Benedict (flourished ''c''.1098–1104) was the first

archbishop of Edessa Early bishops The following list is based on the records of the ''Chronicle of Edessa'' (to ''c''.540) and the ''Chronicle of Zuqnin''. Jacobite (Syriac) bishops These bishops belonged to the Syriac Orthodox Church. During the later period there ...

of the Latin rite. He was probably appointed soon after Count Baldwin I founded the county of Edessa in 1098. He was consecrated by Patriarch Daimbert of Jerusalem in December 1099.. He may have replaced a Byzantine bishop, if one was still in residence after the Byzantines lost the city in 1087. Although the highest-ranking churchman in the county of Edessa, Benedict was subordinated to the patriarch of Antioch in accordance with the 6th-century '' Notitiae episcopatuum''. The contemporary historian William of Tyre calls Benedict, Daimbert and the Antiochene patriarch, Bernard, three "distinguished lights of the church". In August 1102, Muʿīn ad-Dīn Soqman, ''bey'' of Mardin, invaded the county of Edessa and attacked the town of Saruj. Although the town was taken, the citadel was defended by Archbishop Benedict until Count Baldwin II came up with an army and relieved him.. Benedict participated in the battle of Harran on 7 May 1104. He was perhaps unarmed, since William of Tyre calls him "a man without experience in warfare". Early in the battle he was captured, but he was soon freed, either because his guard was a renegade Christian or because of a courageous rescue by

Tancred of Hauteville Tancred of Hauteville (c. 980 – 1041) was an 11th-century Norman petty lord about whom little is known. He was a minor noble near Coutances in the Cotentin. Tancred is also known by the achievements of his twelve sons. Various legends arose ...

. He is not mentioned in any record after that, and was succeeded by

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

before 1120.Runciman (1951), pp. 42–43.

Notes

{{s-end Bishops of Edessa 11th-century Roman Catholic archbishops 12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops 12th-century deaths County of Edessa People of the Crusader states 11th-century births