Bohemond IV of Antioch

Bohemond IV of Antioch, called the one-eyed (le Borgne ) ( † March 1233 ) was Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1205, from 1208 to 1216 and again from 1219 until his death. Since 1189 he also served as Bohemund I. Count of Tripoli.

Bohemond IV was the second son of Bohemond III. and his second wife Orguilleuse.

Life

Count of Tripoli

1187 had his older brother Raymond of Antioch to the childless death of Count Raymond III. County of Tripoli which attained. Already in 1189 brought Bohemond III. Raimund as his eldest son and designated heir of Antioch to his court after Antioch. In its place, the younger brother Bohemond was used as count of Tripoli. Raymond died in 1199, before his father, so that Bohemond after the death of his father in 1201, the Principality of Antioch inherited.

Prince of Antioch

His first reign was marked by dynastic struggles. His older brother Raymond had with his wife, the Armenian Princess Alice a son, Raymond Ruben, who saw himself as the legitimate heir of Antioch as the heir of his father's claims. Although Raimund Ruben was excluded from the succession, Bohemond IV lost in 1216, the Principality of his nephew, who was militarily supported by his uncle Leo II, King of Lesser Armenia. It was not until 1219 Bohemond gained the Principality back.

During the Crusade of Frederick II 1228/1229, he allied himself first with the emperor, had his troops but deserting later, which earned him the reputation of an unreliable ally who placed his vows where it most convenient to him in the interest of the Principality appeared.

Bohemond was also a fierce opponent of St. John, whose growing influence in his lands he sought to limit, so he in 1230 by Pope Gregory IX. was excommunicated.

Marriage and issue

Bohemond married before 21 August 1198 the first marriage of Plaisance Gibelet († 1217 ), a daughter of Hugh III. Embriaco, Lord of Gibelet. The couple had six children:

• Raimund (c. 1195; † assassinated end 1213 in Tortosa ), Bailli of Antioch;
• Bohemond V ( † 1252), his successor as Prince of Antioch and Count of Tripoli;
• Philipp († poisoned in prison in 1226 ), King of Lesser Armenia ∞ Isabella of Armenia;
• Maria ∞ 1220 Thoros of Armenia Minor;
• Orgueilleuse († young);
• Henry of Antioch († drowned 1276) ∞ Isabella of Cyprus, father of King Hugh III. of Cyprus ( Hugh I of Jerusalem).

His second wife he married in January 1218 Melusine of Jerusalem, daughter of Amalric I, King of Cyprus, and ( as Amalric II ) King of Jerusalem. With her he had three daughters:

• Isabella ( † young);
• Maria ( † after 1307 ), claimed after the death of Conradin the title Queen of Jerusalem and sold it in 1277 to Charles of Anjou;
• Helvis († young).