Joscelin I

The survivors of the doomed Crusade of 1101 arrive at Antioch at the end of 1101.

At Easter in 1102 they will arrive in Jerusalem.

Afterwards, many of them will simply go home, their vow having been fulfilled, although some will remain behind to help King Baldwin I defend against an Egyptian invasion at Ramla.

Stephen of Blois will be killed during this battle, as will Hugh VI of Lusignan, ancestor of the future Lusignan dynasty of Jerusalem and Cyprus.

Joscelin of Courtenay will also stay behind, and survive to become Count of Edessa in 1118.

Baldwin had become King of Jerusalem when his brother Godfrey of Bouillon died in 1100.

The County of Edessa had passed to his cousin Baldwin of Bourcq.

He was joined by Joscelin of Courtenay, who became lord of the fortress of Turbessel on the Euphrates, an important outpost against the Seljuq Turks.

The Frankish lords had formed a good rapport with their Armenian subjects, and there were frequent intermarriages; the first three counts had all married Armenians.

Count Baldwin's wife had died in Maraş in 1097, and after he succeeded to Edessa he had married Arda, a granddaughter of the Armenian Roupenid chief Constantine.

Baldwin of Bourcq had married Morphia, a daughter of Gabriel of Melitene, and Joscelin of Courtenay had married a daughter of Constantine.

Baldwin of Bourcq had quickly become involved in the affairs of northern Syria and Asia Minor.

He had helped secure the ransom of Bohemond I of Antioch from the Danishmends in 1103, and, with Antioch, had attacked the Empire in Cilicia in 1104.

Later in 1104, Edessa had been attacked by Mosul, and both Baldwin and Joscelin had been taken prisoner when they were defeated at the Battle of Harran.

Bohemond's cousin Tancred had become regent in Edessa (although Richard of Salerno actually governed the territory), until Baldwin and Joscelin were ransomed in 1108.

Baldwin had had to fight to regain control of the city; Tancred had eventually been defeated, though Baldwin had to ally with some of the local Muslim rulers.

Mawdud ibn Altuntash is an officer of Mehmed I of Great Seljuk, who had sent him to reconquer Mosul from the rebel atabeg Jawali.

After his conquest of the city, Mehmed had entrusted him with several military attempts to push back the Crusaders from the nearby Principality of Antioch and county of Edessa.

The first attempt is launched in 1110; having joined forces with Ilghazi, the emir of Mardin, and of Soqman al Qutbi, emir of Khilat, they begin by besieging Edessa from April of that year, but Baldwin I of Jerusalem intervenes, and forces Mawdud to retreat.

All Edessa’s lands east of the Euphrates are lost to Mawdud of Mosul in 1110.

This is not followed by an assault on Edessa itself, as the Muslim rulers are more concerned with consolidating their own power.

Joscelin, the son of Joscelin I, Lord of Courtenay, born in 1034, and wife Isabella (or Elizabeth), daughter of Guy I of Montlhéry, had arrived in the Holy Land during the Crusade of 1101 after the First Crusade, and entered into the service of his relative Count Baldwin II, who had invested him with the lordship of Turbessel.

By 1113, Joscelin has carved out a semiautonomous state around Turbessel to the west of the Euphrates, where the land is prosperous, while Baldwin II controls the territory east of the Euphrates around Edessa itself, which is depopulated and continually harassed by the Turks.

In this year, Baldwin dispossesses him of Turbessel, and Joscelins travels to Jerusalem, where he is given the title of Prince of Galilee.

Joscelin fully endorses Baldwin II, despite their former hostility, over the candidacy of Baldwin I's brother Eustace III of Boulogne, as the successor to Baldwin I as king of Jerusalem; he is rewarded with the County of Edessa.

The crown is offered to the king's elder brother Eustace III, but Joscelin of Courtenay insists that the crown pass to Baldwin of Bourcq, despite Count Baldwin having exiled Joscelin from Edessa in 1113.

Baldwin of Edessa accepts and on Easter Sunday, April 14, 1118, is crowned king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II.

Almost immediately, the kingdom is simultaneously invaded by the Seljuqs from Syria and the Fatimids from Egypt, although by showing himself ready and willing to defend his territory, Baldwin forces the Muslim army to back down without a battle.

The Struggle for Montlhéry and Its Absorption into the Royal Domain (1118 CE)

Montlhéry, a strategically significant stronghold on the road between Paris and Orléans, had long been a contested site between the Capetian monarchy and the local nobility. By 1118, the town and its fortress had played a pivotal role in several feudal conflicts, culminating in its absorption into the royal domain under King Louis VI of France.

The Lords of Montlhéry and Their Crusader Legacy

• Montlhéry was originally a Gallic settlement, later Romanized as Mons Aetricus, before passing into Merovingian and Carolingian ecclesiastical control.
• Under the Capetians, Montlhéry became a center of noble resistance, frequently opposing royal authority.
• The House of Montlhéry, founded by Thibaud (r. 970–1031), was deeply connected to the Montmorency family and the Crusader States:
  • Melisende of Montlhéry married Hugh, Count of Rethel, making her the mother of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem.
  • Elizabeth of Montlhéry married Joscelin of Courtenay, linking Montlhéry to the County of Edessa.
  • These alliances placed Montlhéry at the heart of Crusader nobility, ensuring its influence extended far beyond France.

Milo II’s Revolt and the Struggle for Montlhéry

By the early 12th century, Montlhéry had passed to Milo II, who had:

• Previously held Bray-sur-Seine in Champagne before claiming Montlhéry in 1105.
• Attacked his brother's castle, attempting to seize control, but was repelled when Louis VI arrived to relieve the siege.
• Gained the lordship of Montlhéry in 1113, when Louis VI sided with him over his cousin Hugh of Crécy, but later rebelled against the king alongside Theobald IV of Blois.

Milo’s rebellion deepened his ties to the House of Blois:

• He married Adela of Blois, daughter of Count Stephen of Blois and Adela of Normandy, in a treaty orchestrated by her widowed mother.
• This alliance temporarily strengthened his position, as he was made Viscount of Troyes.
• However, the marriage ended in divorce in 1115, weakening his political standing.

The Assassination of Milo II and the Royal Seizure of Montlhéry (1118 CE)

In 1118, Milo’s cousin and rival, Hugh of Crécy, seeking revenge for the loss of Montlhéry, had him assassinated. This destabilized the local power structure, providing Louis VI with an opportunity to intervene decisively.

• Louis incorporated Montlhéry into the royal domain, eliminating it as an independent noble power base.
• He ordered the dismantling of the castle, preventing future rebellions from the fortress.
• The town was transformed into a royal residence, strengthening Capetian control over the Paris-Orléans route.

After its absorption into the royal domain, Montlhéry became part of the territory governed by the Viscount of Paris, further solidifying Capetian authority in the Île-de-France.

Significance of Montlhéry’s Fall

• Royal Consolidation – The seizure of Montlhéry was part of Louis VI’s broader effort to curb the power of feudal lords and extend Capetian royal control.
• End of a Rebel Stronghold – The Montlhéry family had been a persistent threat to the monarchy; its absorption eliminated a key center of resistance.
• Strategic Importance – Controlling Montlhéry ensured safe passage between Paris and Orléans, strengthening the Capetian heartland.

Montlhéry’s incorporation into the Capetian royal domain marked another step in Louis VI’s long campaign to consolidate royal power, reinforcing his emerging authority over the feudal aristocracy.

The crusaders actually control only a few strongholds in Palestine, and pilgrims to the Christian holy places are often endangered by marauding Muslim bands.

Pitying the plight of such pilgrims, eight or nine French knights, led by Hugues de Payens and Geoffrey of Saint-Omer, have vowed to devote themselves to their protection and to form a religious community for that purpose.

They request of Warmund, the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem permission to elect a master to lead them to defend the kingdom.

Hugues de Payens is elected their master and Warmund charges them with the duty of keeping the roads safe from thieves and others who are routinely robbing and killing pilgrims en route to Jerusalem.

King Baldwin II gives them quarters in a wing of the royal palace in the area of the former Jewish Temple, and from this they derive their name: the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or Knights Templar.

Warmund of Picquigny is a son of another Warmund (Guermond) of Picquigny and his wife Adele.

His brother Eustache was Vidame of Amiens.

Shortly after the death of Arnulf of Chocques, Warmund of Picguiny had been elected to replace him as Patriarch of Jerusalem in late 1118.

He convenes the Council of Nablus in 1120 with Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem.

The canons of the council serve as a sort of concordat between the church of Outremer and the Crusader States.

The first canon is a promise by Baldwin to surrender the appropriate tithes to the patriarch, namely those from his own royal estates in Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre.

In the second canon, Baldwin requests forgiveness for the tithes he had previously withheld, and Warmund absolves him in the third.

Azaz, the scene of a humiliating defeat of the Emperor Romanos III in August 1030, had soon after been captured by the imperial forces under Niketas of Mistheia.

Joscelin I of Edessa had captured the city from the atabeg of Aleppo in 1118.

The Crusaders under Roger of Salerno had been severely defeated at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis the following year, and King Baldwin II of Jerusalem had been captured while patrolling in Edessa in 1123.

Released in 1124, Baldwin had almost immediately laid siege to Aleppo on October 8, 1124, capturing the the attention of il-Bursuqi, the Seljuq atabeg of Mosul.

Il-Bursuqi marches south to relieve the siege of Aleppo, which is nearing the point of surrender in January 1125 after a three-month siege.

Baldwin cautiously withdraws without a fight.

Il-Bursuqi now besieges the town of Azaz, to the north of Aleppo in territory belonging to the County of Edessa.

Baldwin II, Joscelin I, and Pons of Tripoli, with a force of eleven hundred knights from their respective territories (including knights from Antioch, where Baldwin is regent), as well as two thousand other foot soldiers, meet il-Bursuqi outside Azaz, where the atabeg has gathered his much larger force.

Baldwin pretends to retreat, thereby drawing the Seljuqs away from Azaz into the open where they are surrounded.

After a long and bloody battle, the Seljuqs are defeated and their camp captured by Baldwin, who takes enough loot to ransom the prisoners taken by the Seljuqs (including the future Joscelin II of Edessa).

Apart from relieving Azaz, this victory allows the Crusaders to regain much of the influence they had lost after their defeat at Ager Sanguinis in 1119.

Bohemond’s rule will be marked from 1128 by conflicts with Joscelin I of Edessa and skirmishes in the northern border.

Both Bohemond and Joscelin attack Aleppo individually, but refuse to cooperate in a larger siege against the city.

Roger of Salerno had given away territory to Joscelin, but Bohemond does not consider these donations legitimate as they had been made without his authority, even though he had been a minor at the time.

The dispute comes to open conflict between Antioch and Edessa, with Joscelin allying with the Muslims against Bohemond.

The Latin Patriarch of Antioch places an interdict over the County of Edessa.

Bohemond’s cousin Roger II invades and conquers Taranto in 1128, claiming it as the heir of William II of Apulia.

Bohemond, being away, can do nothing to prevent this.

This year, Baldwin II marches north to mediate in the dispute, and Joscelin abandons his claims.

Meanwhile, the atabeg Zengi consolidates his power over Aleppo and Mosul and the crusaders will never again have a chance to impose their authority over Aleppo.