Bohemond VII (1261 – October 19, 1287) was the

count of Tripoli The count of Tripoli was the ruler of the County of Tripoli, a crusader state from 1102 through to 1289. Of the four major crusader states in the Levant, Tripoli was created last. The history of the counts of Tripoli began with Raymond IV, Coun ...

and nominal

prince of Antioch Prince of Antioch was the title given during the Middle Ages to Normans, Norman rulers of the Principality of Antioch, a region surrounding the city of Antioch, now known as Antakya in Turkey. The Princes originally came from the County of Sicil ...

from 1275 to his death. The only part left of the Principality of Antioch was the port of

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

. He spent much of his reign at war with the Templars (1277–1282). Bohemond VII was the son of Bohemond VI of Antioch and his wife Sibylla of Armenia. As Bohemond VII was still underage at his succession, Sibylla acted as

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

, although the regency was also unsuccessfully claimed by King Hugh III of Cyprus, the closest adult in the line of succession. Sibylla appointed Bishop Bartholomew of Tortosa to act as

bailli A bailiff (, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in his bailiwick ...

. Bohemond spent his minority under the protection of his uncle King Leo III of Armenia at his court in

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

. He returned to Tripoli in 1277 and immediately made peace with Qalawun, the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

sultan, and recognised Roger of San Severino as regent at

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

for Charles I of Anjou. He exempted the Venetians from harbour duties, thus distancing the Genoese and their allies. Upon his return, he made enemies with the powerful Embriaco family, which governed

Byblos Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...

through Guy II. Tripoli was very weak at this time and was divided among various factions: the Roman faction led by Paul of Segni, bishop of Tripoli, and the Armenian faction led by Sibylla and Bartholomew. Paul made friends with William of Beaujeu, the new grand master of the Knights Templar, and then with the normally anti-Templar Embriacos. This precipitated the first of a series of wars between Bohemond and the Templars. First, he burned their building in Tripoli. Then, the Templars responded by razing the comital castle of Botron and attacking Nephin. Bohemond marched on Byblos but was defeated and forced to sign a truce. In 1278, Guy of Byblos and the Templars assaulted Tripoli, but were met outside the walls by Bohemond. Bohemond was defeated, but the Templar fleet of twelve galleys was scattered by a storm and Bohemond's fleet of fifteen attacked and damaged Templar

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

. This time a truce was mediated by Nicolas Lorgne, grand master of the Hospital. The last conflict began in January 1282, when the Embriacos tried to take Tripoli by surprise. They found the Templar master away and so took refuge with the Hospitallers, who handed them over to Bohemond on condition that he would spare their lives. He buried them up to their necks in sand at Nephin and starved them to death. This last act further alienated the Genoese and John of Montfort, but Bohemund beat the latter in taking control of Byblos. In 1287, Latakia was taken by Qalawun, who claimed that as part of Antioch it did not fall under the conditions of their treaty. Bohemond died soon after, leaving no children by his wife Margaret of Beaumont. Tripoli was plunged into a succession crisis until his sister Lucia arrived from Europe to take control of the county.

Sources

*Setton, Kenneth M. (general editor) ''A History of the Crusades: Volume II — The Later Crusades, 1189 – 1311''. Robert Lee Wolff and Harry W. Hazard, editors. University of Wisconsin Press: Milwaukee, 1969. * *Aboujaoude, Boulos (Fr.), "History of Aboujaoude Family", Catholic Press, Lebanon 1976. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohemond 07 Of Tripoli 1261 births 1287 deaths Counts of Tripoli 13th-century princes of Antioch