Leo, who was his uncle. Leo and Joscelin defeated the invaders, but after Leo agreed to meet Baldwin for talks, he was treacherously captured and sent to Antioch. In return for his freedom, Leo promised to deliver to Raymond the Cilician fortresses of Mamistra, Adana, and Savranda; Leo's sons as hostages; and a large ransom. Leo reneged on that promise after leaving prison. War was resumed until early 1137, when Joscelin brokered peace. Raymond's initiative helped reverse the deterioration of Antioch's military position.
Raymond's brother, Duke William X of Aquitaine, died in April 1137. His heir was his daughter Eleanor. Raymond had a claim to rule Aquitaine as William's closest male relative, but he was too far to either succeed William as duke or act as Eleanor's guardian. By the time Raymond learned of his brother's death, the succession to his lands had been settled: Eleanor was swiftly married to King Louis VII of France, who became duke in her right.
Another great threat to Antioch was Imad al-Din Zengi, the Turkic atabeg of Mosul, Aleppo, and Hama. In 1137, Zengi besieged Montferrand, prompting Count Raymond II of Tripoli and King Fulk to request help from Antioch. Prince Raymond called a council of nobles and dignitaries and persuaded them to march to Montferrand. He linked up with the count of Edessa and travelled south to Buqaia to find that Fulk had already been relieved.
Arrival of the emperor Initially, Prince Raymond and Patriarch Ralph worked in concert and probably finalized the organization of dioceses in the principality. Their relationship quickly soured, however. William of Tyre says that Ralph started acting arrogantly and that Raymond resented having been forced to do homage to him. An open conflict between the prince and the patriarch was averted by the arrival of a common threat.
Emperor John appeared with a vast army in mid-1137. This was the first campaign of a Byzantine emperor in northern Syria for more than a century, and the Latins were apparently caught completely off-guard. After swiftly subduing Cilicia, John besieged Antioch on 29 August. He was angered by Raymond's marriage with Constance and demanded that the Latins honor the oath given to Emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the First Crusade, by which they were to cede Antioch to the Byzantine emperor. Raymond hurried back to Antioch. Because the city had not yet been invested, he and his bodyguard were able to slip in through the Iron Gate.
John bombarded Antioch for several days before Raymond realized that he could not resist him. Raymond first offered to recognize John as his suzerain in return for retaining the principality, but John insisted on an unconditional surrender. The prince replied that he must confer with the king of Jerusalem, who affirmed the emperor's claim. Raymond had no choice but to kneel before John, swear fealty, and allow him free access to both the city and citadel of Antioch. John promised to grant Aleppo, Shaizar, Hama, and Homs to Raymond and his heirs if they were conquered from the Turks, whereupon Antioch would revert to the emperor. Fearing that John would replace him with a Greek Orthodox patriarch, Ralph appealed to Pope Innocent II. Raymond was concerned that Ralph would stir up an armed conflict with John, and so had the patriarch imprisoned in late 1137.
In March 1138, the pope declared–probably in response to Ralph's letter–that any Latin Christians assisting the Byzantines against Antioch should be excommunicated. Ralph's actions against the Byzantines were highly inconvenient for Raymond because of the Byzantine military presence, and it is likely at this point that he made common cause with Ralph's enemies within the cathedral chapter and encouraged them to rebel. Lambert, the archdeacon, and Arnulf, a canon, were aggrieved by Ralph's management of church revenues. The prince convinced them to take their complaints to the pope, which forced Ralph to travel to Rome to defend himself; further charges included simony, incontinence, and irregular election.