Humphrey IV of Toron ( 1166 – 1198) was a leading baron in the
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...
. He inherited the
Lordship of Toron from his grandfather,
Humphrey II, in 1179. He was also heir to the
Lordship of Oultrejourdan through his mother,
Stephanie of Milly. In 1180, he renounced Toron on his engagement to
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
, the half-sister of
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. The king, who had suffered from leprosy, allegedly wanted to prevent Humphrey from uniting two large fiefs. Humphrey married Isabella in
Kerak Castle
Kerak Castle ( ar, قلعة الكرك, Qal'at al-Karak) is a large medieval castle located in al-Karak, Jordan. It is one of the largest castles in the Levant. Construction began in the 1140s, under Pagan and Fulk, King of Jerusalem. The Crusa ...
in autumn 1183.
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
, the
Ayyubbid sultan of Egypt and Syria, laid siege to Kerak during the wedding, but Baldwin IV and
Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III (1140 – September/October 1187) was count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187. He was a minor when Assassins murdered his father, Raymond II of Tripoli. Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli, made Raymond's mother, Hodierna ...
relieved the fortress.
Baldwin IV made his young nephew,
Baldwin V
Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend".
People
* Baldwin (name)
Places Canada
* Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario
* Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District
* Baldwin's Mills, ...
, his successor before his death, but Baldwin V also died in the summer of 1186. The barons, who did not want to acknowledge the right of Baldwin V's mother,
Sybilla, and her husband,
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194) was a French Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of Lusignan and as such born of the House of Lusignan. He was king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and King o ...
, to inherit the kingdom, decided to proclaim Humphrey and his wife king and queen. However, Humphrey, who did not want to reign, deserted them and did
homage
Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to:
History
*Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance
*Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts
*Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
to Sybilla and Guy. He was captured in 1187 at the
Battle of Hattin, where Saladin imposed a crushing defeat on the united army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. His mother offered the surrender of the fortresses of
Oultrejordain
The Lordship of or (Old French for "beyond the Jordan", also called Lordship of Montreal) was the name used during the Crusades for an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan River, an area known in ancient times as Ed ...
to Saladin in exchange for Humphrey's release. Although the garrisons of Kerak and
Montréal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
refused to surrender, Saladin set Humphrey free. Kerak only fell to Saladin's troops in late 1188, Montréal in early 1189.
After Queen Sybilla's death in the autumn of 1190, most barons of the realm (including Isabella's stepfather,
Balian of Ibelin Balian or Balyan may refer to:
People
* Balian of Ibelin (disambiguation), a name shared by several members of the Ibelin family from the crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus
* Balian Buschbaum (born 1980), German pole vaulter
* Roger Balian, ...
) wanted to give Isabella in marriage to
Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat (Italian: ''Corrado del Monferrato''; Piedmontese: ''Conrà ëd Monfrà'') (died 28 April 1192) was a nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the ''de facto'' King of Jerusalem (as Conrad I) by vi ...
, a successful military leader. The marriage of Humphrey and Isabella was
annulled
Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...
, although they protested the decision. Humphrey joined the retinue of
King Richard I of England
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
during his crusade in 1191–1192. Since Humphrey was fluent in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, he conducted negotiations with Saladin's brother,
Al-Adil, on Richard's behalf.
Early life
Humphrey was born in about 1165, the son of
Humphrey
Humphrey is both a masculine given name and a surname. An earlier form, not attested since Medieval times, was Hunfrid.
Notable people with the name include:
People with the given name Medieval period
:''Ordered chronologically''
*Hunfrid of P ...
, heir to
Humphrey II of Toron Humphrey II of Toron (1117 – 22 April 1179) was lord of Toron and constable of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was the son of Humphrey I of Toron.
Humphrey had become lord of Toron sometime before 1140 when he married the daughter of Renier Brus ...
, and
Stephanie of Milly. Humphrey was a child when his father died around 1173. His mother soon inherited the
Lordship of Oultrejourdan. She married
Miles of Plancy
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
,
Seneschal of Jerusalem, who was murdered in October 1174. The following year she married
Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Châtillon (french: Renaud; 11254 July 1187), also known as Reynald or Reginald, was a Crusader knight of French origin but also Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He wa ...
. Humphrey inherited the
Lordship of Toron from his grandfather who died of wounds received at the Battle of Banyas on 22 April 1179.
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem's eight-year-old half-sister,
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
, was betrothed to Humphrey in October 1180. His stepfather, Raynald of Châtillon, and Isabella's stepfather,
Balian of Ibelin Balian or Balyan may refer to:
People
* Balian of Ibelin (disambiguation), a name shared by several members of the Ibelin family from the crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus
* Balian Buschbaum (born 1980), German pole vaulter
* Roger Balian, ...
, were prominent figures of the two groups of barons in the
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...
. The two baronial groups had been competing for the control of state administration, because the king who suffered from leprosy could not rule alone. According to the marriage contract, Humphrey renounced his inherited domains (Toron,
Banias
Banias or Banyas ( ar, بانياس الحولة; he, בניאס, label=Modern Hebrew; Judeo-Aramaic, Medieval Hebrew: פמייס, etc.; grc, Πανεάς) is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek g ...
and
Chastel Neuf) in favor of Baldwin IV, in exchange for a
money fief of 7,000 ''
bezant
In the Middle Ages, the term bezant (Old French ''besant'', from Latin ''bizantius aureus'') was used in Western Europe to describe several gold coins of the east, all derived ultimately from the Roman ''solidus''. The word itself comes from th ...
''s. This provision of the marriage contract suggests that the king wanted to prevent Humphrey from uniting two large fiefs, Toron and Oultrejourdan. Baldwin IV granted Toron or its
usufruct
Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil-law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'':
* ''Usus'' (''use'') is the right to use or enjoy a thing possessed, directl ...
to his mother,
Agnes of Courtenay
Agnes of Courtenay ( – ) was a Frankish noblewoman from the Crusader states. Agnes's parents, Joscelin II of Edessa and Beatrice of Saone, lost the County of Edessa in 1150. As the widow of Reynald of Marash, Agnes married Count Amalric of ...
, around 1183.
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
, who had united Egypt and Syria under his rule, invaded the Kingdom of Jerusalem in September 1183. Humphrey commanded the forces of Oultrejourdain, dispatched by Raynald of Châtillon to join the united army of the kingdom. Saladin's soldiers ambushed and almost annihilated his troops at
Mount Gilboa
Mount Gilboa ( he, הַר הַגִּלְבֹּעַ, translit=Har hagGīlbōaʿ ; ar, جبل جلبوع ''Jabal Jarbūʿ'' or ''Jabal Fuqqāʿa''), sometimes referred to as the Mountains of Gilboa, is the name for a mountain range in Israel. It ...
. Saladin's campaign ended with his withdrawal on 7 October, because he could not persuade the main army to join battle.
Marriage
Humphrey married Isabella in
Kerak Castle
Kerak Castle ( ar, قلعة الكرك, Qal'at al-Karak) is a large medieval castle located in al-Karak, Jordan. It is one of the largest castles in the Levant. Construction began in the 1140s, under Pagan and Fulk, King of Jerusalem. The Crusa ...
in the autumn of 1183. During the wedding, Saladin
laid siege to the fortress to take revenge for Raynald of Châtillon's plundering raid on the Red Sea in February. According to a version of
Ernoul Ernoul was a squire of Balian of Ibelin who wrote an eyewitness account of the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. This was later incorporated into an Old French history of Crusader Palestine now known as the ''Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer ...
's chronicle, Humphrey's mother convinced Saladin not to bombard the tower in which the newly married young couple were lodged, although he continued to besiege the rest of the fortress. Kerak was eventually relieved on 4 December by Baldwin IV and
Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III (1140 – September/October 1187) was count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187. He was a minor when Assassins murdered his father, Raymond II of Tripoli. Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli, made Raymond's mother, Hodierna ...
.
The dying Baldwin IV, who had disinherited his sister
Sybilla and her husband
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194) was a French Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of Lusignan and as such born of the House of Lusignan. He was king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and King o ...
in favor of her six-year-old son,
Baldwin V
Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend".
People
* Baldwin (name)
Places Canada
* Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario
* Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District
* Baldwin's Mills, ...
, in March 1183, nominated Raymond of Tripoli
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
to his successor. The
High Court of Jerusalem
{{inline, date=May 2017
The Haute Cour ( en, High Court) was the feudal council of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was sometimes also called the ''curia generalis'', the ''curia regis'', or, rarely, the ''parlement''.
Composition of the court
The H ...
also decreed that if Baldwin V died, the pope, the Holy Roman emperor, and the kings of France and England were to decide whether Sybilla or Isabella was entitled to succeed him. Baldwin IV died in March 1185, Baldwin V the next summer.
Unwilling claimant
Sybilla's maternal uncle,
Joscelin III of Courtenay, persuaded Raymond of Tripoli to leave Jerusalem to hold an assembly in
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...
for the barons of the realm. After the regent departed to Tiberias, Joscelin invited Sybilla and Guy of Lusignan to Jerusalem. As soon as Raymond realized that Joscelin had deceived him, he summoned the High Court to
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
. All the barons of the realm (including Humphrey) hurried to Nablus, except Humphrey's stepfather, Raynald of Châtillon, who went to Jerusalem. The barons sent messengers to Jerusalem to remind Sybilla, Guy of Lusignan, and their supporters, of the High Court's decision on the matter of the succession of Baldwin V. Ignoring their messages,
Heraclius
Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
,
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wit ...
, crowned Sybilla queen, and she in turn placed the crown on her husband's head. Before long, acting on Raymond of Tripoli's proposal, the barons at Nablus decided to proclaim Isabella and Humphrey queen and king against Sybilla and Guy.
Raymond and his supporters were willing to march against Jerusalem, but Humphrey had no desire for the crown. He secretly left Nablus during the night and rode to Jerusalem to meet Sybilla. She refused him initially, but after Humphrey told her of his intention, she accompanied him to her husband. Humphrey swore fealty to Guy, putting an end to the conspiracy for Humphrey's and Isabella's coronation. All the barons except Raymond of Tripoli and
Baldwin of Ramleh hurried to Jerusalem to do homage to Sybilla and Guy. Guy granted Toron and Chastel Neuf (two domains that Humphrey had abandoned in 1180) to Joscelin of Courtenay in 1186, stipulating that should he restore the two estates to Humphrey, he would receive the compensation that Humphrey had received for them.
Battle of Hattin
Humphrey's stepfather, Raynald of Châtillon, plundered a caravan moving from Egypt to Syria in early 1187, claiming that the truce between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin did not cover his Lordship of Oultrejourdan. After Guy of Lusignan failed to persuade Raynald to pay compensation, Saladin proclaimed a
jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
(holy war) against the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Saladin's army crushed the united forces of the kingdom in the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187.
Humphrey also participated in the battle. He was captured on the battlefield like most of the commanders of the Christian army. With the exception of Raynald (whom he personally beheaded) and the knights of the
Military Orders (who were massacred by fanatics), Saladin spared their lives. Saladin sent his prisoners to Damascus and conquered the Christian towns and fortresses one after another.
Two castles in Oultrejordan – Kerak and Montréal – were among the few fortresses that resisted. In October, Humphrey's mother, Stephanie of Milly, promised to persuade the garrisons at the two fortresses to surrender if Saladin released Humphrey. Saladin accepted her offer and allowed Humphrey to join her. However, the defenders refused to surrender and Humphrey returned to Damascus. Before long, Saladin set Humphrey free again without demanding ransom. Saladin's troops were unable to seize Kerak until the end of 1188, and Montréal some months later.
Annulment of marriage
Humphrey and his wife were present at the camp of the crusaders who besieged
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
when Queen Sybilla and her two daughters died in 1190. Most barons of the realm regarded Humphrey's wife as Sybilla's lawful heir, stating that Guy had lost his claim to rule after his wife and their children died. However, they also felt Humphrey was unsuitable to rule the kingdom, especially because he had refused to claim the throne against Sybilla and Guy in 1186. They preferred
Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat (Italian: ''Corrado del Monferrato''; Piedmontese: ''Conrà ëd Monfrà'') (died 28 April 1192) was a nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the ''de facto'' King of Jerusalem (as Conrad I) by vi ...
, a crusader leader who had prevented Saladin from occupying
Tyre.
Isabella's stepfather,
Balian of Ibelin Balian or Balyan may refer to:
People
* Balian of Ibelin (disambiguation), a name shared by several members of the Ibelin family from the crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus
* Balian Buschbaum (born 1980), German pole vaulter
* Roger Balian, ...
, was one of Conrad's supporters. He and his partisans decided that the marriage of Isabella and Humphrey should be
annulled
Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...
. The marriage was childless. The contemporaneous ''
Itinerarium Regis Ricardi
The ''Itinerarium Regis Ricardi'' (in full, ''Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi'') is a Latin prose narrative of the Third Crusade, 1189-1192. The first part of the book concentrates on Saladin's conquests and the early stages of the ...
'' describes Humphrey, around 1190, as "more like a woman than a man, gentle in his dealings and with a bad
stammer
Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...
". Isabella's mother,
Maria Comnena, entered Isabella's tent, and forced her to leave her husband.
Maria Comnena swore that Baldwin IV had forced her daughter to marry Humphrey at the age of eight.
Ubaldo Lanfranchi Ubaldo Lanfranchi (died 19 June 1207) was an Italian Catholic archbishop.
A member of the noble Lanfranchi family, he was consecrated archbishop of Pisa on 11 April 1176. The primacy of the Pisan church extended to the ecclesiastical provinces of T ...
,
_(who_was_Papal_legate.html" ;"title="717, Pisan">708, Pisan); on 30–31 July 1716 [1717, Pisan and on 31 J ...
(who was Papal legate">717, Pisan">708, Pisan); on 30–31 July 1716 [1717, Pisan and on 31 J ...