The Crusades, the Genoese and the Latin East - DSpace at ...

On the following day, 12 March 1186, Urban III wrote two letters to the count of
Tripoli 480 The first letter concerning Gibelet is almost a repetition of the letter to the patriarch of
Antioch. The letters to the count includes a long list of flattering titles in the addressing line:
Dilecto filio nobili uiro.. comiti Tripolitano, baiulo regni Ierosolimitani. 4ß1
This full title stands
out in comparison to the lack of acknowledgment of Hugh's rights over Gibelet and the belittling
reference to him plainly as `Hugo de Gibelleto'. On 13 March 1186, the pope wrote his final three
letters on the matter to the bishops of Tripoli and Gibelet and to the patriarch of
Jerusalem 482
In
the letters he asked the three to cooperate and work together to ensure that the debt is paid. `si pro
mandati nostri reuerentia non adimpleuerit, sine appellationis obstaculo ecclesiastica censura...
compellas. ' On this unequivocal these letters end. The fall of the first kingdom of Jerusalem and
the crusader states in 1187 made the question of authority and the independence of Byblos and
the de Biblio irrelevant for quite some time. Interestingly, after 1186, the independence
of Byblos
was never questioned again: there is no sign that the de Biblio ever paid the duty due to their
home town, or that such payment was requested. This odd change of attitude may be linked to the
contribution of the de Biblio to the military efforts to save the kingdom of Jerusalem and the
crusader states. Perhaps the fact that Byblos was not recovered for 10 years had contributed to
that change of attitude. Hugh III fought in the battle of Hattin and was captured by Saladin
together with the king of Jerusalem, the Master of the Temple, Humphrey of Toron and many
other nobles of the crusader states.
483 The Continuation of William of Tyre describes how Hugh
gained his freedom in exchange for the surrender of his city to Saladin. Shortly afterwards
Saladin destroyed the walls of Gibelet, as he did in many other sea-port towns that were
perceived as potential beach-heads
for the advancing troops of the Third Crusade. In particular,
he was worried about the approaching contingents of Frederick Barbarossa. 484 Hugh's son Guy
was in Jerusalem among the young nobles who were with Queen Maria Komnena. When
Jerusalem was besieged by Saladin, Balian of Ibelin reached an agreement with Saladin that
allowed them passage to Tripoli485 The de Biblio family, therefore, had largely survived the war
and later regained possession of their town. It is not clear exactly what happened during the Third
Crusade. The Genoese armed forces had been in the Latin East from 1190. As was mentioned in
Chapter One, the retired Genoese consul Nicola Embriaco was one of the leaders of this crusade.
480
Hiestand, nos. 132,134; pp. 309-10; 311-12.
481
This list of titles is from letter 321, which deals with Genoese property inside the kingdom of Jerusalem.
482
Hiestand, nos. 135-37, pp. 312-14..
483
Ruth Morgan (ed. ), La Continuation de Guillaume de Tyr, Ch. 43.
4841bid,
Ch. 45 and Ch. 95, translated by Edbury, The Conquest of Jerusalem, pp. 50,89. RHC. Oc. Vol. 2,
Ch. 2, p. 140
485 RHC. Oc, vol. 2, p. 84 There is a small variation of the story in this source accordingly it was not Guy
son of Hugh III, but Guillemin fils de Reymont de Gibeleth, therefore, the nephew of Hugh Ill. Ruth
Morgan (ed. ), La Continuation de Guillaume de Tyr, ch. 52.
134