Mt. Pilgrim and the Legacy of Raymond, 1101-5

Raymond of Toulouse had taken a vow not to return home. He had missed out on the prizes of Antioch and Jerusalem, but his army had taken some towns and forts in the vicinity of Tripoli. Among these early captures was the castle that later become known as the Krak des Chevaliers, one of the most famous Crusader fortresses. But in the early years, the governor of Tripoli placated him with assistance, staving off a direct assault.

Since the Fatimids had shown that they might be able to wipe out the Crusader Kingdom, Tripoli’s governor lost interest in pacifying the Crusaders. In 1101, Raymond had besieged and taken a nearby port, Tortosa, while Tripoli tried to defend it. Detente was over; they were now parties in a state of war.

Raymond could use Tortosa as a port and power base. He chose to dedicate the rest of his life to forcing Tripoli into submission. To that end, he built a castle on a nearby hill. It must have taken a full year to build this castle, 1102-1103, with blocks of stone being rolled up the hill in full view. Surely, the rulers of Tripoli could have attacked and stopped him, but apparently not. Without additional forces from Damascus or Aleppo, they could not overcome Raymond’s Provencal army that stood guard.

Raymond called the hill Mons Peregrinus, the Pilgrim Mountain. The new fort was named for him, using his personal surname of St-Gilles. It’s not clear if he lived in the fortress, or if he had a camp or house in a nearby town. Castles in Europe were primarily residential, while these Crusader fortresses were primarily defensive. It seems likely that Raymond and most of his men would prefer, though, to close a gate at night and feel secure. The fort is still in existence, but it has been ruined and rebuilt several times.

In 1105, Raymond of Toulouse died of battle wounds, leaving a complex legacy. Of first importance to our age, one of his clerks wrote an account of his role in the Crusade, a written record that we prize more than any citadel. Of first importance to his age, he left one heir who was directly on hand to take control of the fortress. This was his nephew William-Jordan, who was already a Crusader; but he also had two sons. Raymond had been married three times, with legitimacy issues in each case. His official heir was a child, Alfonso Jordan, but his oldest son Bertrand had been governing Toulouse. Bertrand set out immediately when he heard the news, and eventually he pushed out William-Jordan. When Tripoli fell in 1109, Bertrand became its first Count.

Bertrand oversaw the official burning of Tripoli’s library, too. Yes, somehow “our guys” did that too sometimes. They just had no excuse, as the nomads at least did.

Raymond left some lasting alliances and victories to his credit. In his personal rivalry with Bohemund, Raymond had chosen to side with the Byzantine Emperor. He was the only Crusader who remained on good terms with Alexios. King Baldwin could largely ignore the Emperor and focus on his border challenges, but Bohemund’s Antioch was really part of Cilicia, so he and the Emperor were always in each other’s faces. The Armenians kept flipping allegiance from Byzantium to Antioch and back, as Tancred or Bohemund created less or more threat. (At one point, Tancred led a full invasion into the towns he had first helped to liberate.) Greek ships helped Raymond capture Tortosa, near their port of Latakia, and Raymond helped smooth the way of the 1101 Faint-hearted Crusaders.

On the debit side, Raymond’s legacy included the loss of Ascalon and a few other port towns. He had been so eager for a truly important title that he got into stalemate struggles with Godfrey of Jerusalem. Godfrey wanted all nearby cities to be attached to Jerusalem in the feudal structure, so he refused to agree that Raymond could be Duke or Prince of Ascalon. It’s another of those points that might have altered history: had Raymond, a powerful and wealthy lord with a large contingent of surviving men, occupied Ascalon, he could have really secured the southern border. Without the title, he refused to lift a finger, and so Ascalon remained a Fatimid port, keeping the war frontier dangerously close to Jaffa and Jerusalem.

 

 

 

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